Head Tilt help please.

My poor little bubba Barney has started with a head tilt this morning and i'm beside myself worrying. He's been to the vets whos saying poss E.C/ear infection/vertigo. Med's he's been given are Dexadreson and Baytril to see if he responds to this before we try panacure.
Is there anyone who can offer any get well vibes advice, help, questions I need to ask vet. Barney also has his lady bunny Marley is she at risk if it is E.C?

Please, please anyone who can help me, I love my buns so much, I can't bear to see Barney suffering like he is.

Helen x

EC spores are shed in urine so she will also be at risk (although some bunnies don't develop symptoms)

I would start panacur for her as a precaution, not sure how it will interact with the meds your boy is taking.

It is also best to fully clean living areas. Hope he gets better soon

Hiya, I have had a head tilt / EC bunny in the past. I would start the panacur straight away for 28days / 6 weeks. You will also need to panacur your other bunny. I would get this off the vet tomorrow.

It is common to treat with antibiotics (baytril), a non-steroid anti inflammtory (usually Metacam, but I THINK that's maybe what your Dexadreson is), and panacur all at the same time.

How bad is the tilt? Is your bun still eating / drinking / pooing / peeing and managing to get about ok?

I also had my current bun Inca diagnosed with EC (with no tilt). I kept her and Herbie together during the treatment and treated both with the panacur.

Cleaning the area is also important, there are guidelines regarding what days you should clean, like so many days into the illness.

Harvey needs panacur asap, it's very important to treat for EC as soon as symptoms are showing. If it turns out not to be EC it won't do your bun any harm, and will more likely prevent him becoming worse. I have a head tilt bun, Olly, he is 2 now and perfectly happy. But they really do need both panacea and antibiotics as there is no way of knowing immediately what the cause is. Sending loads of vibes for Harvey x

Yep, having had experience of a head tilt bun I too would echo all of the above. Panacur is a must as is an anti inflammatory such as metacam, I don't recognise the name of the meds you have been given so asking your vet is best.

A one part bleach, nine parts water is the solution that can be used to kill off the spores. The bleach solution needs to be in contact with whatever us being cleaned for 30 seconds and then washed thoroughly with clean water. Be careful using dustpans / brushes etc too.

The spores can live outside the body for up to 28 days so any areas you can't bleach wash in a high heat setting or at the very least keep the buns away from the area for 28 days, this includes grass areas etc. Remember too that you can carry the spores on your shoes / clothes.

Try to keep all hay up of the floor so the buns are not wee'ing on it and therefore releasing more spores that they then go on to eat. This is how buns reinfect themselves and others. A 28 day dose of panacur along with bleaching out on days 21 and 28 at least help to reduce this risk too.

Make sure your buns eye (the one nearest the floor if the head is badly tilted) remains clean and that there is no sign of it being dry or infected.

Good luck, hang in there :wave:

I'm just going through this now with Truffle. She started with it on Friday night. She had nystagmus also until Monday afternoon, which was awful to see.

She was given dexadreson straight away (as far as I understand, this is a corticosteroid, which is used as an anti-inflammatory, and they cannot be given metacam until this has worn off. My vet said they don't know when this is though!). She was also given Panacur straightaway, and we now have Baytril also. We are treating Fudge too.

So sorry this has happened to Barney too. I suppose all I can say a few days in is that for Truffle it seems as though it's worse for us than it is for her - I'm not even sure if she is aware of it as she is pottering about pretty much as normal except that she can't jump on/off things currently.. I know it can take a long time for any improvement though. I hope Barney isn't too badly affected, and that he shows improvement soon.

Thank you so, so much for your replies, Barney is still much the same, he is eating, and drinking (not as much as usual, and with as much vigour tho ) He is pooping still, not sure about the weeing tho, hard to tell with Marley not wanting to leave his side.

The injection Dexadreson Barney has had was steriod injection from what the vet said is this not good to give him??

I will be straight on the phone tomorrow to the vets again for some panucure for them both.

His head tilt is only slight at the moment, but his eyes are constantly trying to refocuss, like flickering.

I have to say, my daughter Nicole bless her noticed a few days ago Barney has been a little off his food, and she's the first on in their room every morning to feed them both and say good morning to them, and she noticed straight away this morning Barney's head tilt and came to get me straight away, she has been like his little gardian angel to say the least.

With the panucure is there one that is better to give, I have been reading as much as I can about E.C and seen that the liquid is easier and more accurate to give anyone else agree and can I get this from the vet?

Also what else do I need to ask from the vet r.e pains meds, anti inflamitries ect..???
Barney has never been ill before and only ever seen the vet for vaccinations, so I'm sorry i'm asking alot of questions.

Helen X

esupi said:

I'm just going through this now with Truffle. She started with it on Friday night. She had nystagmus also until Monday afternoon, which was awful to see.

She was given dexadreson straight away (as far as I understand, this is a corticosteroid, which is used as an anti-inflammatory, and they cannot be given metacam until this has worn off. My vet said they don't know when this is though!). She was also given Panacur straightaway, and we now have Baytril also. We are treating Fudge too.

So sorry this has happened to Barney too. I suppose all I can say a few days in is that for Truffle it seems as though it's worse for us than it is for her - I'm not even sure if she is aware of it as she is pottering about pretty much as normal except that she can't jump on/off things currently.. I know it can take a long time for any improvement though. I hope Barney isn't too badly affected, and that he shows improvement soon.

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Poor Truffle I hope she isn't too bad, Barney is still moving around when he has to but hiding away snuggling up to Marley alot of the time, I so scared he is going to get worse, and I don't know what to do for the best, I've just spent 6 weeks off for school holidays and only went back to work yesterday, husband has been off all day today with him, but me and kids are all back to school 9 till 3 tomorrow, I can come home at lunch but do I leave him? I just don't know what to do, I can't take the first day back at school off as I work 1 to one.

Sorry for going on, So hard to see our little ones go through this.
Sending vibes and noserubs to Truffle and Fudge, please keep me posted how Truffle is.

Helen XxX

That is good that he is eating etc, just try to keep him tempted, try some herbs etc.

The steroid injection is fine. That will wear off tho' and you really need something like Metacam (non-steroid anti imflammatory/pain relief) for a longer term.

Deffo insist on the Metacam and Panacur....there is a specific panacur for bunnies, a paste panacur, this is pretty easy to give, many bunnies take it right from the tube but others get it hidden in basil leaves etc.

Sounds like he has Nystygmus (eye flickering), talk to the vet about Stemetil or similar, can help prevent the dizzy feeling that he will be having at the moment.....imagine what you would be like if your head all of a sudden tipped at an angle.

Sounds like Nicole is a wee star with the bunsters

Ask as many questions as you like, unfortunately there are a fair few of us that have been through this

Good luck tomorrow, please update us when you have been to the vets x

Oh, and just to add.....my Kermit has really bad head tilt. I just had to go to work and leave him, I had no option. I got someone to nip in and check on him but they couldn't do much. I just restricted him to his cage when I was out. Not ideal I know.

Keep asking questions, that's how we learn :wave:

Panacur is a general wormer for rabbits and dogs and possibly cats I believe. Our vet prescribed the 10% liquid dose of panacur, off licence for rabbits but actually very effective and I would say this and metacam saved Buttercup's life. We used the paste for 9 days the first time Buttercup had EC. Obviously this had no effect as a couple of months later the EC was back and much worse. We panacured Buttercup and her husbun Squirrel for about 5 weeks (possibly 6). She made a fantastic recovery and now you can't even tell she has a tilt although I can still see a slight change in her posture. The metacam was used long term too however I have found the less rabbit savvy vets are less likely to prescribe this especially over a longer period of time.

Hope you can get some help from your vet :wave:

How is he doing today?
We were lucky in that it happened over the bank holiday, so we had the first 3 days at home with her. I then came home at lunch on the 4th day and worked a short day, and on the 5th day, OH worked at home. We had bigger problems though in that Truffle had been hospitalised on the first night, and Fudge wouldnt' accept her back again, so we were more worried about them fighting than anything. Barney is lucky that he has his friend.

It is really hard to know what to do, but you have his interests at heart so you will do your best for him.

Hope all goes well at the vets today. xx

Barney seems a little Better this morning he was out of his crate and pottering around his room with Marely, I saw him eating hay and a couple of pellets. We have poops from him too which I'm pleased about. His head tilt is the same pretty much although he's stopped trying to right it and there is no "eye rolling" at all now.

I phoned the vets, the vet we saw isn't in today but another vet phoned me back, she's getting the panacur ready for me to collect for Barney as soon as I finish work and some liquid anti biotics of Baytril as the injection he had last night is only 24hr one. He'll go back to the vets on Sat as planned, or sooner if really needed, but fingers crossed he wont need this.

Now the vet said not to treat Marley as she isn't showing signs or symptoms, and I expressed strongly my views of I'd rather treat her before this happens to her, but she was rather annoyed me at this point for saying I really wanted her to be treated, so can i buy panacur for Marely as it's a wormer, and I can quite happy weigh her to get the correct dose, I know i'd be alot happier her being treated "just in case" and to protect her, whats anyone elses thoughts and advice on this??

Thanx

Helen

Oh and by the way, i'm home on my lunch, school thought I moved faster than the kids to get home :lol:

Glad he's doing a little better. The eye rolling is awful, isn't it?
I'm surprised the vet refused Panacur for Marley too - I know some people routinely worm their rabbits, so wouldn't have thought it'd be hard to get hold of. I don't know for sure though but hopefully somebody else will.

I believe there is a bit of controversy over whether healthy rabbits should or should not be panacured. I suppose it's like giving all your children anti biotics when only one has a bad cold etc. I would agree with your vet personally, but different vets advise differently. It isn't easy deciding.

Did you ask about Metacam??

You can buy Panacur in pets at home or you can order it online, I use vet uk. You could just use the tube that you are given for the both of them until you manage to get some.

Hi, Thanx for all the replies.

Barney has picked up no end since lunch time he's eating, and pooping more with is great! he's moving around more and Marly is giving him more space, maybe from the injections he had yesterday which are working.

He's now got Bayrtil till Sat to give him, and we have panacur for him which I've given him, how hard is getting 1 graduation out of the tube!!! I think I wasted 2 before I got it "hopefully right" He took them really well which I'm pleased about.

I don't think Barney can have metacam till the steriod injection has worn off, which I'll then ask for if he needs it when we go Sat morn.

His head tilt is still the same, no better no worse, and his eye rolling has stoped, even when I've had to pick him up. It is really horrible to see when there eyes are rolling.

How is everyones bunnies doing?? Sending lots of nose rubs to them all XxX

Kermit what happend with Kermits head tilt was his caused by E.C?


Helen X

Hiya, yip we think that Kermit's head tilt was from EC, it was pretty bad. He was seriously ill at first, couldn't walk at all and was laying on his side. Then later on in the illness he would roll uncontrollably.

He did recover but was left with a permanent head tilt, he really managed to cope with it

This was my wee star here....

Hi all,

I'm really sorry to divert this thread but I was wondering if you'd please describe the progression of symptoms please?

Little bun looks at me with a slightly tilted head quite a lot (I've only noticed it in the last few days). I don't know if it's just the way she is or if she's poorly.

Oh my poor Kermit, he is absolutley adorable. When did this happen to, I really think i folloed his story on here but for the life of me can't remember when, I've been on here 3 years now since I got Barney!!

How is he now? I must really look to see if you have his story on here, but bed is calling for me now from all the lack of sleep I got, and "pestering" Barney to see he was ok all last night.

Helen xxx

Barney rubble said:

Oh my poor Kermit, he is absolutley adorable. When did this happen to, I really think i folloed his story on here but for the life of me can't remember when, I've been on here 3 years now since I got Barney!!

How is he now? I must really look to see if you have his story on here, but bed is calling for me now from all the lack of sleep I got, and "pestering" Barney to see he was ok all last night.

Helen xxx

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Here was my first post

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...e-Please-head-tilt&highlight=kermit+head+tilt

He was the reason that I joined RU in 2008, he got the head tilt and my OH found this site for advice as the vet said to PTS Unfortunately my wee star is no longer here with us, be he lived for over a year with his tilt and was a true little star. I share his story and his treatment hoping that he can help other head tilt mummies I am so happy that I had my wee soul bunny, it is through him that I have Herbie & Inca now, I got them from rescues on here and they were both badly treated before so he has helped them too