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rabbit with severe head tilt, advice needed please...

mollys mum

Young Bun
I have been asked to take a bunny with a severe head tilt, apparently he has been receiving treatment for a middle ear infection,
my question is once a bunny has head tilt, is its head tilted for life, or with the right treatment can the head right itself,

ive only ever had 1 bunny with a head tilt, and sadly i lost her:cry::cry:

any advice appreciated :D:D:D
 
It depends on the bunny, the severity of the infection, the permanent damage done, the swiftness of treatment, etc.

My Tilly had her head tilted for a very long time before receiving treatment (she was seized by RSPCA Inspectors from someone, and then went a further two months with no treatment at the RSPCA because they didn't know what to do with her). When she started getting the right treatment she went from a 3-4 o'clock tilt and now only has a slight tilt, maybe about 1 o'clock, but sometimes she is straight, and she can do everything that all other bunnies do now.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is there is hope, but other than that, its a waiting game.

What medication is she on?
 
not sure till he arrives, but apparently he,s not very active, doesnt like to come out of his his cage etc, and becomes quite disorientated alot of the time, he,s a16 week old french lop, and hopefully will be coming to me tomorrow
 
That's cool. He basically needs a small space, that is soft, and that has nothing he can get caught on. Rolled towels around the edge can work really well so he can sort of use them for stability.

I can't wait to see some pictures :D
 
As previously said it does depend on the rabbit and have severe it is. Wesley had head tilt at the beginning of the year and he is absolutely fine now.
 
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 think he can't cope with this or recover, because some bunnies can live happy lives with headtilt. As for if they ever go back to normal, I'm not sure to be honest as I think it depends on the reason for the headtilt & the severity of it.

We tried Zithromax (a human abx that's not licensed for use in animals) & stemetil (a human anti sickness drug) after several weeks of baytril, depocillin & steroid injections. He had a weeks worth of the Zithromax, the stemetil he had I think for about 2-3 weeks. The stemetil is supposed to help with the rolling episodes, as Wilson's were horrendous at one point :cry:

Bunny Mad Lisa's bun also survived really bad headtilt - if you look up a website that she put the link on Wilson's thread for, called On the Wonk - it's a site dedicated to people living with head tilt buns.

Wilson used to get so stressed going to the vets & would always go into a rolling episode - but when we'd get him back home, he would soon come round & be ok. It's the travelling that upsets them & their balance :cry:

I believe if the bunny is doing everything a bun should do - like eating, drinking, pooing & washing - then he's fighting this the best he can. Quite often it can be more distressing to us than them :cry: If you want to ask me anything about what we experienced with Wilson, just pm me.

Lots of vibes for the little fella & hoping you can get him sorted.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/sh...ghlight=Wilson
 
yes my bunny survived headtilt which was quite severe. The zithromax helped her. www.onthewonk.com is great site with an amazing forum. The memebrs are fantastic and will give you all the hlep and support you need! My bunny has only a very slight tilt and is now 8 years old!
 
We know of a little head tilt bun who got it after a stroke. It has been like it for 6 years now, but is absolutely gorgeous and it certainly doesn't seem to stop him doing anything or enjoying life. Straight lines are a problem though so he cant use a tunnel and he runs round and round in circles. He manages a normal water bottle too if it's placed low enough down, or drinks happily out of a shallow bowl.
 
We had a bunny with head tilt, we had to keep her in a cardboard box in our kitchen so she didn't come to any harm as she kept flipping over she had no idea what way up she should be. My partner (it was his rabbit) decided to take her off all the medications the vets had given her because he didn't think it was fair to keep her going pumped full of drugs. She actually recovered completely and her head tilt disappeared.
 
rabbit with severe head tilt,advice needed please...

Join the forum "On the Wonk" you will get expert advice from rabbit folk who are/have dealt with Head Tilt:)
Good Luck:)
 
Daisy had a lower inner infection which was deemedsevere and inoperable. Because she was diagnosed at Bristol by x-ray and treatment was started quickly, she didn't go into head tilt. She has been on medication for a year to hold it and she has done well, but is finally coming to the end.

My question would be has this bunny got an ear infection or EC and whether any tests were done to determine if it was an ear infection and what treatment has been given. Also have they been panacured. If the head tilt is caused by EC and they have been treated for an ear infection, and it doesn't have one, then its the wrong treatment.

Would a young bunny more likely to be suffering from EC than ear infection.
 
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