Often farmers and breeders, fearing serious illnesses, absolutely forget to carry out the prevention of other ailments. However, even ear scabies in rabbits, it would seem, is 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 you prevent the disease in time, you can avoid many problems.
Psoroptosis: causes and consequences of the disease
Psoroptosis is a disease in rabbits caused by Psoroptes cuniculi mites.
Ticks have an oval shape and size up to 1 mm. 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 body from a sick relative, a person, through dirty cells, aviaries and inventory. Very often infection of rabbits from the mother is recorded, therefore, during pregnancy and lactation, rabbits should be given special care. 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 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 offspring;
- poor functioning 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 help 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 the furry behaves aggressively during the treatment period, 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 not so 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 crusts of gray color 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 from time to time it can shake its head and comb its ears with its front paws.
In this form, reddened swelling first appears at the site of the lesion, which is replaced by blisters, after a couple of days, the blisters burst and a sucrose 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 to 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 pulled together by a large number of crusts, which leads 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, in some individuals, wry head may appear, throwing around the enclosure, sore ears hang down, the rodent is not able to really raise them. Such rabbits weaken, their exhaustion is noted, death often occurs.
Treatment for ear scabies in rabbits
A simple way to treat an ear tick in a rabbit.
Ear mites in rabbits. Treatment.
If the disease has complicated to an inflammatory process in the cerebral cortex, convulsions and a nervous tic may occur. When the disease affects the nervous system, the animal is more humane to euthanize.
Diagnostics is carried out on the basis of scraping the affected ear skin in special laboratories. With severe damage to the auricle, x-ray photos are taken to make sure the brain is intact. If the veterinary clinic is out of reach, just take a scraping from the ear of the pet and place it in hot liquid paraffin. With the help of a magnifying glass, parasites can be seen swarming in the sample.
Medication method of treatment
First of all, it is necessary to find and put sick individuals into a free quarantine enclosure. After consulting a veterinarian, you should purchase these medications. Medicines differ in their effectiveness and methods of application. It can be a spray, ointment or a vaccine. The disinfection procedure is quite simple and similar to using many means: you need to apply the medicine to the damaged area and then remove the parasites with a cotton swab.
Aerosol is sprayed 6 cm from the auricle of a rabbit. 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. Ear canal disinfection should occur 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 tools that will help in the fight against parasites:
- Sulfidophosis;
- Chlorophos;
- Foxim;
- Tsiodrin;
- Neocidolum.
Which drug is better able to help in each 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. To do this, use a solution of sunflower oil and kerosene in 1: 1 proportions. In some cases, kerosene is substituted for turpentine. The auricle of an infected animal is wiped with a mixture using cotton wool, after which it is massaged for some time. 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 treatment method 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 with scabies is a mixture of iodine and sunflower oil in a ratio of 1: 4. The animal’s auricle is lubricated from the inside every two days.
Treating ear scabies in rabbits at home may be no less effective than using 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. For this, it is enough to follow a number of simple rules:
- carry out acaricidal disinfection of aviaries, inventory, things, surfaces, premises;
- examine 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.
Psoriasis in rabbits becomes dangerous for the surrounding animals already on the second day of the appearance of pussies on the skin. So the disease during the progression period can quickly dissipate to the entire brood, and later - to 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, disinfection of aviaries and animal feeders is required. New individuals 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 crowded. 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 preventive measures will reduce the risk of infection of rabbits with a disease such as scabies. Do not underestimate this disease, because the protracted form can seriously cripple the pet or even end in death. Timely check-ups and advice from a veterinarian will help 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!