# White discharge from ear....help?



## jcottonl02 (Jan 20, 2012)

I was stroking Benji's ears earlier and I noticed that in one of his ears there was this like, pure white ear waxy stuff in there. It was quite far down. It definately felt like wax or something not particularly runny and it smelt...not bad as such but kinda cheesy. Like cheesy feet.

I cleaned his ear best I could (I didn't want to hurt him or push it down too far). 

Does this sound like an ear infection?

He is totally fine everywhere else.

Wax, or ear infection? Vets tomorrow morning, or not?

Thanks. I'm quite worried because I have heard about head tilt being caused by ear infections?

Jen


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## Maureen Las (Jan 20, 2012)

It would be an infection as pus in rabbitscan be thick like cream cheese; if you get to the vets tomorrow they most likely will clean his ear ,do a culture and start antibiotics 

Hopefully you can catch it before it goes further into the ear.


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## jcottonl02 (Jan 20, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. 

Iv set my alarm and ill ring the vets when they open tomorrow. The ous does sound exactly as you describe. I hope it will all be okay. 


Thanks
Jen


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## Bunnylova4eva (Jan 20, 2012)

Does it get waxy looking once it dries? My bunny who had an ear infection had this in her ears. I stuck it in a baggie to see if they could culture it and when it dried it just looked more yellowy and they said "its just wax" even though it had looked and seemed pussy to me.
Sounds like infection to me. Does Benji itch his ears alot? Sounds like a culture would be a good idea.


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## jcottonl02 (Jan 21, 2012)

I've just got back from the vets.

She didn't do cultures but as soon as she looked in his ear she was pretty certain it was a pasturella infection :'(. She weighed him and asked how he was eating etc. Which is all fine. She looked at his eyes and in his mouth thoroughly and said she could see any sign of it having spread, so hopefully we caught it early enough to just clear up the infection.

He had an antibiotic injection, and I have oral antibiotics(Baytril) for the next 8 days. Slightly painful Â£60 just for some antibiotics but he needs them, bless his little heart.

I don't know why but the fact that its pasturella really scares me...I have just heard a lot of bad stuff about it. Can anyone help? What can I expect? If these antibiotics work then will the ear infection go away and that should be fine after that? Or is it like, once they are infected, they often get reccurrances? 
Thanks for any advice.

She said that I could come back if I wanted her to check the infection had gone, free of charge, which was nice.

Jen


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## ZRabbits (Jan 21, 2012)

*jcottonl02 wrote: *


> I've just got back from the vets.
> 
> She didn't do cultures but as soon as she looked in his ear she was pretty certain it was a pasturella infection :'(.
> 
> ...


Heard bad stuff about pasturella myself. And would feel the same as you if it was my bunny. Hoping the infection is gone in no time, and he's back to his ole self again. And I have to say, that was nice of your Vet to offer to see if the infection is really gone free of charge. Take advantage of it. I would just to make sure all was clear. 

K


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## Bunnylova4eva (Jan 21, 2012)

Personally, this is what they told me about Jelly (lop) who had similar issues. They said first that it was an ear infection when I brought her in saying it smelled and she was itching alot. Then later they said oh it would be Pasturella, then they said .."or EC" Turns out it was jsut an infection, though as it got worse they said the ear didn't LOOK that bad or anything. Keep a close eye, teh Baytril didn't help my bunny and she ended up with head tilt.


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## jcottonl02 (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks for the replies (although the head tilt comment did stop me from sleeping lol!).

I've been giving him his baytril for two days now (with much struggle because he HATES the taste of this and shows me haha. I try and bribe him with yummy food), and I can't say whether it's working for sure because I can't see far enough down his ears to know. But what I can see is that it doesn't seem to be getting worse and I don't see or feel any pus like I did before. He still has a huge appetite, and being his complete normal self. 

I'm sure his left ear (the one with the infection) is either slightly painful or very itchy because when i touch it he jumps and then shakes his ears around, so I am trying to touch it as little as possible, only to look into it to check.

He's still got 6 days of meds and then I will take him back to the vets to confirm but so far so good!

Thank god I caught it early.

Thanks loads for all your help, guys. And specifically to Angielove for your encouragement to go to the vets as soon as poss. It cost an extra Â£40 for it being a saturday but I would have paid anything if it meant I caught it early enough.


Jen


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## MandyK (Jan 23, 2012)

jcottonl02 wrote:


> I've just got back from the vets.
> 
> She didn't do cultures but as soon as she looked in his ear she was pretty certain it was a pasturella infection :'(. She weighed him and asked how he was eating etc. Which is all fine. She looked at his eyes and in his mouth thoroughly and said she could see any sign of it having spread, so hopefully we caught it early enough to just clear up the infection.
> 
> ...



I think it depends where you get your information. Most of the stuff you find online is focussed on the worst outcomes.

My rabbit has an upper respiratory infection, which my vet thinks may be pasteurella, but he warned me not to freak out. He said he has dealt with rabbits with pasteurella for decades and many of them live just fine. Plus, pasteurella is the worst of the diseases/infections that could be causing the ear wax. It could be something much less scary. Don't freak out, don't believe everything you read on the internet. He'll be okay!


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## jcottonl02 (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks Mandy .

I certainly do freak out over internet information a lot!

I'm very glad that the vet said I could bring him back after the meds free of charge to check it was working, so at least that will put my mind at ease.

Jen


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## jcottonl02 (Feb 1, 2012)

Well I went back to the vets today to check Benji's ears after his 8 days of meds, and she said that both ears looked absolutely great! 

So I'm very happy with this news 

Thanks for all your replies and help.

Jen


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