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Worried about Walter...U/D P27

Joh619

Alpha Buck
I'm a bit worried about Walter at the moment. He seems to be holding his head in a strange way. Other than that, he's fine though. He's eating, drinking, pooing etc, but he just doesn't look right. Am I being paranoid?

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He just looks at me like this most of the time.

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If I get closer to him, he seems to move his head round and look at me out of one eye.

I've read about head tilts, but all the pictures seem to be of bunnies with really tilted heads and his is only just a bit wonky. I had a look in his ears the other day and they seem fine, and he doesn't seem to have any problems with balance or anything.

I've got a vets appointment tonight anyway just to be sure.
 
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That looks like the start of head tilt. He needs a vet immedieately, some very appropriate ani-biotics, probably some anti-inflammatory and also possibly something to help with his dizziness, if he is dizzy.

The ear infections can present themselves, but not always be visible, sometimes because they are too deep down and sometimes because the bacteria is just not visible.

If he goes downhill before tonight, i.e. if he gets more disorienated, or stops eating, drinking, pooing, weeing, then he should not wait for the appointment.

Bring him inside into the warm (if he is an outside bunny) because that will probably help him. Also bring his friend in if he has a bonded buddy.
 
That looks like the start of head tilt. He needs a vet immedieately, some very appropriate ani-biotics, probably some anti-inflammatory and also possibly something to help with his dizziness, if he is dizzy.

Please get him seen ASAP.

Agreed. Without wishing to alarm you, it's very important you get him to a bun-savvy vet as a matter of urgency.
Try not to panic, it's just something that needs to be dealt with very soon.
 
Thanks for the replies. He's living in the conservatory with Mrs Nora atm coz its a bit warmer and sheltered than being outside. He doesn't seem dizzy at all. I hand fed him some extra pellets this morning and he seemed fine sitting on his back legs (apparently I was too slow feeding him the pellets :roll:)

Will get OH to keep an eye on him (I'm at work atm, grrr).
 
It's good he isn't showing signs of dizziness. My Tilly has her head at about that angle since recovering and she acts like any normal rabbit. The important thing is that the sooner you act, the less damage the bunny suffers and also the less bad the illness gets so hopefully he won't have to go through the dizziness and the rolling.
 
Took Walter to the vets earlier and he agreed with the head tilt thing. Gave him depocillin and he's getting metacam tomorrow as they didn't have any :( also got some protexin as a gut stimulant.

He said to go back on saturday for another checkup and more depocillin and if he doesn't seem better to start on the Panacur then. I bought the Panacur anyways though coz I thought it maybe better to start it asap. He said that if we treat for everything at the same time, he wouldn't know what it was that was causing the problem, but was happy for me to give the panacur if that was what I wanted.

he also couldn't figure out how much to charge us, so he said he trusted us to come back tomorrow for the metacam and just pay then...*runs off with free bunny meds* hehe :p
 
Poor Walter :( I agree with Becky I would start the panacur tonight for both Walter & his wifey. Our bun Wilson is a head tilt bunny & still has a bad tilt, but manages fine bless him :) He started back in April & it was only very slight at the beginning but did get progressively worse - where he started suffering really bad rolling episodes.

His thread is below on what happened with him & what we tried. The main thing is not to panic & don't think he can't cope with this or recover, because some bunnies can live happy lives with headtilt.

If you need anything just pm me. Sending lots of vibes for Walter & please let us know how he goes on xxxx

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=178735&highlight=Wilson
 
I shall be watching this thread with interest, my Buster has exactly the same thing, that photo could be him. Developed it at the weekend, on meds, along with his wife, so we are keeping fingers crossed too. Hope Walter feels better soon.
 
Thanks for the vibes. Walter seemed no better or worse this morning. I'm suprised how easily all the meds have gone down so far - I was expecting battles of epic proportions, but just put it on food and it was all nommed up :) Hopefully the metacam will go down just as well tonight.

When I left the house for work he was happily destroying his carboard box :lol:
 
This is the first time I've checked back on this thread and its great to see a vet prescribing one of the more effective antibiotics, which is great :D

Sounds like you're doing all you can, and that you have a great vet. Walter is in great hands :)
 
Thanks for the vibes. Walter seemed no better or worse this morning. I'm suprised how easily all the meds have gone down so far - I was expecting battles of epic proportions, but just put it on food and it was all nommed up :) Hopefully the metacam will go down just as well tonight.

When I left the house for work he was happily destroying his carboard box :lol:

Brilliant. Well done for catching it so quickly, I hope he continues to do well. He's such an adorable boy.
 
Admitedly the vet we saw said he was more of a cat/dog vet but he was the first appointment I could get yesterday and he was the vet that saw Nora when she had her reaction to her VHD jab. He did ring the more rabbit-savvy vet up to check with her, and we've got an appointment with her tomorrow. He does do a really funny "bunny" voice though :lol: Its worth going just to hear him talking to the bunnies.
 
Been back to the vets today. The vet gave him more depocillin and we've now got baytril to give him at home as well as the metacam, panacur and probiotic lols. I think he's sick of me pestering him though so given him a break for now.

The vet also said she could see a white plug in his left ear which might be an infection. We've got a nurse appointment on mon amd wed for more depocillin and then she'll see how walter is next fri. Fingers crossed :)
 
Well, Walter's been on all his various meds for a week now and doesn't seem any better but not any worse either. He's just been to see the nurse for his depocillin so going back to see the vet tomorrow for another look in his ears and to see if he's any different.

On tuesday he seemed really sad and wouldn't even come out of his carboard box for breakfast :( But I gave him some food in his box and he ate that. Then I gave him some spring greens before I left for work and he seemed a bit brighter. He's been fine other than that though - still running around, chasing me for food etc. He's done an amazing job of destroying his cardboard box!

I've also discovered that he doesn't like apple juice or pineapple juice and looks like I've given him a lemon when he tastes it. So he gets his Panacur on a mint leaf and his metacam on a basil leaf. Baytril goes on a little bit of bread wrapped in a basil leaf. I've also been giving the Panacur to Nora.

I got a couple of photos of him last night to compare to the ones I took last week:

Mummy says I'm very good and is proud of me eating a whole plate of spring greens to myself!
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I also tried to eat the plate :roll:
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Bless him Walter is so beautiful :love:

I know you've said that he doesn't seem any worse, but it's positive that he doesn't seem any worse either. Our Wilson copes really well with his headtilt - he hasn't had any more meds since June & touchwood is doing fine. His head is very tilted, but it doesn't stop him one bit :) Our vet has just been to do a load of vacs for us & she's amazed at how well he is doing :)

Just so you can see how Wilson copes here's a pic I've just taken of him - he says 'From one headtilt bun to another Walter, keep on fighting little man & you'll do ok' xxx

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Bless, Wilson is lovely too :love: And he looks really happy with his wonky head. Walter says that the world is much more interesting if you look at it from a different angle :lol:
 
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