Mange/ear mites

Question
hi Dana

the edges of my rabbits' ears are hard and crusty,cuts with dried, caked blood can be seen too. i think she had been infected with mange and i had bought this non-toxic colloidal silver spray, hoping it will cure her ears... Do you think it is effective enough or should i bring her to the vet? i have been using the solution for a few days and the crusts seem to be dropping off, the cuts do not look bad and had dried up too.... currently only one of the ears are infected.. also how should i make sure she will not get infected again

pls  help
thanx~~

Answer
Dear Esther,

There's no evidence that colloidal silver will kill mange mites, so I can't really comment on that.  A very safe and effective treatment you can get from your vet is Revolution (selamectin), a topical treatment that will last several weeks.

You can read more here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

and you can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If the ear is truly infected, a culture and sensitivity test should be done to see what type of antibiotics will be the most appropriate and  most effective.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

Hope this helps!

Dana