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Head tilt bun UPDATE

Angie65

Wise Old Thumper
I need any info.:cry:
He's been on metacam, baytril & some eardrops - for a week. Also one week into panacur. His head tilt isn't massively obvious, but he can't walk straight - he falls over mostly to the right, although head is tilting left. He isn't mine, I'm just boarding him

He's eating - not a lot, but loves plums & he's getting spoilt a bit :oops:.

Is there anything I should be doing? He's timid, hates the ear drops, but reasonably accepting of the panacur/baytril.

ETA: He's quarantined from my own buns
 
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Aw, I'm sorry. Head tilt really sucks.

I don't think he needs quarantining from others if he is used to them, but can completely understand keeping him away from yours.

The stress of being boarded may have lowered his immune system which has allowed the infection to take over. What bad timing all round.

Baytril is unlikely to be effective enough, so it might be worth talking to your vet about injectable penicillins or cephalosporins and seeing what they feel your options are. I have heard of a wide variety of drugs helping buns beat head tilt (penicillins, obviously, zithromax, we used Convenia with Tilly, so there are a variety of options there for you and your buns). I would suggest discussing it with the owner too.

Metacam is good. If your bun is struggling with rolling and being disorientated then sometimes something with the active ingredient of Meclizine can help with the disorienatation, but it doesn't work for all bunnies-some find it useful, some don't seem to show any change, in one or two it seems to make them more disorientated.

How severely it is effecting him? If he is struggling to be up right you can roll towels and use them to prop up either side. I would also suggest using a bowl instead of a bottle and putting it within reach. Basically just make things really easy for him to reach and get, but obviosuly get away from too.

It's so sad seeing a bunny in such distress, but they can come through it (as you know), so hang on in there for as long as your bunny is fighting. Some cope ok, others dont; hopefully yours will.

It's even harder doing all that when its not your bunny. I really feel for you, and him. How long have you got him for?
 
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It's so sad seeing a bunny in such distress, but they can come through it (as you know), so hang on in there for as long as your bunny is fighting. Some cope ok, others dont; hopefully yours will.

It's even harder doing all that when its not your bunny. I really feel for you, and him. How long have you got him for?

2 weeks - he's leaving Saturday:cry:

He seems fine when still - he does appear to tuck himself into corners though - I never thought that it may be to stay upright.:cry: - He was falling over when he arrived tbh - I watched him in the run & knew there was something not quite right

He does pelt round the run, but then falls and gets panicky -

He already has a bowl for water. :D

Thanks both for all info:D
 
Hi,

When my Oscar had really bad head tilt he would stay in his wooden tunnel as it stopped him from rolling over. Might be an idea if you have one. Hope he's better soon.
 
I will put one in his run, thanks:D

We are back at the vets tonight so will ask about Zithromax. He seems worse today - he's very fall-y - although he is moving around more than usual. I wish he didn't have to go on Sat:cry: I was half dead last night cos I had 3 hours sleep Sun night, but then he started licking my arm, so I stayed up. At 1.30am:oops:
 
He might also like a heat source to rest his neck on. My Tilly was bonded with Summer when Summer had her choking incident and that night we moved the trio into the living room and gave Summer a head pad just in case she decided she was going into shock or anything, and Summer showed no interest in it at all, but Tilly spent most of the time with her tilted side very carefully placed on it, and it was so deliberate it couldn't have been anything else.

Sometimes massages can also help the neck and prevent it seizing up (which can make them more disorientated and tilty) and also the colder weather can make a tilt worse. Not sure what its like where you are today, but its much colder here today than yesterday, so that might also do it.
 
I can bring him inside. Haven't had a living room bun in a while. And I will sort a heat pad for this evening. Thanks:D
 
Hi Angie, sorry to hear about your poor little man :cry: Head tilt is so awful to see - it nearly broke my heart when Wilson was so poorly with it.

I would definitely speak to your vet about trying Zithromax - it's not licenced for use in animals as it's a human abx, but it can work really well. Bunnymad lisa's bun had it, as well as another bun on the On The Wonk website. Your vet might be cautious as it's not licenced for buns, but we felt we had no option but to try it & thankfully for Wilson it's worked :) He still has rolling episodes every now & again, but he is still enjoying life & loves being with his partner Alice.

We felt baytril did nothing for Wilson :? He was also on stemitil which is a human anti-sickness drug & helped with his rolling, plus streroid injections. The main thing is to make sure that he's somewhere he can't hurt himself if he does roll & can be a good idea to pad a pen / cage out for him with towels etc. Wilson for the first few weeks was confined to a cage padded with a quilt, which was changed 3 or 4 times a day. For us one of the biggest things that helped Wilson, was actually putting him back with Alice, as she is a perfect little nurse.

PM me if you want any more info or help.

Hope your little man will be ok & come through this xx
 
My Kermit had head tilt...his was pretty bad. When he first got it he rolled loads, which was quite disturbing to me.
It really took months for Kermit to be able to walk properly again, he used to walk in a circle.....and even after that he still had some rolling episodes.
Vibes that bunster gets through this x
 
Oh I massaged Mischa's neck when he was ill, very gently. He also liked to lay on my chest (to be honest I think he found it comfortable using my boobs to support his head! :lol: ) I laid with him on me for hours watching tele and just being with him because in his cage he kept flipping over and over and over.
 
Have you been to vets yet? How is the little man? :cry:

He looks a complete mess -his ears are wet - he's washing them a lot cos he doesn't like the drops (he has :censored: in his ears too), he's floppy, and he seems to fall more when he's scared, so vet trip not fun.

The vet wasn't happy with using Zithromax - the main problem being that this wasn't my bun, & it isn't for bun-use. It might have been different if I had a contact number for the owners -but when he is picked up Sat, I will definitely pass this info on.

He's back at vets Friday night.

He slept inside last night - & I think the heat pad definitely helped - he was moving around better this morning. He's still eating & pooing fine - he has a sweet tooth, & now my plum tree seems to have finished throwing plums over the garden, he's on grapes:oops: He settled down on my knee for AGES last night:love: I wish he didn't have to leave:cry:
 
UPDATE:

He's still bumbling about, but he is so much brighter today:love: He was attacking some grass this morning - that's first time he's done that to anything other than plums or grapes. His head tilt is still there, but he seems a bit less roll-y:D

We at vets again tonight
 
Brilliant :D He will have good and bad days, so don't be surprised if he has more bad days, but you live for the good days and enjoy them as much as he does. Not sure about you, but for us today the weather is warmer than it has been the past few days and when Tilly was ill the general warmth of the weather made a huge difference to how she was and how much she could cope with. Just wondered if that might be playing a factor for your guy too.
 
Brilliant :D He will have good and bad days, so don't be surprised if he has more bad days, but you live for the good days and enjoy them as much as he does. Not sure about you, but for us today the weather is warmer than it has been the past few days and when Tilly was ill the general warmth of the weather made a huge difference to how she was and how much she could cope with. Just wondered if that might be playing a factor for your guy too.

Could be - he's been in overnight last couple of days, & medication is probably kicking in now:D
 
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