How to treat ear scabies in rabbits
Often farmers and breeders, fearing serious illnesses, absolutely forget to prevent other ailments. However, even ear scabies in rabbits, seemingly one of the most common infections, can seriously harm the body of pets.
Ear scabies in rabbits
The solution to the problem is simple prevention. If the disease is prevented in time, many problems can be avoided.
Psoroptosis: causes and consequences of the disease
Psoroptosis is a disease in rabbits caused by Psoroptes cuniculi mites.
The pliers are oval in shape and up to 1 mm in size. Parasites live in the auricle, ear canal, and can also infect the eardrum. The disease is more commonly known as ear scabies in rabbits.
The disease is especially active towards the end of winter or early spring, but a pet can catch an ear mite throughout the year.
The parasite is able to enter the animal organism from a sick relative, a person, through dirty cages, aviaries and inventory. Very often, the infection of rabbits from the mother is recorded, therefore, during pregnancy and lactation, special care should be taken for the rabbit. A herd of rabbits that live in close quarters with high humidity will be at high risk of getting sick. This creates an ideal habitat for harmful insects.
Many farmers consider the disease to be frivolous and do not provide timely treatment to infected individuals, which leads to sad consequences:
- refusal to eat and weight loss;
- lack of breastfeeding in the offspring;
- poor work of the reproductive system of the body;
- the development of tumors or cysts in the brain, which leads to the death of the eared.
Monthly prophylaxis will prevent ear scabies in rabbits and avoid the damage caused by the disease. You need to monitor your pet not only during the period of illness, but also after healing.
If during the treatment period the furry behaves aggressively, he experiences pain. Cooling cream can help reduce pain symptoms.
Symptoms, forms and diagnosis of ear scabies in rabbits
Symptoms of psoroptosis in rabbits are less pronounced in the early stages of the disease. The stages of the disease in animals are divided into acute, subacute and chronic. The severity of hearing damage depends on the form of the disease:
- asymptomatic course;
- easy form;
- medium form;
- severe form.
The incubation period varies from 1 day to a week. The asymptomatic form of psoroptosis in rabbits is determined by a veterinarian during a clinical examination of the animal. At the base of the ear canal, the doctor discovers dry gray crusts and protruding red vessels. During a mild form, the disease is expressed in foci of skin irritation, inflammation appears. Outwardly, the rabbit does not look sick, but occasionally it can shake its head and scratch its ears with its front paws.
With this form, reddened swellings first appear at the site of the lesion, which are replaced by bubbles, after a couple of days the bubbles burst and the ichor flows out of them, forming a dry crust. During the initial examination of the auricle, the veterinarian in the external auditory canal may notice an increased amount of sulfur, which adheres in small lumps.
If the scabies has passed into a medium form, then the pathological process affects the base of the auricles, the external auditory canal, part of the neck, back, and toes of the front paws. The auricle in a sick rabbit is covered with a dense crust. The skin around the ear is also pinched by a large amount of crusts, leading to hearing loss.
When psoroptosis progresses in the distant auditory canals, the process of inflammation and suppuration begins. The fluid from the ears becomes viscous and contains small amounts of blood. This is the most dangerous stage of the disease, since the brain, the organs of smell and vision can be affected. A sick rabbit is restless, eats and drinks poorly, he has a sharp increase in body temperature, some individuals may show curliness, throwing around the enclosure, sore ears hang down, the rodent is not able to really raise them. Such rabbits weaken, their exhaustion is noted, and death often occurs.
If the disease has complicated to an inflammatory process in the cerebral cortex, convulsions and a nervous tic may occur. When a disease affects the nervous system, it is more humane to euthanize the animal.
Diagnostics is carried out on the basis of scraping the affected ear skin in special laboratories. If the pinna is severely damaged, X-rays are taken to make sure that the brain is intact. If the veterinary clinic is out of reach, simply take a scraping from your pet's ear and place it in hot vaseline oil. With the help of a magnifying glass, you can see the parasites swarming in the sample.
Medication method of treatment
First of all, you need to find and transfer sick individuals to a free enclosure for quarantine. After consulting a veterinarian, the indicated medications should be purchased. Medicines differ in their effectiveness and methods of application. This can be a spray, ointment, or vaccine. The disinfection procedure is quite simple and similar to the use of many means: you need to apply the medicine to the damaged area and then remove the parasites with a cotton swab.
The aerosol is sprayed 6 cm from the rabbit's auricle. Also, do not forget to cover your pet's eyes, among other things, you need to massage the ears after the procedure. Among the popular drugs, these are also noted:
- psoroptol;
- dickresil;
- acrodex;
- cyodrin and others.
Well suited is Creolin, one of the most readily available drugs. Creolin should be used to treat the affected area with a cotton swab, and then massage the rabbit's ear. Disinfection of the ear canals should be done every week. The rabbit is considered healthy a couple of days after the cessation of discharge from the auricle. Vaccination is a radical but more reliable way to kill a tick. Also, the preparations Baymek and Ivomek do an excellent job with their task.
A small list of known agents that will help in the fight against parasites:
- Sulfidophosis;
- Chlorophos;
- Foxim;
- Cyodrin;
- Neocidol.
Which drug is better able to help in each specific case, only a veterinarian can say. He will determine the correct dosage.
Traditional methods of dealing with ear mites
Many farmers prefer to treat rabbits' ear scabies at home. For this, a solution of sunflower oil and kerosene is used in proportions 1: 1. In some cases, kerosene is substituted for turpentine. The auricle of an infected animal is wiped with a mixture with cotton wool, after which it is massaged for a while. At the end of the treatment, cotton swabs are used to remove the dried-on crust.To remove a tick, one procedure is usually enough, but it is worth observing the crawl: if the ichor flows from the ear again and a scab forms, the procedure should be repeated.
In its pure form, kerosene or turpentine can burn a pet's skin, so the medicinal mixture is made on the basis of vegetable oil. You can also soften the turpentine with a moisturizer or glycerin.
Camphor for ticks
There is another method of treatment that is used by many eared owners. They advise treating ear scabies with camphor oil. It is enough to add 2-3 drops to the auricle and massage the ears with a cotton swab. If the tick is not removed the first time, the procedure should be repeated after a week.
Experienced owners treat rabbit psoroptosis with sulfur and vegetable oil, maintaining a 1: 1 ratio. The method of application is the same as when using kerosene. A good method of treating rabbit ears for scabies is a mixture of iodine and sunflower oil in a 1: 4 ratio. The auricle of the animal is lubricated from the inside every two days.
Treating ear scabies in rabbits at home may be no less effective than with medication, but before using traditional methods, you should consult a veterinarian.
The most important thing in all procedures involving ear scabies in rabbits is to avoid re-infection. To do this, it is enough to follow a number of simple rules:
- to carry out acaricidal disinfection of aviaries, equipment, things, surfaces, premises;
- inspect the ears of rabbits monthly;
- the rabbit must be examined 2 weeks before giving birth, if necessary, treated;
- new individuals must be kept isolated for at least 3 weeks;
- people and other pets should not be allowed to come into contact with a sick rabbit.
Psoroptosis in rabbits becomes dangerous for the animals around it on the second day of the appearance of fluff on the skin. So the disease in the period of progression can quickly spread to the entire brood, and later - infect the entire rabbitry.
Treatment of psoroptosis in rabbits should be supervised by a veterinarian. It is easiest to stop the spread of the infection than to lose all the pets later.
Prevention of ear scabies in rabbits
In order to avoid an epidemic of psoroptosis, it is necessary to observe sanitary norms and rules for keeping rabbits. Every year it is required to disinfect the enclosures and animal feeders. New specimens should be isolated from the rest of the herd for 3 weeks. If the rabbit has scabies, it will be noticeable in a short amount of time. The place where the rodents are kept should be clean and spacious, and the rabbits should not feel cramped. In addition to the threat of scabies, it is fraught with muscle atrophy and bone deformation. If an animal goes out for a walk, be sure to wipe its paws with a wet rag: rabbits often rub their muzzle and ears with their paws and can easily carry a tick.
Timely prevention will reduce the risk of contracting rabbits with a disease such as scabies. Do not underestimate this disease, because a protracted form can seriously cripple a pet or even end in death. Timely check-ups and advice from a veterinarian will help your rabbits stay healthy and live a full life.
So, only timely prevention will help the pet to survive such an unpleasant disease as psoroptosis. Treatment of the disease in the early stages is quite simple and budgetary. However, it is worth remembering that in a neglected state this disease can be fatal and the animal will suffer for a long time. The life of a pet depends only on human actions!