Help! Advice needed on bunny with head tilt **He's gone**

Last Monday, my bunny, Georgie, reached for a treat and fell over backwards. I monitored his balance, and we were off to the vets on Wednesday, as I was worried about him. His appetite was low, and he didn't seem inclined to drink either. He was doing a nice line in hiding from me under his favourite chair (he's a house bunny).

The vet didn't seem sure, but said it was an ear infection (a deep one), and prescribed Baytril, Metacam, and some Science Recovery to try to stimulate his appetite.

On Thursday, a head tilt developed, and Georgie kept rolling over. He was very lethargic, and didn't want to know about food at all, so I took him back to the vets on Friday. This vet confirmed it as an ear infection, and gave me some ear drops (and Georgie an injection of Baytril), and said to persist with the antibiotics.

On Monday, we returned to the vets for a check-up, but there wasn't any change. His head tilt wasn't reduced, and he still didn't want to eat. The vet said his gut was sluggish, and he felt dehydrated.

Since then, I've bought him some new hay (he's not eating it), I've refreshed his food (which he sometimes eats a bit of), I've given him kale, basil, broccoli, and parsley - he liked the kale, but won't eat it this morning, and was eating the basil and broccoli (again, he was ignoring them this morning). I've also been syringing him fluids to try to stop him being dehydrated. I did try him with banana, and also grated carrot, but, apparently, he doesn't like them

He is now going to the loo - all over my lounge, but at least he's going. He's also still washing, and 'flopping', with his back legs stretched out.

The head tilt hasn't reduced at all - in fact, it seems a little worse - and I can't seem to encourage his appetite. Normally, he would beg for a treat from me. Now, he just ignores them. He's also more lethargic than usual.

I'm just really worried about him . He's not eating normally, when he deigns to eat at all, and the head tilt / ear infection doesn't seem to be clearing up at all (not even a sign of it). Am I just hoping for miracles too early? Is there anything I can do? Any advice would be really appreciated. (Sorry for the long post.)

Hiya Coral, I am so sorry to hear about your poor Flopsy Bunny
Baytril can take about 10 days to clear up a really bad ear infection, and sometimes the head tilt improves but does not go completely.
I am a little suspicious that Georgie could possibly have a parasite called EC, which can be treated by a course of one month of Panacur (around 0.5ml).
Rabbits displaying a combination of ear and bladder problems, should really be treated for this parasite asap, as it can affect the nervous system, and cause dragging of the limbs and worse :?
I would take the bunny back to your vet if you have not seen any improvement and either ask him/ her to test for EC or go ahead and treat with Panacur anyway, as it is best not to delay treatment waiting for test results to return.
Panacur is given along with Baytril for the month I believe, or at least we treat all bunnies here at the Sanctuary with Panacur if any ear problems appear, just to be sure.

I hope Georgie.is less wobbly soon, and you can get to the bottom of things .

Here if you need us.

Best wishes
Adele

Thanks, Adele. I will ask the vet about Panacur. I really appreciate the advice.

Im so sorry your bun isn't feeling well i have no advice, sorry. But sending lots of healing vibes and bunny snuggles and i hope he gets better soon XX

Thank you, Phill. I think I just panic sometimes, but I am really worried about him, so healing vibes are very welcome .

Coral said:

Thanks, Adele. I will ask the vet about Panacur. I really appreciate the advice.

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aaaawww you are very welcome Coral, just hope Georgie is feeling much better very soon, bless him.
Good luck at the vets and please keep us posted.

Best wishes and snuggles for Georgie

Here are some references that may help. There is info on head tilt and E. cuniculi http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#tilt

Caz

Aww, I hope Georgie gets better soon, I'm sorry I don't have any advice either, but will do the same as Phill and am sending loads of bunny snuggles and healing vibes xxxxx

Caz said:

Here are some references that may help.

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Thank you - I've just been scouring them. One article was particularly comforting, where the head tilt initially got worse, despite treatment, and took a few months to fully clear up.

loopylop said:

am sending loads of bunny snuggles and healing vibes

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Thank you very much . I'm going home to check on Georgie in a minute, and see how he's doing... and syringe some more water into him.

Awww, report back and let us know how he is! I seen in intro's your picture of him, he really is lovely!!!

Give him bunny love from us xxx

Did the vet say what kind of ear infection it was? inner ear? middle ear?

Has he got anything else? like rolling eyes?

I know that if it is inner ear, and quite a violent infection, it takes alot of time, care and patience and at first there is only gradual improvement.

Also his head tilt may or may not clear up completely, some bunnies are left with head tilt even after the infections cleared up, but they still carry on there life as normal.

Let us know how he gets on, and good luck, will be thinking of you and Georgie x x x

The vet wasn't even sure it was an ear infection :? . Although I saw someone else at the practice, and he backed her up, but neither of them said what sort.

I've looked out for the rolling eyes, and he doesn't seem to be doing that. However, his head seems more tilted than when he started on the antibiotic, and he's been having Baytril for 8 days now. Having read an article from the link Caz posted, I now realise it could take a very long time for the infection to go. I'm just worried, as he's still sort of depressed in himself, and he needs a lot of encouragement to eat anything. His dry food he doesn't really touch. It's not that he CAN'T eat; it's simply that he doesn't want to.

Whenever I pick him up to syringe him fluids, his head goes even further to the side, and I end up having to straighten him, poor sweetie . However, he's a dab hand at tricking me - I THINK I'm giving him water (he appears to be swallowing and everything), and then I see it trickling out the side of his mouth - very crafty bunny .

hi coral, sorry to hear about georgie. i'm going through a similar thing with one of my bunnies but it appears she's had a stroke so has head tilt as a result. she wouldn't eat for a week but thankfully is now eating again, i think it's always a relief when they eat so hopefully the fact that george is picking at food is a good thing.

another of my bunnies had an inner ear infection four years ago and although i don't remember how long it took to get better i know his head tilt remained for some time but his balance improved and eventually the head tilt went although others have said that sometimes it never goes. long term chech his ears regularly as although his infection went three years later he had pus in the ear and what had happened was an abscess had formed and became active all those years later, again that was treatable with long term antibiotics.

i really hope everything goes well for georgie, it sounds like you're doing everything you can for him

Thanks for the advice.

Honey, I'm so sorry your bun has had a stroke. I was panicking about Georgie when he hadn't eaten for a couple of days - I hate to think the state I'd be in if it was for a week!

I'm taking Georgie back to the vets again this evening. They're probably getting tired of seeing me, but his head tilt is getting worse, and one ear sticks up permanently now. I've just syringed him some more water, and he seemed quite lethargic when I picked him up to do so, which worries me too. I'd like to ask the vet about a radiograph, although I don't know whether that would be a good idea or not. Also, about whether he considers Baytril is the best treatment here (it probably is, but I know there are other antibiotics, and some ear infections are resistant to Baytril). I also wanted to check with him about EC and Panacur, as Adele suggested.

Georgie is still eating some of his greens, but I haven't been able to tempt him with any sort of hay or forage (I've tried 3 different types so far), and he's not drinking enough, though I think he is having some (hence the syringing of fluids).

I'll let you know how we get on at the vets.

Well, we went back to the vets this evening, only for me to be thoroughly disillusioned with both vets I am seeing at the practice regarding Georgie.

He openly admitted he didn't know so much about rabbits, and said the lady I had also been seeing did (but she didn't). He confirmed that the ears were infected, but didn't seem to know what EC was, and wondered why Georgie would need Panacur, as it's for worming :x .

He said there wasn't really anything else to do, just keep on with the Baytril. When I checked about other antibiotics, he said there weren't any. He did give Georgie a steroid injection - what does that do? He also said he would have expected to see some improvement by now, and told me that if, in another 3 weeks, Georgie hadn't improved at all, it would be kinder to put him to sleep . I was really upset.

Georgie has been very quiet and subdued ever since we got back from the vets. He's gone into hiding behind a chair. I wish there was something I could do for him. I would love for it all to go away, and Georgie to be healthy and contented again. Before all this started up, Georgie had figured out how to pick up his food bowl (it fits over a mould in the cage, and he'd never managed to dislodge it before), and took great joy in tossing his food everywhere. It would be so great to see him doing that now.

Coral, don't be disheartened. Is there another vet you can take him to? Perhaps someone on here knows of a rabbit savvy one and can recommend. We have a head tilt bunny and he's just as cheeky as he was before his inner ear infection started up. If you can get the right support from a vet who knows his/her stuff, he'll soon be on the right track. Lucky's vet (previous owner's one) said exactly the same, but we weren't happy with that so we took him to our own vet, and he's doing fine with us just now, happy as ever and the most loving bun in the world. Buns learn to adapt very quickly.

Panacur is for worming as Ec is a parasite not a bacteria etc so it needs a treatment designed to work against parasitic organisms.

I don't know a specialist in West Sussex, I know of ones in London and North Hampshire if that is any help.

With regards to antibiotics you can also use Septrin in rabbits orally or penicillin but only if injected (oral penicillin kills) and the bunny has to be on probiotic too.

The steroid injection was to encourage him to eat.

Can anyone who is a member of the RWA ring them to find a rabbit vet in West Sussex? This is vital!

Some of these may be near you http://www.ukcompanion.rabbits.org.uk/

All vets should have a big book with lists of specialist's names and vet practices. That was how I found my vet, my old vet was stumped so got out the book to find my nearest rabbit specialist - turns out it was in Andover and 45min away but well worth the trip! Ring your vet and demand a referal.

Caz

hi coral, i really hope that somebody is able to give you the name of a good rabbit vet in your area as it really does make the world of difference to know that you can be confident in the treatment and advice you're being given. it's suprising how much water rabbits take without us realising, i haven't seen mine drink for three weeks but we stopped syringing when she started eating and that was nearly two weeks ago so she's obviously drinking just not when i'm there. i initially wetted her food as others had suggested so you could try that.
how is he today? i hope he starts to feel better soon but it can take a while (as i'm finding out!) and it's important to take every day as it comes, thinking of you both

I've calmed down from last night, and was really encouraged this morning to see Georgie had been at his food bowl, and had drunk all his water as well. He also seems more lively, and is no longer hiding.

I hope someone knows of a good rabbit vet as well. It doesn't help that I'm not confident in the vets I've seen so far.

I won't give up on him. Hopefully, if we persist with the treatment, the infection will eventually go away, and he can start to regain his balance. At least he's eating more now, which will keep his energy up to help fight the infection.

Thanks for all your support. I was thoroughly depressed and despondent last night when the vet was talking about putting Georgie to sleep.

Coral, I ran into your situation of meeting the wrong vet long ago.

Rabbit falls under exotic pet, in which an oridinary vet who deals w/ dogs & cats doesn't know squat about them.

You have to dig out the yellow page, and call each one. Don't ask them if they have experience w/ rabbits, ask they what kind of exotic pet specialist they have over these vet clinic, and when they said they have one, then ask what kind of exotic pet they have been treating, and how many yr. of experience they have.

For the time being, it never goes wrong by force feed baby food of at least the equivalent of your rabbit's regular diet. If you think he eats 1/4 of his regular diet, then force feed him w/ 4 x 6 cc of baby food. Make sure those baby food are vegetable and/or fruit. NO cheese or meat of any kind in the baby food mix.