Throwback: The day a piece of Mabel’s ear fell off

Back in 2016, on a very hot day towards the end of August, Mabel went into stasis. X-rays revealed bloat but no blockage – it was probably a slow-down due to her relentless carpet pulling and heavy moult, exasperated by the hot weather. 

Abdominal X-rays.

During consulation, the vet told us the bloat was severe, and odds of recovery were low, but we were not ready to give up on Mabel, and she was admitted that so intravenous fluids could be administered via a catheter in her ear. 

We visited the next evening to see her, and saw she was clearly bothered by the drip tube. The following evening when we visited, we were upset to find she was wearing an Elizabethan collar. 

Mabel with her bandaged ear and collar.

When questioned about this, the nurse said Mabel had been chewing her drip tube, setting the alarm off at frequent intervals. We said we were concerned that Mabel wouldn’t be able to eat her caecotrophs – the nurse looked blank and said she’d ask someone, and called a more senior nurse; that nurse assured us that Mabel could move freely, eat without any problem, and that rabbits only produced one caecotroph, once a day, in the morning, and that she would manage to eat it because animals usually find a way of doing what they want whilst wearing the collars! 

This experience demonstrated to us the importance of ensuring our rabbits were treated not only by a rabbit-savvy vet but also a rabbit-savvy vet nurse! 

For rabbits, E-collars should only be used when there really is no alternative – and even then, they should be soft collars, not hard plastic ones with a tab which irritates a rabbit’s neck. Collars can cause stress, limit mobility, and are more likely to increase anorexia (see Chapter 3, 3.14, ‘Elizabethan collars’ in Frances Harcourt-Brown’s Textbook of Rabbit Medicine).  

Mabel had already spent three nights at the practice, and the vet advised us to leave her there for longer, as she still hadn’t made a full recovery, but we thought she stood a better chance back home. Also, we hadn’t taken Dijon to be with her for company, and he was missing her – and there was a risk their bond would be broken. 

Thankfully, Mabel soon recovered at home. Her ear was lopped over for a couple of days, but we thought nothing of it… 

Mabel with her limp ear.

…Until a fortnight later: Her ear looked increasingly scabby where the catheter had been inserted, and felt dry, but she wouldn’t keep still enough for me to look closely, so I picked her up to examine it. There was a scar-like line, on the edge, near the base of the ear. I'd barely touched it when an inch long slither of her ear fell into my hand, and then – as I recoiled in horror – to the ground! 

The slither of ear.

It was completely hard. There was no blood, and Mabel showed no sign of pain and didn't even wash her ear when I put her back on the floor. In fact it was Dijon who showed the greater interest, looking as though he was going to eat the piece of ear! 

 

There was no blood.

Mabel was unperturbed.

The piece of ear which fell off was necrotic tissue. It had died because of the drip – the vet said they’d had difficulty finding a vein, and of course we knew Mabel had fought to remove it. It may have meant that some of the fluids weren't even getting into her system, which would explain why she hadn’t made a full recovery, and was extremely thirsty when she returned home. 

Fortunately, Mabel lost no further bits of ear, and continued to look beautiful, even with her modification!