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Rabbits eyes and head is twitching

T

teal

New Kit
My rabbits eyes and head have been twitching, this has been going on for a while now. She's been acting normally, eating, drinking, playing etc. I took her to the vet and he said everything looked normal, but he's gave me panacur to give her just to be safe ( I guess just in case it's e.cuniculi )
I had a look in her ears and saw a little bit of wax not much, the vet checked her ears as well so I'm assuming it was normal.

I'm not very rabbit savvy and would just like some opinions on what you think it could be and what I should do in the mean time? She's on her 7th day of panacur and I'm seeing no improvement with the twitching, it's like she'll twitch one eye, sometimes the other and sometimes both, and then her head will twitch as well. :?: :(

Any advice would be brilliant, thanks!
 
Hello. I don't really know much about e.cuniculi, but I think that panacur takes quite some time to start to work. It should be used for 28 days I think. Your vet should probably do a head CT scan, to make sure there's nothing else going on, also some antinflammatory meds should be prescribed, if it's e.cuniculi. Hope your bunny gets well soon. Sending you both lots of healing vibes.

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teal said:
My rabbits eyes and head have been twitching, this has been going on for a while now. She's been acting normally, eating, drinking, playing etc. I took her to the vet and he said everything looked normal, but he's gave me panacur to give her just to be safe ( I guess just in case it's e.cuniculi )
I had a look in her ears and saw a little bit of wax not much, the vet checked her ears as well so I'm assuming it was normal.

I'm not very rabbit savvy and would just like some opinions on what you think it could be and what I should do in the mean time? She's on her 7th day of panacur and I'm seeing no improvement with the twitching, it's like she'll twitch one eye, sometimes the other and sometimes both, and then her head will twitch as well. :?: :(

Any advice would be brilliant, thanks!
Click to expand...


There's a bit of advice on these forum threads:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?439495-twitching-head-and-flickering-eyes

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?114992-Head-twitch

Here's info on Panacur - which you're already giving:

http://www.vetfolio.com/parasitology/encephalitozoon-cuniculi-infection-in-rabbits

http://www.dechra.co.uk/therapy-are...cs-antifungals/disease-information/e-cuniculi

I hope the vet has also given Metacam, which is an anti-inflammatory as well as a pain killer. It will help decrease any inflammatory lesions in the brain and any possible inflammation in the inner ear.

An ear infection could also be considered:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

An ear infection wouldn't necessary be detected by eye, and may need an X-ray.

Are you happy with your vet, or would you consider a second opinion?
 
teal said:
My rabbits eyes and head have been twitching, this has been going on for a while now. She's been acting normally, eating, drinking, playing etc. I took her to the vet and he said everything looked normal, but he's gave me panacur to give her just to be safe ( I guess just in case it's e.cuniculi )
I had a look in her ears and saw a little bit of wax not much, the vet checked her ears as well so I'm assuming it was normal.

I'm not very rabbit savvy and would just like some opinions on what you think it could be and what I should do in the mean time? She's on her 7th day of panacur and I'm seeing no improvement with the twitching, it's like she'll twitch one eye, sometimes the other and sometimes both, and then her head will twitch as well. :?: :(

Any advice would be brilliant, thanks!
Click to expand...

Is your Rabbit a Red Eyed White ? How old is she ?

When you say that her eyes are 'twitching' do you mean that the actual eyeball is 'flicking', either from side to side (horizontal nystagmus) or up and down (vertical nystagmus) ? With the head 'twitching' is it a side to side 'sway' or a true facial muscle twitch ?

Does it look anything like any of these

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV2gZtUFv7k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeUAfV1xrSw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pG5NVZgknI

It sounds as though your Vet thinks the symptoms may be neurological and so the Vet is treating her for a protozoal parasite called Encephalitozoon Cuniculi (EC). EC can effect the brain and central nervous system, amongst other things

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/e-cuniculi/

Usually a non steroidal anti inflammatory such as Metacam is needed to treat EC, aswell as the Panacur. This is because it is important to try to minimise the inflammatory response to erupting EC spores. It is the inflammatory response that causes clinical symptoms and longterm cellular damage.

There is a possibility that a middle ear infection might be involved, but the symptoms you are describing make this less likely as usually a middle ear infection presents with a head tilt, loss of balance, head shaking, facial palsy.

If you feel that you would like a second opinion about your Rabbit then there is a list of client recommended 'Rabbit Savvy' Vets on these links :

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ve...-by-rabbit-owners/vets-owners-recommendations

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/

And finally, the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund is a great place to start to gain some 'Rabbit Savviness' :)

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

I hope that your Doe's symptoms will improve, whatever the cause x
 
MightyMax said:
There's a bit of advice on these forum threads:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?439495-twitching-head-and-flickering-eyes

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?114992-Head-twitch

Here's info on Panacur - which you're already giving:

http://www.vetfolio.com/parasitology/encephalitozoon-cuniculi-infection-in-rabbits

http://www.dechra.co.uk/therapy-are...cs-antifungals/disease-information/e-cuniculi

I hope the vet has also given Metacam, which is an anti-inflammatory as well as a pain killer. It will help decrease any inflammatory lesions in the brain and any possible inflammation in the inner ear.

An ear infection could also be considered:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

An ear infection wouldn't necessary be detected by eye, and may need an X-ray.

Are you happy with your vet, or would you consider a second opinion?
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the useful links I'll check them out!
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Is your Rabbit a Red Eyed White ? How old is she ?

When you say that her eyes are 'twitching' do you mean that the actual eyeball is 'flicking', either from side to side (horizontal nystagmus) or up and down (vertical nystagmus) ? With the head 'twitching' is it a side to side 'sway' or a true facial muscle twitch ?

Does it look anything like any of these

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV2gZtUFv7k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeUAfV1xrSw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pG5NVZgknI

It sounds as though your Vet thinks the symptoms may be neurological and so the Vet is treating her for a protozoal parasite called Encephalitozoon Cuniculi (EC). EC can effect the brain and central nervous system, amongst other things

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/e-cuniculi/

Usually a non steroidal anti inflammatory such as Metacam is needed to treat EC, aswell as the Panacur. This is because it is important to try to minimise the inflammatory response to erupting EC spores. It is the inflammatory response that causes clinical symptoms and longterm cellular damage.

There is a possibility that a middle ear infection might be involved, but the symptoms you are describing make this less likely as usually a middle ear infection presents with a head tilt, loss of balance, head shaking, facial palsy.

If you feel that you would like a second opinion about your Rabbit then there is a list of client recommended 'Rabbit Savvy' Vets on these links :

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ve...-by-rabbit-owners/vets-owners-recommendations

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/

And finally, the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund is a great place to start to gain some 'Rabbit Savviness' :)

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

I hope that your Doe's symptoms will improve, whatever the cause x
Click to expand...

She's white but doesn't have red eyes, she's about 1 year and 10 months old. Her actual eyeballs don't seem to be twitching it's more of a blinky twitching, and it seems like more of a facial muscle twitch. Thanks for your help and all the links I'll check them out, and no I wouldn't say it looks like any of those videos, I'll try to get a video of my rabbit so you can see what she's doing
 
teal said:
She's white but doesn't have red eyes, she's about 1 year and 10 months old. Her actual eyeballs don't seem to be twitching it's more of a blinky twitching, and it seems like more of a facial muscle twitch. Thanks for your help and all the links I'll check them out, and no I wouldn't say it looks like any of those videos, I'll try to get a video of my rabbit so you can see what she's doing
Click to expand...

That would be helpful :)
 
Also just thought I'd mention it's not constant, sometimes it looks worse sometimes it looks like it's gone that's why it's hard for me to get a proper video (I even had to show the vet a video because her symptoms weren't showing when we were at the vet)
 
teal said:
Thanks for all the useful links I'll check them out!
Click to expand...


You're really welcome :)

I hope you can get this sorted.

If you want to find a good vet in your area (and I suggest you take your rabbit to see one) then you can start another thread in Rabbit Chat with the header:


Rabbit Savvy Vet needed in (your location)

...and members will help you out with their recommendations.

Alternatively you could look here:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/vetfinder/vets-owners-recommendations


http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/

Wishing you loads of luck xx
 
teal said:
Here's the video, if it says it needs a password to view it just type in teal.

https://vimeo.com/225972529

She's in no pain that I can tell but she gets pretty annoyed with the twitching as you can see from some parts of the video, I've also slowed down some parts so you can see it better
Click to expand...

I cant view the video as it is password controlled. Can you upload it to Youtube ?
 
teal said:
Here's the video, if it says it needs a password to view it just type in teal.

https://vimeo.com/225972529

She's in no pain that I can tell but she gets pretty annoyed with the twitching as you can see from some parts of the video, I've also slowed down some parts so you can see it better
Click to expand...


Hi there

Thanks for posting that. Yes I can see the video :)

Would you say it's more of a constant 'blinking' than a twitching?

I shall have thoughts on it, but I suggest you do as I mentioned in my previous post, and find a really good savvy vet in your area x
 
MightyMax said:
Hi there

Thanks for posting that. Yes I can see the video :)

Would you say it's more of a constant 'blinking' than a twitching?

I shall have thoughts on it, but I suggest you do as I mentioned in my previous post, and find a really good savvy vet in your area x
Click to expand...

Yeah it's say constant blinking with the head slightly twitching, thanks I'll check out your links to find a rabbit savvy vet, I hope the panacur starts helping a bit as well x
 
teal said:
Yeah it's say constant blinking with the head slightly twitching, thanks I'll check out your links to find a rabbit savvy vet, I hope the panacur starts helping a bit as well x
Click to expand...


Rabbits shouldn't be blinking that much. A good vet (or a referral to one that you can't easily get to) should help enormously. That video of yours is so clear that I should think it would help any vet not seeing your rabbit on it's own :)

How long did you say this had been going on?
 
MightyMax said:
Rabbits shouldn't be blinking that much. A good vet (or a referral to one that you can't easily get to) should help enormously. That video of yours is so clear that I should think it would help any vet not seeing your rabbit on it's own :)

How long did you say this had been going on?
Click to expand...

Do you think I could contact a rabbit savvy vet through email if I can't easily get to them? (don't drive or have anyone close to me that drives)
I'd say I noticed it just over 3 weeks ago (pretty sure that's when it started because I'm basically constantly with her because she lives in my room and I'm off college for the summer so I can notice little changes pretty quickly) x
 
teal said:
Do you think I could contact a rabbit savvy vet through email if I can't easily get to them? (don't drive or have anyone close to me that drives)
I'd say I noticed it just over 3 weeks ago (pretty sure that's when it started because I'm basically constantly with her because she lives in my room and I'm off college for the summer so I can notice little changes pretty quickly) x
Click to expand...


You can try, but whether they would respond without seeing the rabbit I don't know.

Best case scenario would be finding a good vet and going on the train with her if you can't get someone to drive you. I would say it's important to get her seen. Once you have the appointment booked (and unless it's a referral practice, you don't need to be referred by your own vet) then I would send the video and make sure the vet sees it ahead of time.


Here's something else I found:


http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?53489-Excessive-eye-blinking

http://www.maynevets.co.uk/pet-factsheets/Topics/Otherpets/24_290497.shtml
 
MightyMax said:
You can try, but whether they would respond without seeing the rabbit I don't know.

Best case scenario would be finding a good vet and going on the train with her if you can't get someone to drive you. I would say it's important to get her seen. Once you have the appointment booked (and unless it's a referral practice, you don't need to be referred by your own vet) then I would send the video and make sure the vet sees it ahead of time.


Here's something else I found:


http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?53489-Excessive-eye-blinking

http://www.maynevets.co.uk/pet-factsheets/Topics/Otherpets/24_290497.shtml
Click to expand...

Okay thanks for the advice, oh god that last link doesn't sound good :( I'm not in the best financial situation but obviously I don't want my rabbit to be ill or in pain so I'll try my best to find a vet near me that specialises in rabbits x
 
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