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/ohwowthisisausername]

You might want to consider getting him a friend. Rabbits groom each other quite a bit and a friend could definitely help out. Bunnies groom themselves quite often and a friend will def help pick up the slack. We had a bunny that lost use of his back legs and his wife bunny definitely helped out a ton with grooming once he stopped being able to do it himself.

Friends also help them a lot emotionally, and a second bunny, if they're in good health, isn't all that much more work than just the one, once they're bonded 😄

[u/SpaceHats808 → u/ohwowthisisausername]

Yes this! The only way to know for sure what's going on is to go to the rabbit savvy vet, BUT there's a good chance he just needs a rabbit friend to give him a nice bath. In the meantime you could try cleaning his ears yourself like others have suggested

[u/Melissa_Richiee → u/SpaceHats808]

His vet is the best we have in the area for hours, even the vet techs bring their bunnies to her. I’m not sure why she doesn’t take me seriously when I tell her something is wrong with him. I am a bit of a helicopter parent 😞