drooping rabbit ear

Question
My husband & I just returned from a week long vacation to find our pet rabbit has a dropping left ear. She still appears to have control of her right ear. It's "perky," but her left ear is just hanging there. It's never done this before. She doesn't appear to be in any pain. We've only had her about 6 months, and we're her 3rd owner, so we don't have a lot of history on her. Do we need to be concerned?

Answer
Dear Beth,

If the bunny is not a baby (baby lops start to lop their ears down only at the age of about 6-8 months) and doesn't have any lop parentage, then a drooping ear can be a sign of discomfort in that ear.

Ear infections, ear mites, or even a traumatic injury can cause this, and the best course of action would be to get her to a good bunny vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for an ear exam to be sure there's nothing amiss.

Note that a drooping ear can also sometimes be a precursor to torticollis (wry neck), and you might want to read up on that here:

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

If the vet does see signs of infection in the ear, please read this so you'll be prepared with the best course of action to ask about:

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

In some cases, ear problems can actually be related to dental problems, such as molar root abscess or intrusion into the bone.  Please see:

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

for more information on this (less likely) possibility.

I hope this helps. Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana