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Please please help - head tilt breaking my heart

ellenvdk

ellenvdk

Young Bun
My poor bunny suddenly became ill over night Sunday. When I went to her on Monday she hadn't had any water or pellets since Sunday afternoon. I got her on antibiotics that day and continued until I went back to the vet on Thursday. They've now given me panacur too. The problem is fluffy isn't eating or drinking. She had about two nibbles of cucumber since yesterday and won't even let me syringe her with water now. :( shed not pood and hardly weed for days Im also convinced that her head tilt is getting worse. I brought her inside on Monday and each day I'm massaging her neck but I feel like she'd given up. Please help. Is there anything I can do. I don't want to give up.
 
Yes. I took her Thursday morning thinking they'd put her down. I was crying with joy when the vet said there is still hope but each day she wants less food :((( I've tried everything. She won't take rescue stuff either and when I give her medicine with syringe I'm so worried that I will make her neck worse as she tries to get away from me :(((
 
Has she had pain relief? Metacam is best as it is also into inflammatory. If she's in pain she's unlikely to eat.

I feel for you, my Mischa had an awful battle with head tilt which was close to 90 degrees and was unable to stand. He got through it though and afterwards you'd barely know.
 
I'm sorry your bunny is so unwell. Hope Elena's post gives you some hope, and that pain relief will help Fluffy. If she hasn't had this I would try to get her to the vet as soon as possible.
 
Yes she's had two injections of anti inflammatory. The first day she has a high temperature too. That went quite quickly after first injection. Every morning I wake and the first thing I think about is whether she will have improved. I run down stairs to check in her. Even tried to make her a cushion to rest her head on hoping it would take strain off.
 
Back to the vets is your best option I would think. I would suggest metacam too - an anti inflammatory to help with the brain lesions caused if it is EC and pain relief anyway to help with any pain including if it is an ear infection.

The panacur is to combat EC - this should be a 28 day dose at least and if you have other buns they too will need panacur for 28 days - that's if your vet believes it is EC

A rabbit savvy vet is a must too

Good luck, keep us posted :wave:
 
ellenvdk said:
Yes she's had two injections of anti inflammatory. The first day she has a high temperature too. That went quite quickly after first injection. Every morning I wake and the first thing I think about is whether she will have improved. I run down stairs to check in her. Even tried to make her a cushion to rest her head on hoping it would take strain off.
Click to expand...

Is she having any at home? The injections wear off after about 12 hours as bunnies metabolise drugs quickly.

To give you an idea my vet will prescribe roughly 0.6ml twice a day for my 2.1kg bunny. Bunnies can take a higher dose than a lot of vets realise.
 
Elena said:
Is she having any at home? The injections wear off after about 12 hours as bunnies metabolise drugs quickly.

To give you an idea my vet will prescribe roughly 0.6ml twice a day for my 2.1kg bunny. Bunnies can take a higher dose than a lot of vets realise.
Click to expand...

No. They've not offered me to do any at home. I just give her the antibiotics which I think will finish tomorrow and the panacur.
 
Poor Fluffy :cry: I agree she needs to see a vet again. If you're in York can you get a referral to the rabbit specialist Harcourt-Brown in Harrogate? Which vet are you with now?

She needs at least a month of Panacur and Metacam. They should give you a bottle of Metacam so you can give it at home. Antibiotics if the vet suspects it could be an ear infection causing the head tilt. With EC they can get worse before they get better.

Hope Fluffy will be OK xx
 
I agree with Helen, it doesn't really sound like your vet is experienced with treating rabbits so I would look for a rabbit specialist, maybe start a new thread for recommendations with the area in the title.

Mischa was on Panacur, abx and metacam for about 4-6 weeks, maybe even longer (my memory isn't great as it was five years ago now). Fortunately the first vet we saw had a decent enough grasp of rabbit medicine (even if later ones told me to put him to sleep despite improvement!). If you can get her pain under control she would be much more likely to start eating for herself which will in turn make it easier for her to fight this thing.

My Nutmeg has recently had a bit of a respiratory infection and even though it's in the intial stages my vet still felt it best to put her on a month long course of abx to really kick the bug.
 
Yes, I agree with the two above posts. Like I said earlier a rabbit savvy vet is a must and 28 days of panacur is needed. Metacam can go on for longer than this too.

What I found when one of my buns Buttercup had headtilt caused by EC, many vets were frightened to treat her and openly said they knew little about it - a rabbit savvy vet is more likely to treat EC or any other issue such as an infection more aggressively and this is what is actually needed for buns. Unfortunately, even though the vet is meant to know more about all this than us as they are the professionals, often it is us who have to ask and even force the issue because their knowledge isn't quite up to speed.

As you are in York I would suggest you message some York people - Captain Helen above being one who should be able to recommend a good bun vet.

Good luck and keep coming back here for help - I found it invaluable :wave:
 
In the short term, getting her eating is going to help a lot. If you're not having any luck with the syringe feeding then ask the nurse to show you. It can need a bit of a nack.

I've found that a 1ml syringe is easier to work than a big one, and you can stick something in the end and wiggle it to make the opening bigger if you find it gets jammed. Also, to start with try watering it down a little more than recommended while you get the hang. Offer her favourite foods by hand too, things like apple or fresh herbs can sometimes work when nothing else does. You could also soften her normal pellet food with water and try feeding that.
 
I have not found the syringe difficult. At first she was taking water from it so easily. She would just drink from it as I pushed it out. She took it I'm her mouth herself. Now she won't open her mouth for it. The vet showed me how to open her mouth and get it in but she struggles so much even when someone holds her. That's why I feel like she's given up :((
 
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She hasn't given up. Rabbits don't often like syringes. Any time Binky had them, be it antibiotics or simply panacur she kicks up a right fuss. Go from the side of the mouth because there is a gap through the teeth there. I normally keep poking Binky in the mouth with it until she grabs it to throw it away. Then go!
 
Ill try that. I've been lifting her lips up. Can someone please confirm
What drugs I need to get and what they are for. I've already found panache online but people mentioned some other ones. Methven???
 
Metacam - It's an anti inflammatory pain killer. It comes in two types, a dog version and a cat version. Your vet should give you the dog version for a bun.

What are you syringe feeding? Maybe a change would help. There's Science Recovery and Critical Care, your vet will stock at least one of them, and they can both be bought online. Or you could try baby food, as long as it's vegetable. There's one called Ella's Kitchen I think, which is quite popular for buns.

Have you tried tempting her with dandelions and brambles? They're usually the first thing my buns go for if they're poorly.
 
Captain Helen said:
Poor Fluffy :cry: I agree she needs to see a vet again. If you're in York can you get a referral to the rabbit specialist Harcourt-Brown in Harrogate? Which vet are you with now?

She needs at least a month of Panacur and Metacam. They should give you a bottle of Metacam so you can give it at home. Antibiotics if the vet suspects it could be an ear infection causing the head tilt. With EC they can get worse before they get better.

Hope Fluffy will be OK xx
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I definitely think its ec. They hoped originally it was an ear infection but I reckon that would have shown signs of improvement quite quickly. And she's definitely getting worse even though she's on med. I'm actually between york and hull but I'm hoping with the advice I've got from
Here I will be able to get what she's needs from my vet tomorrow morning :))
 
Captain Helen said:
Metacam - It's an anti inflammatory pain killer. It comes in two types, a dog version and a cat version. Your vet should give you the dog version for a bun.

What are you syringe feeding? Maybe a change would help. There's Science Recovery and Critical Care, your vet will stock at least one of them, and they can both be bought online. Or you could try baby food, as long as it's vegetable. There's one called Ella's Kitchen I think, which is quite popular for buns.

Have you tried tempting her with dandelions and brambles? They're usually the first thing my buns go for if they're poorly.
Click to expand...


Thank you. Will they happily prescribe a dog drug??? I've tried the critical care that you mix with water but she hates it. I've found a paste like stuff on line that looks like the panacur tube but a stuff to help the gut. Do you think that would be a good idea??

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/rabbit-suppl...ibreplex-for-rabbits-and-small-rodents-p-1180
 
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