Ear pellets?

[raetcd]

So I have three does that all like to lay under the J feeders seemingly to let the kits climb on her and get better access to the pellets/grass/etc.. that we put in the feeders. While letting them out for a run the other day my daughter noticed that one of the does had "gunk" in her ear. Upon closer observation is looked like some decomposed pellets fell into her ear and stayed there. It was so packed with this "stuff" that we had to use tweezers and very steady hands to pull it all out over a three day period. It was so disgustingly gross. Glad to report that as of last night her ears are completely clear and she seems to be able to hear again.

Has anyone else had this happen? If not...is it possible that it wasn't pellets but something else that happened to put all that stuff in her ears? I'd take a pic of it but y'all would be sick probably...and it's already cleared out now.

 

[MaggieJ]

Ear mites will cause crusted gunk in the ears. It is very disgusting. If it happens again, put some olive oil or mineral oil in the ears. It will smother the mites. There is another thread about ear mites at present... I suggest you read it too.

 

[raetcd]

See that's the weird part. I've dealt with ear mites before...this wasn't it. I so wish I got a pic of it before we cleared the problem up. *shrugs* it's all good now.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Did the gunk smell like really ripe sweaty socks? Yeast infections reek and are often a sickly yellowish green color.

If that is the case, you can treat them with a dilution of one part vinegar to one part water. Yeast thrives in an alkaline environment, and the acidity of the vinegar will change the pH of the ear, killing the yeast and inhibiting further growth. You should probably treat the ears a few times spaced 2 or 3 days apart.

 

[raetcd]

I can't honestly say I took the time to try and smell it. I was almost too grossed out to look at it let alone try and sniff it. The best description I can give of it was imagine a cup of pellets that have been sitting out in moisture for a while and then packed into the rabbits ear. That's what it looked like.

The fact that there was no blood at all I suppose is a good thing.

I hope it never happens again...but if it does then I'll be sure to take pics.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

If it was yeast, and you have a normal sense of smell, you would have smelled it. Yeast infections tend to be more yellow than green.

 

[Secuono]

Try moving the feeders and see if that helps any.

 

[Diamond]

was probably pellets... they do swell up once moist. Ick. Glad you got it all out. I invested in a veterinary otoscope ($50 on ebay) to be able to look into the ear canal of my dogs, horses, goats, cats, and rabbits. Very helpful when you are trying to figure out what is going on with the ears. Gives you a close-up look at the canal; basically crusty or oozy goo on outside = outer ear infection, inflamed outer ear canal and red ear drum = inner ear infection. Found a grass seed stuck in the canal of my dog's ear, had to pay $60 for the vet to pull it out with foreceps - which I then went online and bought a pair of the exact same forceps for $6.00. What the heck, if the vet can do it I can do it, right???

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I bought my otoscope from this company- I think they start at $20, the model I have is on sale for $27 with free shipping.

http://www.drmomotoscope.com/#product