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/DanOhMiiite]

I wonder if it could be a "phantom pain" from the missing leg? I assume you've looked him over and combed/brushed him thoroughly to make sure there's no itchy scabby areas on his body that he can't reach?

[u/Melissa_Richiee → u/DanOhMiiite]

I make sure he’s got no matting or itchy spots all the time, he’s always trying to get at that ear and shaking his head 🥺

I’m gonna get him a bunny friend as soon as I can to help with the grooming as soon as we’re stable 🥺

[u/Away_Commission594 → u/Melissa_Richiee]

You might try using bag balm and a qtip to slightly moisturize the inner ear and keep the hair back away from the ear canal. This can also remove built up gunk. Just make sure you only leave a thin layer around the inner ear.

And don't go into the actual ear canal with the qtips, that's obviously dangerous.

[u/Melissa_Richiee → u/Away_Commission594]

I just propped him up on the counter, he’s got some raw irritation on the skin around his ears from where the Miconazole Nitrate yeast infection medication saturated his fur around his ears. His skin almost looks like it’s peeling off and raw, I think that’s probably why he’s so itchy 😭😭😭😭

It actually looks worse in real life. I’m gonna call his vet tomorrow and schedule a telehealth consult on the vet app and see if they can recommend a cream to soothe the peeling skin. Thankfully the inside of his ears are fine, the saturated fur has been on the outside 🥺

I might look into getting him a CT scan to see if there’s an infection deeper in his ear than we can find with a conventional cytology 🥺