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  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Head Tilt - Urgent

Jack's-Jane said:
So no antibiotics :? Did the Vet say why ? The symptoms your Rabbit has can also occur with a severe middle ear infection. Also, steroids will have a negative effect on his immune system, so *if* there is a bacterial infection the use of the steroid with no antibiotic cover may make things worse.

Is your Vet very Rabbit savvy or might it be a good idea to request a referral to a specialist who could see your Rabbit tomorrow ?
Click to expand...

The vet said that it wasn't a bacterial infection as Smudge's ears were clear when he checked them with a stethoscope (not sure that I've got the correct name!). I'm going to phone the vets tomorrow and try and get a better outcome.
 
Does he have a temperature? Has the vet checked this as that may indicate an infection? Otitis media is not easy to diagnose and unfortunately sometimes it isn't always obvious on x rays as they can be difficult to interpret of the head. If you are not happy then you are within your rights to get a second opinion from another vet at the same surgery or a vet at a different practice if preferred. The steroid should help any inflammation in the CNS.
 
Charlotte333 said:
I feel that I will need to ask the vets for a specific antibiotic. Which one would anyone suggest?
Click to expand...

The antibiotic of choice would depend on the specific bacteria involved and various diagnostics would be needed to establish this. However, a broad spectrum abx licensed for use in Rabbits and the usual first abx of choice in the prescribing cascade is Baytril.

Info about the prescribing cascade here:

http://www.bsava.com/Advice/BSAVAGu...gcascadeandofflabeluse/tabid/360/Default.aspx


So given the reluctance of your Vet to prescribe any abx at all and the apparent urgency of trying to get abx cover maybe your Vet would agree to prescribing Baytril

I would suggest printing off these links to back up your argument


http://veterinarywebinars.com/assets/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/BacterialOtitisMediaInterna.htm
 
Charlotte333 said:
The vet said that it wasn't a bacterial infection as Smudge's ears were clear when he checked them with a stethoscope (not sure that I've got the correct name!). I'm going to phone the vets tomorrow and try and get a better outcome.
Click to expand...

Ears can appear to look ok but a swab can often show bacteria. Tilly's ears looked perfect but she was very tilted, so we gave her antibiotics anyway and she started to shown amazing improvement within 2 days (due to the situation, which was a bit complicated, she was only on the antibiotics so we knew that was what had made the improvement).
 
Jack's-Jane said:
The antibiotic of choice would depend on the specific bacteria involved and various diagnostics would be needed to establish this. However, a broad spectrum abx licensed for use in Rabbits and the usual first abx of choice in the prescribing cascade is Baytril.

Info about the prescribing cascade here:

http://www.bsava.com/Advice/BSAVAGu...gcascadeandofflabeluse/tabid/360/Default.aspx


So given the reluctance of your Vet to prescribe any abx at all and the apparent urgency of trying to get abx cover maybe your Vet would agree to prescribing Baytril

I would suggest printing off these links to back up your argument


http://veterinarywebinars.com/assets/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/BacterialOtitisMediaInterna.htm
Click to expand...

And this :)
 
I had a better outcome at the vets today:D:D

I phoned the vets this morning and Smudge's case has been transferred to a more savvy vet. Smudge has received an injection of Baytril today and will receive another tomorrow when he goes in for the day. I know that Baytril isn't strong but it is a step in the right direction.

Smudge is still falling/rolling over with a bad head tilt but he is more lively in himself.
 
Baytril is wrongly or rightly the only licensed antibiotic in rabbits. It is broad spectrum and will only work like most antibiotics if the bacteria are sensitive to it if there is a bacterial infection present. Being broad spectrum increases the chances of this. There are increasing problems with resistance to it but this is still relatively rare but is why sometimes it is not an effective treatment. The drug is enrofloxacin and it is a fluoroquinolone if anybody is interested! Very political currently in farm animals.

I am sending vibes for Smudge.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
How is she doing today ?
Click to expand...

He is the same as yesterday. I'm worried as he doesn't appear to be very active tonight. He is eating lots of greens, parsley carrots etc. I haven't seen him eating hay but the vet send he had in the day. He is being syringed feed recovery food in the day and I'm giving him his normal food in the evening.

The vet said she would have started with Metacam straight away and wouldn't have used the steroids. He is still on the Baytril. The vet didn't want to change as she said she had successfully treated a number of rabbits with head tilts using Baytril. Smudge had an injection today and will have another tomorrow. They'll also give me Baytril to use over the weekend and next week.

Smudge has put on a small amount of weight. He gone from 1.35kg to 1.40kg. He is normally around 1.5kg. They have also been doing physio on his head by turning it carefully to a normal position. They showed me how to do it but I'm not very keen.
 
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