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Head tilt rabbits?

MiniMadTez

Mama Doe
I have noticed afew people on here mention head tilt bunnies, and I am just interested to know a bit more about them.

What causes this? Do they lead normal healthy lives apart from this? How does it affect them?

Sorry, just being nosey really as I saw a photo and felt so sorry for the poor bunny.....although it did look very happy with itself munching away :love:
 
Head tilt (also called wry neck btw) normally results as a symptom or complication of a disease. The most commonly known (I think) being e cuniculi, a rabbit parasite. It's also found in ear infection cases and some rabbits who've had strokes. Often the bunny is able to live a healthy life with a bit of extra care.

I think I read somewhere previously (please jump in and correct if I'm wrong) that some head tilt rabbits can still tell which way is 'up' and others can't, depending on whether a certain nerve is affected. I don't have a great memory for that kind of detail I'm afraid.

Edit: Found you a link http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-8/head-tilt.html The house rabbit society is great, all kinds of info on there.:D
 
No probs. I'm sure someone will come on after us night owls who knows more than I do.

I just noticed you're a fellow Aberdonian! :lol::wave:
 
Aberdeen City, not far from the beach and Queens Links. I'm still up because I'm an eejit :lol: Came on here to de-stress after medicating my bunny, clipping toenails and cleaning ears, she is so not happy with me. :( Huffy bunny :lol:
 
I stay just behind Halfords next to Torry. Not in the depths of Torry though :lol:

Awww poor bunny! Mooch is in a huff with me because I haven't let him run about today :( what a bad mummy! I haven't been well and I dont trust him unsupervised! :roll:
 
Off Wellington Road? I think I know where you are. And what's wrong with Torry? ;):lol:

Aww, get better hugs! Probably a good thing you didn't let him out, you'd get better to find munched wires and doors - enough to make you feel ill all over again :lol:

Edit: I'm heading to a friend's to have a shower (mine is broken :roll:) then head to sleep. Night!
 
Off Wellington Road? I think I know where you are. And what's wrong with Torry? ;):lol:

Aww, get better hugs! Probably a good thing you didn't let him out, you'd get better to find munched wires and doors - enough to make you feel ill all over again :lol:

Edit: I'm heading to a friend's to have a shower (mine is broken :roll:) then head to sleep. Night!

Generally Torry has a bad reputation but while we have been here we have had no problems :) nothing much happens around here.lol.

Yeah, Mooch looks at places he knows hes not meant to go, then looks at me to see if I have noticed! so I dread to think what he would get up to unsupervised!

Night :wave:
 
Generally Torry has a bad reputation but while we have been here we have had no problems :) nothing much happens around here.lol.

Hence the wink :lol: 'I'm not from Torry! Really I'm not!' :lol: I know a few people from work who live there because rent is apparently much cheaper.

Oh dear, you've done it now! Touch wood!
 
Yeah, I probably shouldnt have said that!! :shock:

I wouldnt want to live in the middle of Torry, but this side of it is fine (so far anyway!!), me and my OH often laugh about going to the chipper, which is literally a 2 seconds walk from the door, but its on a different street so we say "careful, we are in Torry now" :lol:
 
ear problem

Our previous buck developed a head tilt with an ear infection. The infection cleared up faster than the tilt, and the vet was giving dire warnings about it being not a good sign, and we might need to pts as elderly (7 at the time). He slowly recovered, and from then he had head tilt from time to time always as a stress response - after a trip to the vet, new hutch etc, and it went away when he relaxed into normality. It looked worrying, and he did not like to be carries - it seemed to disorientate him, but he was fine and running about and hopping up on things when he was free in the rabbit garden (the place he loved best). In fact the head tilt would almost disappear when he was free, and reappear when he was returned to the hutch for the night - manipulative little monkey! He lived happily for another two-and-a-half years. Does that help?
 
We've had several head tilt bunnies in at the rescue (that now live in the sanctuary), that Louise has managed to nurse.
A severe head tilt can cause them to constantly roll, which is really distressing to see and must be awful for them, but if they are generally in good health they can be nursed back to a good quality of life.

~Loki is a brother of my Ra, and had his head tilt approx 2 yrs ago - it has not corrected back to "normal", but he leads a very happy life in the sanctuary, and his tilt is normal to him now.

2009_1216Image0031.jpg
 
Does that help?


Yes, thanks very much everyone. I was just curious really as I had noticed it being mentioned.

Does it not cause any neck/back problems in bunnies who have it long term?

Sorry for all the questions, just intrigued. :wave:

Thanks for the photo too :) it certainly doesnt stop Loki wanting to open his presents :)
 
Any sort of neck or back injury can affect your posture or stance, so long term there are likely to be problems from, say, the over use of one leg, or sitting more to the right than the left.
Loki is around 3 1/2 yrs now,and copes amazingly well, as do the other head tilts in the sanctuary.

My o/h came to Hopper Haven and decorated the treatment room just before Xmas, and he fell in love with Loki:love:
 
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