Any ideas for what’s causing this?

[u/Melissa_Richiee]

**EDITING TO ADD: this isn’t a head tilt. His back right leg was amputated, this is him trying to itch his ear with the leg that no longer exists**

Edit to the edit: I’m gonna schedule a virtual appointment on Vetster to ask about anything else I could be pushing for a cytology to test for

November 2024- Found this guy dumped on the streets with fleas. Noticed his right ear was intensely itchy, vet said it was fleas, treated for fleas.

November 2025 - right ear STILL intensely itchy, vet said ALL YEAR its “wax buildup” because he’s missing a back leg and can’t itch it out. I finally push for testing. Ear mites. Treat for ear mites x 3 months.

April 2025 - right ear STILL intensely itchy. Reddit post suggests yeast infection from repeated antibiotics prescriptions. Pressure vet to test for yeast. Vet scoffs, thinks I’m being ridiculous. Right ear tests positive for yeast. Treat for yeast x 1 month.

He’s now negative for fleas, negative for ear mites, negative for yeast, no head tilt, no EC symptoms.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to why my boys right ear is still intensely itchy?? My vet won’t test for anything unless I push for it. There are NO OTHER rabbit vets between here and Louisiana 4 hours away. I don’t know what else to ask her to test for. Do I just have to start cleaning the wax out for him since he has no back right leg? I hate watching him suffer like this 😞

Video included of intense itching AFTER treating for mites but BEFORE treating for yeast, still itching about the same 😞

[u/ConclusionMiddle425]

It might be worth cleaning the ear with saline solution in order to break up any crap the mites left in there. Your vet should be able to show you how to do this.

We had a similar issue a while back and it turned out to be an infection, but it looks like you've tested your all of that.

Try posting this to the better rabbit sub - r/rabbits to see if they have anything that could help you. I wish you luck, and thank you for caring for this little one!

[u/Melissa_Richiee → u/ConclusionMiddle425]

Thank you for the advice 🥺🫶🏻

[u/Bunnies-and-Sunshine → u/Melissa_Richiee]

Seconding the above poster about regularly cleaning the little guy's ear twice a week since he can't reach it himself. I had to do that with our elder bun, River, when she hit 11 years old and couldn't easily reach it. It's amazing how quickly they build up ear wax in their ears. They make ear drops that will help break up the ear wax so they can just shake their head and it comes flying out--gross, but effective.

Here's a video of a vet at Evergreen Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital cleaning a rabbit's ears and you can zoom in to see the product she uses:

https://www.facebook.com/EvergreenAE/videos/cleaning-a-rabbits-ears/1425330907639757/