Head Tilt Caused by Trauma - I am so worried....... UD Still struggling with weight

Dylan has been holding his right paw up when sitting for about 2 weeks. He has been to the vet and they could find no obvious reason for this. He has been on metacam but shown no improvement. I was due to take him back for x-ray yesterday.

I was givng Dylan his meds yesterday and he decided to jump out of my arms as I was trying to place him down. As he landed his front legs gave way and his head hit the floor. He jumped up with his head at an angle and ran around in obvious discomfort.

We took him straight to the vet as soon as they opened (an hour later) and by this time his head seemed to be in a normal position. He was examined but the only things noticeable was some lump lymph nodes behind both front legs. He was taken in for x-rays and a further examination under anaesthetic.

The x-rays showed he has arthritis on his lower spine and possibly upper. But no other issues were identified. A sample of one of the lumps was sent off for testing and came back as fatty tissue and an indication of trauma.

We were told he had been running around ok during the day. We were prescribed metacam and told to come back today.

When we took him home he still had signs of a tilt and his eyes are not the same. He still appears very unhappy in him self and is not doing much. I did see him eat some leaves.

This morning the head tilt seems more pronounced than last night and I feel he needs more than metacam.

Could anyone advise what I shold expect / demand of the vet tonight?

Also does anyone have experience of this and can tell me if he will recover?

Thank you in advance

I suspect the problem may be either EC and/or a bacterial MIDDLE ear infection.

I am not sure that the fall is the primary cause of the head tilt given that he was presenting with some 'odd' neurological symptoms before the accident.

Personally I would want the Vet to consider both EC and bacterial otitis media as a possible diagnosis

Treatment would be likely to include antibiotics, fenbendazole (AKA Panacur/Lapizole) and a non steroidal anti inflammatory (Metacam)

If he is not eating he will also need nursing care-syringe feeds/fluid via IV or subcutaneously and possibly gut motility medication - Metoclopramide + Ranitidine (Zantac)

Hope he feels better soon xx

Hi Jane,

Thank you for your reply - it is very helpful.

I forgot to mention that the vet did recommend panacur and Dylan was on his 8 day today. I assume it would be best to do the 28 day course over the 9 day?

He is pooping this morning (not normal - very dark, smelly blobs).

I will suggest the middle ear possibility tonight.

Thanks again
x

Head Tilt Caused by Trauma - I am so worried UD Still no weight gain

The head tilt has disappeared and he is not holding his front paws up. He has finsihed his full course of panacur and is now only on daily metacam.

He is showing signs of the arthritis in his back legs when he gets up to move but does seem a little more active than before.

The problem that we have is his weight. He was always 1.63kg until about a year ago when this dropped to the 1.5/1.55kg range. He is now 1.3kg and been syringe fed 4 / 5 times per day.

The question I have is - could this weight drop have anything to do with his age? Is 1.3kg a reasobable weight for 9 year old netherland dwarf?

I am seeing him nibbling at food, infact I had to wait nearly 10 minutes this morning before I could give him his meds as he was nibbling on some leaves.