head tilt-please help urgently!!!

Hi
my bunny Benny had upper respiory problem and was seen friday night, today he looked so poorly, hardly eating, head to the floor, breathing heavy. took him back to emergency vet and to my shoch flipped over in the carrier and then at the vet. his head is now totally tilted to one side and the vet diagnosed head tilt.
He has given me baytril, metacam, panacur and canaural for his ears as there was puss in one them. He is in such a sorry state and i have now noticed he eye is flickering from side to side, which in my book it's says is a stroke. He can't lift his head and will not eat or drink as he is so distressed. The vet said he might not pulll through, I am totally distraugt, really want to know if it's possible he'll pull through. i don't want him to suffer and it's killing me watching him. How far should i let this go.
Please any advise or experiences.........

:shock: Oh Lisa - such a shock Has the vet given Benny a steriod injection? He will need this - also, if you can get some anti-sickness tablets and give him half a tablet crushed up in water via a syringe - this will help the dizziness.

If the vet can see puss in the ear then it could be an infection but it could also indicate an abscess somewhere in the ear canal It could also be a stroke

Lisa, see how the medications go - if it is something bad then Benny will let you know - a lot of our buns, as you know, have come through these things - but it is down to the bun and how far bun can go.

I am sending all the vibes that I can - I truly hope that Benny can get through this. You must keep him warm, as still as you can and hydrated. Please try and keep calm around him, he will pick up on your nerves and this will stress him out more.

Sending love to Benny and to you as well - xxxxxxxxxx

thanks jay
to be honest, i'm in such a state. I just can't bear to lose him and hate seeing him like this. If I knew he would pull through i could cope better, i don't want him to suffer. i'll do what ever it takes and am willing to nurse him. I've given some of his meds but am trying to let him calm down. Because of how bad a state he's in i can't honestly say I'd know if he'd had enough... What would signs be if things have gone to far? mouth breathing, grinding teeth?

Awwww Lisa - grinding teeth could indicate pain but they also grind their teeth with stress He is poorly, his head has tilted and he doesn't know what is happening Obviously mouth breathing would be bad but if he isn't doing that then just carry on letting him rest and trying to comfortable
I know you are panicking and I would be to - but what you have to remember is that Benny knows your voice - it's the one thing that he relies on - he knows the normal way you talk to him and no matter how upset and sad you are you have to try and keep your voice in the normal way that he knows it This will help calm him as well.
I so hope your boy can get better - the first 48 hours are the crucial ones

Hi ,

so sorry to hear your bun is so poorly .

i would just like say .....be sure if you have to make a decision to let him go be sure it is for his sake not yours .

my thumper was realy ill last year with a bad ear infection . One day i put him in the run and he just kept falling over . i was distraight and said thats it its time to let him go ....my OH persuaded me to leave him till the next day as our surgery was closed and it would have been a vet we didnt know ........he fully recovered .

looking back i can see that i nearly had him put to sleep for my sake....just because it upset me to see him stumbling about and rolling over .
he hadnt had enough . he was still trying to eat and move around .

give him a couple of days at least . he may respond to treatment .

it took over 3 months before thumper got well...and hes still here and 9.5 yrs old .

Angie x

bunnymadhouse said:

Hi ,

so sorry to hear your bun is so poorly .

i would just like say .....be sure if you have to make a decision to let him go be sure it is for his sake not yours .

my thumper was realy ill last year with a bad ear infection . One day i put him in the run and he just kept falling over . i was distraight and said thats it its time to let him go ....my OH persuaded me to leave him till the next day as our surgery was closed and it would have been a vet we didnt know ........he fully recovered .

looking back i can see that i nearly had him put to sleep for my sake....just because it upset me to see him stumbling about and rolling over .
he hadnt had enough . he was still trying to eat and move around .

give him a couple of days at least . he may respond to treatment .

it took over 3 months before thumper got well...and hes still here and 9.5 yrs old .

Angie x

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I would second this. I replied to your other thread in rabbit care, but please give the meds a chance.

i know your all right, and i would never let him go for my sake, i will do whatever it takes but I just don't want him to suffer and that i my main concern.

bunny mad lisa said:

i know your all right, and i would never let him go for my sake, i will do whatever it takes but I just don't want him to suffer and that i my main concern.

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thats just how i felt ...but seeing him like that i didnt realise it was me suffering not him .

its an awful dicision to make and we do it with our buns best interests at heart ....but when we are distressed we dont always realise why we do things .

take time to think things over . if i had done it it would have been based on a spur of the moment decision .

if i had done what i was going to do that day i wouldnt be any the wiser . it was only because he got better that i now realise.

i do hope he gets better . give him lots of love and cuddles .

Angie xx

If he's still not eating or drinking then I would advise you to take him back to your vets tomorrow. He will need something to get his guts moving. In the meantime I would try syringe feeding him a little water if it doesn't distress him too much. If he's fine with that then you could try a little critical care (if you have any).
Other than that it's a case of keeping him comfortable and keeping up with the medicines.

Am thinking of you and hope he pulls through.

T x

thanks
Update...i have rang the vet and he doesn't think it is a stroke but due to the infection. i asked about a steroid injection but he doesn't think we should do that as it will knock back his immune system which he doesn't think he'll cope with. I will be taking him to my own vet tomorrow.

i am doing my best to keep him comfortable and trying to calm myself down as I have 7 more hungry bunnies who need me too. I have some recovery to feed him, i'm just so worried about stressing him more but I know what i need to do now...i can see it's going to be along night.
Any advice on making him comfortable would help. i have him on a blanket in the bottom of a pet carrier at the mo. I was thinking of trying to prop him up a bit with a pillow.

please send him vibes...thanks for listening to a panicing bunny mom!

If he still has the head tilt then something to prop him up would be a good idea - either a pillow or a rolled up towel.
By the sounds of it he's proably as comfortable as he can be for tonight. Just give regular checks on him and offer water/ recovery food often to see if he'll take it.

hope to hear good news soon.

T x

Lisa - I went through this exact same thing about 6 weeks ago, Charlie was totally on his side, rolling, v distressed etc etc. He went to the emergency vet and none of us thought he'd make it through, as I type this he's hopping around the lounge honking cos he wants his dinner. Try to stay positive, I was amazed at how quickly Charlie improved once the meds kicked in - we still don't know exactly what it was but we treated him for an ear infection or EC (incl steroids) and his symptoms were identical to what you have described.

Charlie seemed calmer if we wedged him a bit to stop him rolling, and then put something under his head to lift it slightly - it was trial and error really. We sat with him a lot and got so we understood what made him comfy. Beings as he was totally on his side we tried feeding him water and recovery (that we made up very runny) from a spoon which he seemed to manage if we lfted his head a little for him, and we also bundled up hay into little balls and he managed that too (I ended up getting him timothy hay cakes which he seemed to find easier than hay while he was on his side). When we picked him up to move him or try to syringe feed him he got very disorientated and stressed - so we tried very hard to keep him the way he thought was upright.

Sending you both lots of hugs and healing wishes,

Sending loads of vibes lisa. xx

Sending loads of vibes for Benny x x

I am SO sorry to hear this.....you must be SO worried and upset. ::hugs::

Sending all of the healing vibes to Benny that I can muster. XXX

(((((((((( VIBES ))))))))))

I'm so sorry to here, this Thinking of you and sending loads of vibes for the wee chap xxxxx

Thinking of you xxxxx Lots of vibes xxxxx

Hi Lisa

so sorry to hear Big Benny bun is not well hope you dont mind but I have just been through some of your topic's to see if you had had any other problems with him and noticed that he had a smelly ear and wax and had baytril for a week to no effect, is this the same ear that he now has the discharge from?

Its just a thought but it might be worth having a nose swab done to see what bacteria it is as my Marcelly big bun was on baytril last year and it didn't do anything, had a culture swab done and the bacteria was resistant to baytril so he was put on septrin which really did the trick, but we had weeks of being on baytril which just wasn't touching it

I would advise panacuring the buns that Benny is bonded with too or other buns that he has been in contact with just to be on the safe side

I hope he makes a speedy recovery Lisa, healing vibes hopping your way x

thank you everyone for your thoughts and advice.
Benny is still a very poorly boy and he didn't improve at all over night. i got myself in a bit of a staight as i couldn't get any fluids or food down him. he just woundn't swallow and let it run out the side of his mouth. I stayed up with him all night to make sure he felt safe as he kept trying to get up and would get himself in a right staight. i took him down to my own vet when they opened this morning and they admitted him straight away to give him fluids and try some steroids. i hate leaving him there but i did feel this was the best option at the moment. I am ringing at 2pm to see how he's doing. The fact that he made it through the night made me know i have to keep trying. I just hope the vet can get on top of things. the worst thing is his mate Joon is very poorly herself with a suspect abscess behind the eye which is probably going to be operated on very soon. i was hoping benny would help her through it.

DENNY-benny has had ear problems for a few months now but only had a short course of the baytril but i will suggest a swab, thanks.
BEVBUNNY- thanks that gives me some hope

thanks everyone!

tons of vibes Lisa, really feel for all bunny owners when their bunnies their become ill as is it so stressful and upsetting to see them ill

Hope he will be back home with you soon on the road to recovery

xxx