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Head tilt (again) and HI (chicken help)

nibbles

New Kit
Hello everyone, my name is Simon. I have a rabbit (my sons rabbit) whio has head tilt badly. I am sure you all have been asked and replied on this topic many many times so apologies for the repeat.

Okay, 8 days ago (friday I think) he started to wobble, so to the vets (i am very lucky in that a good friend is a vet), Baytrill, Panacur and an anti inflammetry, two days later he can longer stand. I feed him three times a day, he will happily eat his pellets, half an apple, half a pear, bunch of parsley, baby sweetcorn and bunch ofdandelions, But he is still losing a little weight. He will drink from a water bottle if preasented to his mouth. He will roll over if you put him on his incorrect side but that is all he can do. I read a bit about stroke patience and have constructed a frame that we put him in for 15 minutes, this keeps him in the correct bunny posture just like people when they are treated, it doesnt seem to be helping. we massage him three times a day, he likes that but it doesnt help. At the moment, because its a lovely day he is laying on the lawn with the sun on him, but still no effort to move. I am always willing to try something if nothing is happening in his improvement.

He is a fighter as he disappered from our garden for three days before christmas but managed to return, so I owe him a chance. I am a cancer patient and was given a pill called Prochlorperazine (it helps people with spinning heads, vertigo etc, and it works) do you think I could risk scaling down the dose for him.

I feel he has to start making an improvement, or we will have to make a decision in the next day or to.

Any comments would be welcome.

Finally I specialize in Chickens, I have taught at agricultural college and had a business selling poultry, so if anyone has any chickeny related problems please contact me and I will try and help

PPS. The rabbit is nibbles (5yo) and I am Simon (50yo)

kind regards
 
Please do not give your bun any of your meds. He sounds like he is going through symptoms of EC / Inner ear infection. Is he still on the meds? I have had a bunny with severe head tilt, it took him weeks to recover and he was left with a permanent tilt.

If he is eating / drinking etc then he will be fighting this.
 
Yes just keep going with the meds, the panacur (which is used to treat a condition called e cuniculi) will probably take a couple of weeks to kick in, and it can take a long time for the bunny to recover, but they CAN recover so do persevere! It sounds like you're a very caring bunny owner and you are doing all you can. If the bunny is rolling you can make his living quarters smaller and put some rolled up towels around the edges so that he doesn't hurt himself. Hope this helps, and you start to see improvement soon :wave: good luck.
Jo
 
Hi, thanks for replying.

He has finnished baytril, but continues on anti inflammetry and wormer.

I just think you have to be proactive, the worst thing I can do is nothing. From all the cases I have seen he seems particularly bad. If he is never going to be able to stand up (forget the head tilt, I accept that) then what quality of life is that? I need to see an improvement, however small, otherwise what I am doing to him is wrong, any inmprovement and I will gladly continue for however long it takes.

Kind regards
 
Hi, thanks for replying.

He has finnished baytril, but continues on anti inflammetry and wormer.

I just think you have to be proactive, the worst thing I can do is nothing. From all the cases I have seen he seems particularly bad. If he is never going to be able to stand up (forget the head tilt, I accept that) then what quality of life is that? I need to see an improvement, however small, otherwise what I am doing to him is wrong, any inmprovement and I will gladly continue for however long it takes.

Kind regards


It's the panacur wormer that should do the trick, but like I said it can take a long time. There are people on here who've had bunnies in the same condition and now they're fine. They may be left with a permanent head tilt, but they run around fine and are perfectly happy. Don't give up, it takes time to show improvement.
 
Just finnished feeding him his supper. An apple, Pear Broccolli, fresh dandelions and Cauliflower oh and a baby sweetcorn. Syringed in a vitamin drink as I worry about his water intake, he then peed all over me, gratitude eh?

Its just like when my children were babies, I cradle his head and feed him.. bizarre.
 
Hi, sorrt to hear about your bunny's illness.

Has your vet friend said whether he thinks the illness is due to an inner ear infection, E. cuniculi or something else? If an ear infection or brain abscess is suspected, baytril alone may not be enough- I would discuss whether other antibiotics would be an option.

Distressing as it is, the rolling is frequently just a phase of the illness and your bunny may regain his balance in time- whilst he is eating and seems to enjoy life it is worth givinghim longer. For now he will probably feel safer in a fairly restricted environment e.g. padded cage if he is rolling frequently. You can gradually increase the area as he improves.

If he is having problems keeping clean it may be best to bed him on vetbed and change it daily so that he doesn't get urine scald.

I have used prochlorperazine on my head tilt bunny, but it was in the form of a syrup which your vet may be able to prescribe for you- I would ask him about it. To be honest, I'm not sure it made any difference in my bunny but others have reported it to be helpful. I wouldn't advise you trying to scale down your tablets for him, it could be dangerous if you get the dose wrong.

These links may be helpful:
http://www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html
http://www.onthewonk.com/?p=1.Home&trk=menu:Home

Lots of luck xx
 
Welcome to forum and you've come to the right place to get good rabbit advice. I'm so sorry your bunny has headtilt. Everyone has already given you great advice that I can't add to except to say there really is hope of full recovery from this nasty disease. My rabbit Darcy came down with headtilt and after 3 months of treatment he made a recovery. He is now only left with the slightest of head tilt that you wouldn't even notice if you didn't know about rabbits. I really hope your bunny starts improving soon.
 
I am really gratefull for all this advice and for people taking the time to read and comment.

My problem is this, he is having the correct medicine and he is having intensive therapy by being fed by hand three times a day, we massage him for 15 minutes before each meal and he is groomed after each meal. He sits on wood shavings and that is on a grill so his urine goes though the shavings and away from his skin.

Its just, every video, post etc I have seen about this condition seems to be at a far less degree to my rabbit. He just lays on his side, he will roll over if I put him on his wrong side, he will use his paws to clen his face, but other than that, he stays in exactly the same position I put him in. I lay him down, go to bed, wake up and he is in the same position. Has anybody on this site ever had a rabbit recover from such a bad start point? will he at the very least me able to move about?

Kind regards
 
My friend the vet arrived last night with a view to ending this ordeal our rabbit is going through, my 10 year old said he wanted to hold him if we where going to put him down.
As we were discussing his case, I was saying that I believe its now a time thing ie he just needs to recover. I told him what I had read on these forums and how long it can take to see an improvement and that I was willing to continue the care of feeding etc At that moment as the rabbit laid there he made an effort to scratch his ear (the rabbit not the vet), and whilst this may seem insignificant it is in fact the first postitive thing he has done. My vet friend is very good and knows this deasease well, he has even operated on a rabbits with severe head tilt cause by infection (not cheap I understand), although thankfully there is no need for an operation this time.

He did suggest that I diarize the rabbit with video so others can see any improvement but more importantly I will be able to see, as he reckons looking after him daily I can't see those subtle improvements.

Kind regards
 
Hi :wave:
So sorry your poor bun has the dreaded head tilt, my bun Mimi also had it so I know exactly what you're going through, its horrific to see.
Im just wondering, has an ear infection been completely ruled out and if so how? My Mimis tilt was due to an inner ear infection, she was on aggressive antibiotics which is exactly what your bun may need. Baytril is not strong enough to treat such aggressive infections unfortunately, so unless tests have been done to definitively rule out infection as opposed to EC, it might be worth a try.
Also my bun was on a human anti vertigo drug called Meclozine. Its unlicensed for rabbits but vets commonly use it in these cases to help with the balance.
Well done for not giving up hope. Its a dreadful thing to watch and quite offen seems hopeless. Mimi was completely incapacitated for 5 weeks before she started showing improvement. She would roll continuously and myself and my OH had to be on hand to nurse her constantly, inc through the night. I questioned whether or not I was being fair to her, but as she was eating well I took it to mean she was fighting so I carried on.
The first signs of improvement were tiny steps like she tried to groom herself or took a step without going into a rolling fit. 7 or 8 weeks after symptoms first showed she was moving around normally again and her tilt was getting less and less. This was May last year and now shes pretty much a normal bun again. Her head is still tilted at about 5-10 degrees but she lives a totally normal life and is a healthy happy bun.
I hope that gives you some hope :wave:
 
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