Update on Olly, had convenia inj, how many of you have used this?

Hi everyone, would just like to hear your thoughts on my Olly, he's had a head tilt for a few weeks now, he's been on panacur all that time and also baytril, and had metacam for about a week now. His head tilt doesn't seem to be getting better do you think he's going to have it forever? And if so how do I know if he gets another ear infection or something, because if not for the tilt I wouldn't have known? He seems really fed up now, he's been happy enough until yesterday, but not a happy bunny today he's eating and pooing ok, just seems miserable. I don't know if it might be because he's missing his sister, I've kept them separate since the end of nov when he was castrated. Her cage is in the hall and Olly's in the lounge. I let them play out together yesterday under supervision, but all he wants to do is hump her!

We have a headtilt bun Wilson who became very poorly April 2009 with headtilt - which we didn't find the exact cause of

Wilson's thread is below which may be of some help - warning though it is very long, as we had another 2 sick buns at the time

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=178735&highlight=head+tilt+wilson

However, very long story short - we had Wilson on all sorts of different meds.

To start off with he was just on baytril (antibiotics), panacur & metacam - this was when his head was only slightly tilted. He then got progressively worse & his tilt changed sides - it was so bad his down eye was almost horizontal to the floor. We then changed him to steroid injections, depocillin injections & panacur - again sadly these did nothing for him.

He was having severe rolling episodes & we had to confine him to a padded cage for around 6 weeks. Eventually after bunny mad lisa on RU suggested it - we talked to our vet about Zithromax - it's an antibiotic that is used for humans & not licensed for rabbits, but Lisa had, had great results with it her for her headtilt bunny - so we felt we had no options left but to try it.

We switched him onto Zithromax & also started him on stemetil (human anti sickness drug) - continued with his panacur & I *think* his steroid injections. After just over a week of this treatment he was well enough to come out of his cage & go back with his partner Alice. We'd kept them in the same room at all times, but had to confine Wilson to a cage so he didn't hurt himself or Alice.

I have been told & read that the best way to deal with headtilt is to treat with as much strength of medication as possible - I think basically to try to beat the infection before it gets worse.

Wilson's head is still very tilted to this day - in fact his down eye is still pointing to the ground. However, he lives a completely normal life with Alice & bombs round their bedroom like a good un!! Occasionally he will have rolling episodes, but can right himself. The only thing I have to do for him now is keep a check on his down eye, as from time to time it does flare up with infection.

We also foster Angel another headtilt bunny for BARC - she came to us in September after being treat at PAH & then being put up for adoption with her friend Misty - Angie rescued them & both of them came to us. As far as we know it Angel was only ever treated with panacur - again she lives a completely normal life, just with a wonky head. You'd never know she'd been ill bless her.

Just so you can see how they can live with headtilt - this is Wilson with his wifey Alice



And this is Angel our foster bun



I don't know if any of this will help, but it might be worth mentioning the drugs we used to your vet to ask their views. Olly may be left with a tilt but it doesn't mean he can't live a full & active life.

Feel free to pm me if I can help further.

Sending your little lad lots & lots of vibes & hoping she'll be better soon, take care, Denise x

Thanks Denise for your reply! Going to read your thread in a min... So when do you stop treating them? Or do you just carry on indefinitely? X

Personally, I don't think Baytril will be effective enough for head tilt. Before giving up on antibiotics I would suggest trying something like Convenia (which we used in both of ours- its injectable and we noticed improvement after 2 days), Penicillin (also injectable) or Zithromax. I've not used either Zithromax or penicillin in head tilt bunnies but know of people who have had good results with them. My drug of choice is Convenia.

I've posted a fair bit recently about Tilly and her head tilt and my views on head tilt, you can find them on *lily*'s EC thread and also alio's thread about her Bonnie.


ETA- We treated Tilly for a month after we stopped seeing improvement on the Convenia.

ripminnie said:

Thanks Denise for your reply! Going to read your thread in a min... So when do you stop treating them? Or do you just carry on indefinitely? X

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You're very welcome

We treat Wilson for about 6 weeks overall at the beginning - he hasn't had any treatment since, almost 2 years since he first started with it

Angel hasn't had any treatment with us since being here either Both bunnies are healthy apart from their wonky heads

I've just got to pop out now, but will be back on later if you want to ask me any more questions :wave:

Just thought I'd update you on Olly's progress, we've just come back from the vets, I asked about convenia (recommended by sky-o) , he said it was only licensed for cats and dogs but if I wanted olly to have it he would give it him. So he's had an injection of it which lasts 2 weeks, and is still on panacur and metacam. He's actually fine in himself, eating normally, drinking and pooping, just seems depressed sometimes. Maybe because he's missing honey or maybe because he can't do everything he used to, ie. Jumping on the sofa to sit with us so here's hoping the convenia helps his head tilt

Just bumping this up :wave:

Oooh, Good vet

I truly hope the Convenia helps. We noticed an improvement on day 2 (i.e. in 2 days) and we found that the head tilted over on day 9, so we dosed every week after a bit of trial and error to find the right dose interval. Its been documented well that it doesn't last as long in rabbits as it does in cats.

I so hope it helps!

ripminnie said:

Just thought I'd update you on Olly's progress, we've just come back from the vets, I asked about convenia (recommended by sky-o) , he said it was only licensed for cats and dogs but if I wanted olly to have it he would give it him. So he's had an injection of it which lasts 2 weeks, and is still on panacur and metacam. He's actually fine in himself, eating normally, drinking and pooping, just seems depressed sometimes. Maybe because he's missing honey or maybe because he can't do everything he used to, ie. Jumping on the sofa to sit with us so here's hoping the convenia helps his head tilt

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Bless Olly Pleased to hear he's doing well in himself

I think it's great that your vet was willing to listen to you & give convenia a go We've never used it ourselves, but it's good to know other people have had good results with it.

Sometimes, we have no choice but to give off licence drugs a try with bunnies & it's good your vet has supported you with this

Lots more vibes for Olly - really hope he starts to feel better soon xxx

Hi :wave:
You've had great advise off bunnyaddict and sky-o, both of whom helped me through my bun Mimis head tilt aswell
Just wanted to add his depressed state could be to do with any disorientation he is feeling and could also be due to the discomfort hes feeling from the actual head tilt itself. Having the head at such an angle can cause great strain and tension on the neck muscles and cause pain much like whiplash in humans. When Mimi had her tilt I would gently massage her neck, shoulder and back muscles a few times a day. She loved it and would visibly become more comfortable and sometimes rest her head in my hand which would allow the muscles to relax a little
Also keep his spirits up with lots of his favourite foods and lots of strokes and soft words :wave:

Thank you I was quite impressed by the vet too, that's only the second time we've seen that particular vet and I thought he was going to refuse the convenia, as he said he's never used it in rabbits before... But I was quite insistent that we try it as the baytril obviously wasn't doing much. Fingers crossed now x

How is Olly doing? Is he still improving?