I adopted a rabbit a little over a month ago and since that time he has been at the vet quite a bit. He had ear mites and a severe bacterial ear infection that required that he have anesthesia to clean out his ears. He had one course of oral antibiotics and two of ear drops. that seems to have cleared up, but now he is getting what looks like accumulation of dirt on the edges of his ears and the fur doesn't seem as thick. I have looked as closely as I can and cannot see anything. I know that it is not fleas because we have a cat and neither one is scratching. What could it be?

I'm sorry that your new bun has had so many problems.

I doubt it is fleas but just because an animal is not scratching does not mean it's not fleas.

Has the vet looked at the ears since they have this new problem? "Dirt" around the ears could be bacterial, fungal, or debris from parasites (the ear mites or something else). If the vet verifies that it's not parasites or bacteria (the ears should be cultered), then sometimes fungus or yeast will take advantage. My dog for years had painful ears and antibiotics didn't work. It was because he had a yeast infection. Once he got the right medicine, it cleared up. An ear culture sent to a lab can help with that.

Either way, you should buy some ear cleaning solution and clean the ears carefully each day.

I've had a dog, cats, and rabbits with ear problems so I wish I could see your bun in person to give a better guess to the problem. Maybe you could post some photos?

I suggest buying a small microscope. I've used it to look at various parasites that my animals have had. My dog also had chiggers (small mites) that I found under a microscope that the vet did NOT find. I kept telling the vet that he had something; the vet said no. Once I proved him wrong, my dog got the right medicine and got rid of the chiggers.

I hope things improve!

Thank you for your information.

It is not in the ears it is on the top at the point of the ears and on the back. His ears seem to be clean. I look in them everyday. When we got him, his ears were black inside. They are nice and healthy now. On the inside. Do I clean the tips and back of his ears with a cleaning solution too?

I will try to get a photo and post it if I can figure out how. Thank you so much for your help.

Teresa

That sounds strange. A photo might help. I would wash the tip and back of the ears and see if the stuff comes back or not.