Bleeding ear

[hazelchespea]

I noticed last week that one of my gerbils Chestnut had blood around his ear so I took everything out of the tank to check for anything sharp which may have caused his ear to bleed however I didn't find anything. His ear started to look better after a few days but I noticed today that it had got worse and it is bleeding a little so we got him out and tried to bathe his ear with a cotton pad and some water. I have no idea how it happened, he lives with 2 other gerbils but I have never seen them fight so it's unlikely that caused it and as far as I'm aware there is nothing inside the cage which could have caused it. Does anyone know what would have caused it? And is there anything that I should do? I have a picture of his ear but I don't know how to post pictures on here. Thanks  

[sonichouse]

I just went through a similar issue with my boy Pepper. I took him to the vet after a few weeks of this coming and seemingly getting better. The vet gave us an AB in a cream to be put in his ear 3 times daily. That was last Friday. This morning Pepper was chirping with each breath and had not touched his food. I took him to another Vet today and found out that the infection in his ear had gotten much worse, and also in just 3 days had lost 23 grams of weight. He was 100 grams on Friday now was 67 grams. Dr. Sweet gave us some options on critical care or making the hard choice. She told me it was likely to be an uphill battle and because of how much he deteriorated in such a short time the results were not likely to be good. We had to let him go so he would not continue to suffer. My point is don't wait if you see your boy is sick. Inner ear infections can be devastating fast to their health. Remember the nature of all prey animal's is to hide being sick. By the time we notice this it already has gone on for a while. I feel if I had gone to this vet Dr. Sweet on friday Pepper might have had a chance. Good luck.

[catnut]

soo sorry to hear about your Pepper, may he rest in peace. Take care.