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Drooping Face

moet

New Kit
Hi There,
My beautiful rabbit has a drooping face.but seems ok otherwise.(No discharge or other issues.) Is eating and pooping fine.

She is on a 2 week course of oral antibiotics and is booked in for a dental checkup under sedation & xray.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why this has happened and what the prognosis may be ?

regards

tanya
 
Hiya,
Im really not sure what it could be, but didnt want to read and run. Id guess some sort of nerve damage, although it could also be neurological of course. Sounds like your vet is on the ball. Its great theyre doing a dental check and xray on her, that might give you some answers.

Hope shes ok :wave:
 
Hello

I will reply to your PM here if that is OK

I assume that this is the photo you are refering to, the late Bernie


001-11.jpg


Her problem was caused by repeated ear infections which eventually caused damage to the facial nerves. Whilst the palsy did not resolve, Bernie was unaffected by it and it was not painful. Shewas also a Dental Rabbit, but her Dental issues did not get any worse as a result of her partial facial paralysis.

I hope that your Vet can find the cause of Moet's 'drooping face' :)
 
Mischa's face started drooping when he had an ear infection and snuffles. It atrophied afterwards and it's now raised on one side but it doesn't really affect him :)
 
as Jacks Jane and others have said - the droop (typically on one side only) starts as a droop and then as the muscles atrophy they tighten and it becomes a tightening and lifting on one side.

It is most usually the result of an inner ear infection or other infection affecting the nerves on that side.

You may need to ask vet again about stronger abx for any infection in that area.

Our Parsley developed exactly the same about 2 years ago.
 
Thanks for yr reply.

How is Parsley 2 yrs on ?

we have never noticed anything unusual about our Moet,so this drooping has shocked us.

Regards





as Jacks Jane and others have said - the droop (typically on one side only) starts as a droop and then as the muscles atrophy they tighten and it becomes a tightening and lifting on one side.

It is most usually the result of an inner ear infection or other infection affecting the nerves on that side.

You may need to ask vet again about stronger abx for any infection in that area.

Our Parsley developed exactly the same about 2 years ago.
 
Thanks for yr reply.

How is Parsley 2 yrs on ?

we have never noticed anything unusual about our Moet,so this drooping has shocked us.

Regards

well he still has the tightening on one side as once that happens it cannot be reversed. However he is fortunate in that it has not affected his eye (which it can do) or eyelids. He dribbles a little bit.

His ear infection is unfortunately incurable (we have tried everything there is) but we are holding it . . and he is a very happy bunny!!!

PS when he first had the 'droop' the ear infection was so far down in the ear that the vet could not find it it even when she was pretty certain it was there . . it came up on a CT scan
 
i'm not sure but it sounds like you have a good vet who is doing all the necessary tests and xrays. hope everything will be ok. x
 
Hiya. Totti also has a drooping face now which is a result of the abscess in his ear. He's had this since Nov 2010 and it gets cleaned out every day. He is also on oral antibiotics now as well as me putting anti-bio drops in the cleaned abscess cavity. I'd say the drooping occured about a month ago and it has got worse since this photo was taken.

The Vet has advised me that it is nerve damage caused by the infection and has given Tottis teeth etc. a thorough check. His teeth are fine and the drooping does not affect his ability to eat, which is just as well as he has a very healthy appetite.

Totts003.jpg


I am heartened to read that Parsnip is still going strong 2 years on, it is good to share these experiences.

Good luck with Moet x
 
Thank you Jill,

were you aware of the absess in tottis ear at the time ?, or did it only become obvious there was a problem when you noticed the drooping face?

from what Im reading it seems tooth & ear issues can result in nerve damage to the face.

Reagrads Tan
 
Hi. Tottis had the abscess for 13 months and the droopy facefor about 1 month. The first indication of the ear abscess was discharge in the ear. It was wrongly diagnosed as wax by the vet I don't usually see.
 
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