Violet (my ARC bunny) is at rest now

I thought I would post this up so people know.

Violet my blue minirex developed head tilt on Saturday.

She had been losing a bit of weight recently but I put it down to the fact I had cut down on their pellets (Cosmos was getting fat).

Then Saturday morning when I went to check on them she was sat in the corner of her litter tray with severe head tilt.

She was unable to keep herself upright and kept falling over.

I rushed her to the rabbit vets in Andover (my usual vet was away but the other rabbit specialist was able to come in) she said as Violet was so calm and wasn't panicking/distressed that it would definately be worth giving her a shot at survival.

She suspects an inner ear infection but coupled with the weight loss it could be something else (poss E. cuniculi).

Violet was given a shot of anitbiotics and steroid and I was told the next 24 hours were critical. I had to take Cosmos home alone as they felt he could knock her over in their small pens and make it worse if he stayed.

The vet rang me on Sunday to say she appeared to be a bit better and they want to continue the treatment, she had eaten and drunk without assistance overnight and was now able to balance a bit better.

I also had some info for the vet, over winter the water bottle has been drained dry every day (giant size) but Sunday morning, with no Violet, the bottle was still mostly full (although Cosmos had been out on fresh grass). I hadn't thought this strange originally as Zeus and Athena drain one between them too and often their bowl as well but it looks like Violet may have kidney problems if all that water was just being drunk by her.

The vet says she isn't sure whether kidney problems made her susceptible to the infection or if the head tilt, drinking and weight loss are symptoms of one disease.

My usual vet is back today and he is going to check her over and decide what to do next. If she is looking better they are thinking x-rays and blood tests to find out what is going on.

This is pretty lousy timing for me as we are moving soon and money is tight, what with a trip to the emergency vets two weeks ago with Zeus (his tear duct blocked completely and his whole face was soaked literally overnight and I was worried about it attracting flies if I waited) and now another trip with Violet. I think the vets think I am purposley trying to spoil their day off :? !

I really hope she is going to make it I have read up and head tilt often has a good prognosis but coupled with the other symptoms I am very worried there is something more serious underlying.

Caz

Really sorry to hear this.
As your Vet suspects EC has she prescrbed PANACUR to eliminate the parasite aswell as the antibiotics/steroids to treat the symptoms?
If your Vet does prescribe Panacur all other buns in contact with Violet will need treatment too as EC spores are excreted in Buns wee.
EC can also effect the kidney so if Violet has kidney probs and CNS symptoms maybe your Vet will be even more convinced it is EC :? :?
Hope Violet cntinues to respond to treatment.
Janex

Big snuggles to Violet , what a worry for you

SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT VIOLOT HOPE SHE GETS BETTER SOON!

awww poor Violet I'd get her (and the others) started on the panacur, like Jane says.

Sending bucket loads of healing vibes to Violet.

Su.x

Sending lots of healing vibes to violet XXX

Just waiting for my vet to call me (he is operating all this morning so unable to update me yet).

It was me that suspected EC but there hasn't been other symptoms like paralysis or trouble moving she was acting as normal up until I saw her last on Friday night so the vet is holding off giving panacur just yet as she didn't think EC likely.

I am aware they will all need treatment if it is EC but am waiting for my usual (and more experienced) vet to give his diagnosis as Zeus and Athena could do without extra medication right now if it isn't necessary .

As she has been responding to antibiotics it made the first vet lean towards an inner ear infection but I am just waiting for my phone to ring now.

Caz

I hope she has a speedy recovery and that it's just an infection

Caz said:

Just waiting for my vet to call me (he is operating all this morning so unable to update me yet).

It was me that suspected EC but there hasn't been other symptoms like paralysis or trouble moving she was acting as normal up until I saw her last on Friday night so the vet is holding off giving panacur just yet as she didn't think EC likely.

I am aware they will all need treatment if it is EC but am waiting for my usual (and more experienced) vet to give his diagnosis as Zeus and Athena could do without extra medication right now if it isn't necessary .

As she has been responding to antibiotics it made the first vet lean towards an inner ear infection but I am just waiting for my phone to ring now.

Caz

Click to expand...

My UNQUALIFIED thoughts are that it is unlikely to be the antibiotics which have kicked in just yet and alleviated the symptoms but the steroid injection.
Hopefully the combination of treatments to address cause and symptoms will effect a full recovery for Violet.

Janex

Well having just got off the phone (and not having read your post above) the vet said he thinks it is the steroids reducing the inflammation that has given her, her balance back so he wants to do x-rays to check her ear/head either for signs of an infection or possibly E. cuniculi granulomas before deciding on appropriate treatments.

I am popping down tonight with Cosmos to keep her company as that will be 48 hours on her own now and Cosmos is missing her. The vet agrees it would be the best thing now she has her balance back and can still obviously eat/drink by herself.

She is then going to have her x-rays tomorrow and if there are no signs of an inner ear infection the vet is going to take some bloods.

I really am having no luck with them at the moment.

Poor Zeus has a nasty sore bald patch under his chin where his eye was weeping - took him off his daily metacam to see if there was any improvement but it seems likely he will have to stay on metacam for the forseable future. Thankfully after his tear duct was flushed the other weekend and back on his metacam the duct is emptying properly and his hair is growing back.

Athena's split lip has completely healed but the bottom tooth that was most damaged started to overgrow (surprisingly the opposing upper tooth was wearing down normally, which is why I didn't notice it at first). I realised it wasn't wearing properly when I was cutting her nails and (being the feisty little madam she is) she struggled and her elongated tooth just pinged out :shock:. I think it must have snapped at the fracture shown on the x-ray after her fight but I don't know how it broke as I was holding her round her middle and extracting her rear leg for trimming at the time. She is now completely missing one of her lower teeth so I am keeping a close eye on it. I am hoping it will regrow straight and start to wear as normal (unlikely), meanwhile her upper tooth still seems to be wearing normally.

Cosmos seems to be doing ok and is one of the few rabbits my curse hasn't fallen upon...yet !

Caz

Oh sorry Caz you seem to be having a really rough time of it lately.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Blimey Caz so its not just my lot who are intent on bankrupting their Mum then!!

Hope things go OK with the X-ray tomorrow.

Janex

Talk about never rains but it poors Caz... what a nightmare for you. Fingers and paws crossed that Violet and the others respond to the respective treatments.

Best of luck

If Violet has shown enough improvement to get her balance back so quickly that is a very good sign. It can take up to several weeks for that to happen. It could have been the antibiotic working quickly. Blueberry has had several bouts of head tilt now and each time baytril and metacam have straightened him up overnight. Old Lace however took weeks to get her feet back under her and never got her head straight, but she still lived a good quality of life for another 6 months. She was 8 years old, so that wasn't bad going.

Having Cosmos back with her should help too.

It is nice to hear news of Zeus, I had wondered how he and you were getting on.

I went down and spent half an hour with her last night.

I gave her nose rubs and cleaned her bum up a bit where she had been sat on damp newspaper. I must admit I was a little annoyed to see she wasn't on vet bed considering she didn't have a litter tray so was having to pee where she sat :? .

She was responsive and both eyes are able to close (something I read on rabbit refs is that often one eye doesn't close so you have to give them daily eye drops but glad to see she can still blink). She ate the celery I brought pretty quick and I removed the russel rabbit they had put in there I had said she was on excel but they had put RR in too. I gave her some of excel and hay I had brought and she did tuck in.

Then I popped Cosmos in with her and she got a bit more lively and tried to follow him and snuggle but he was too busy trying to scoff her food, then he stuck his head under hers for a lick :roll: men! When I left they were cuddled up and she looked calm so hopefully the x-ray will show what is going on. Her head is still tilted but it didn't look as bad to me as before but I can't quite tell.

Caz

Thats sounding positive Caz, are the X rays today? Good luck. Thats very disconcerting that they don't follow a conscientious owners wishes re food etc. :x

A friend of mines bun had head tilt which totally cleared up, so it is possible.

Just caught up with this Caz - sorry youre having such a rough time at the mo - lots of good vibes are on their way to you and the bunsxx

sorry to hear about Violet Caz, I have all fingers, toes and paws crossed this end that this beautiful lady will make speedy recovery

The vet just got back to me with the x-ray results. There is some thickening in her inner ear but it is symmetrical in both ears :? suggesting an ear infection is unlikely as the cause. So that does just leave EC after all.

He has taken some bloods and put her on panacur and is keeping her in until the blood results are back tomorrow then when he has a clearer idea of EC titre and/or kidney problems I will probably be able to take her home.

If she comes up as EC positive he is going to asses what to do about the others, he thinks test and treat those registering as positive but I wonder if it wouldn't be safer (and cheaper) just to treat them all as a precaution but I guess he is mindful of the others being subjected to too much meds right now.

Edited to add: after reading some more symptoms of Ec I realise my vet and I should have spotted this earlier! Some of you may recall her "bad back" ( http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4679 ) just under a year ago, where I thought she had injured her back when she jumped off her box as the next day she wasn't moving her back legs and was peeing where she sat, she was on metacam for a month before she was able to move about again and control her bladder. Just reading the symptoms of Ec and hind limb paralysis, incontinence, weight loss, excessive thirst (stemming from granulomas in the kidneys) and head tilt are common symptoms . With hind-sight it all adds up now but with each symptom coming seperately I just didn't add it up soon enough I hope it isn't too late. I just wish we had taken bloods back then - we could have treated it before it got so bad.

Caz