HELP!! Poorly Bunny with eyes constantly scanning left to right and off balance

[MightyMax]

How's she doing this morning?

 

[roxyroller88]

Hope all is well today
Xxx

 

[bunny mummy 1]

She's even more tilted today. Can't put her head straight. Made vet appointment at Ashleigh vets in Manchester. They are a specialist and have a rabbit vet! So fingers crossed. Keeping going with medicine and pain relief. She is eating herself but only hay grapes and spider plant. Not pellets and not enough to sustain her so we are still force feeding. She's less mobile because the head tilt is nearly 90degrees! So is very wobbly on her feet. Hoping tomorrow's vet will have some good advice. Going to discuss everything mentioned here from penecilin injection to 28 panacur course to travel sickness medicine. Never had a rabbit actually have a health condition I can't fix with infacol and fibre plex so a bit upset.
If anyone has anything else they think I should ask the rabbit vet please let me know. I'm going to have to tell my boss the news that I will be off tomorrow. My princess comes first!

 

[MightyMax]

She's even more tilted today. Can't put her head straight. Made vet appointment at Ashleigh vets in Manchester. They are a specialist and have a rabbit vet! So fingers crossed. Keeping going with medicine and pain relief. She is eating herself but only hay grapes and spider plant. Not pellets and not enough to sustain her so we are still force feeding. She's less mobile because the head tilt is nearly 90degrees! So is very wobbly on her feet. Hoping tomorrow's vet will have some good advice. Going to discuss everything mentioned here from penecilin injection to 28 panacur course to travel sickness medicine. Never had a rabbit actually have a health condition I can't fix with infacol and fibre plex so a bit upset.
If anyone has anything else they think I should ask the rabbit vet please let me know. I'm going to have to tell my boss the news that I will be off tomorrow. My princess comes first!

Hi there

Sorry to hear the news that she is no better and even more tilted. I'm really glad you've got an appointment with a rabbit vet at Ashleigh

I think if you ask them to go through the options of what might be the issue, and then see how they intend to treat, it will become clearer for you. Your idea of penicillin injections and Panacur is good Pain relief continuing and possibly a skull X-ray to determine whether there is ear infection present. As Roxy said, joining the group www.facebook.com/groups/helpforheadtilthoppers would give you support and advice, and she is on there to help too

A couple of people have had threads about inner ear infection, and they might be useful to read ...

Parsnipbun is a very experienced rabbit owner.
You may want to make a note of the medication and procedures that she used as I would trust her with my bunnies

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...tent-ear-infection-U-D-Smudge-amp-Harley-gone

Also Ruth:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...fection!-(-(&highlight=ruthyjones89+infection

Nickybunny1 also has a lot of experience, and she is very compassionate and I am sure she will support you.

Certainly the pain relief needs to be continued. I shall be thinking of you both tomorrow.

Good luck xx

 

[roxyroller88]

It's not uncommon for it to get worse before it gets better. Whatever is going on has probably been building up for a little while so you just need a good, solid treatment plan and then it's just a case of waiting for the meds to kick in

Good luck at the vets and let us know how you get on..


Xx

 

[bunny mummy 1]

So the vets wanted to admit her there and then to X-ray and do blood tests and force feed and medicate but I am happy to medicate and force feed as it's the weekend so I can do it regularly and if it is an inner ear infection the antibiotics she got will clear it up. Been given gut stimulant to keep everything moving and the equivalent to sea sickness medicine to help her balance. We have also been given a very banana smelling antibiotic instead of baytril that has to be kept in the fridge and a follow up apppointment booked for Monday evening to see if any improvement. How long should it be before we see an improvement if it is the inner ear infection with the antibiotics kicking in?

 

[bunny mummy 1]

Also asked about 28 day panacur course and vet said that if it's not EC and they prescribe panacur it weakens the immune system so they didn't want to prescribe it if it wasn't necessary

 

[MightyMax]

So the vets wanted to admit her there and then to X-ray and do blood tests and force feed and medicate but I am happy to medicate and force feed as it's the weekend so I can do it regularly and if it is an inner ear infection the antibiotics she got will clear it up. Been given gut stimulant to keep everything moving and the equivalent to sea sickness medicine to help her balance. We have also been given a very banana smelling antibiotic instead of baytril that has to be kept in the fridge and a follow up apppointment booked for Monday evening to see if any improvement. How long should it be before we see an improvement if it is the inner ear infection with the antibiotics kicking in?

It sounds like you've been given Septrin - Trimethoprim/sulfa.

I'm glad they were confident that it would clear up using those antibiotics I guess your vet thinks you should be seeing an improvement within the next three days, which is hopeful

 

[bunny momma]

In my many years of owning bunnies, I have had five bunnies who had head tilt. My first bunny did not get treatment quick enough (unlike your bunny), three bunnies recovered from the head tilt. One of them improved and was left with a slight permanent head tilt which did not impact his eating, drinking, jumping. The last one was over 13 years old and she never recovered (it was a resistant ear infection and she was not a candidate for surgery).

I am glad you bunnies are getting the medication and syringe feedings. While the syringe feedings give your bunny fluid, it may not be enough, so you and your vet may consider adding some sub Q fluids to help with hydration and keeping your bunny's gut hydrated too.
I also syringed extra water (slowly) into my bunny's mouth.

As others noted, it would help if you did not move your bunny around more than necessary. My bunnies would roll and fall more after I gave them their car.

Old (or not so old) bath towels can be rolled up to keep your bunny more upright.

You should check your bunny's downward eye to make sure it does not get injured.

Sending you and your bunny positive vibes for a full recovery.

 

[roxyroller88]

So the vets wanted to admit her there and then to X-ray and do blood tests and force feed and medicate but I am happy to medicate and force feed as it's the weekend so I can do it regularly and if it is an inner ear infection the antibiotics she got will clear it up. Been given gut stimulant to keep everything moving and the equivalent to sea sickness medicine to help her balance. We have also been given a very banana smelling antibiotic instead of baytril that has to be kept in the fridge and a follow up apppointment booked for Monday evening to see if any improvement. How long should it be before we see an improvement if it is the inner ear infection with the antibiotics kicking in?

It's sounds like you have a good treatment plan now

I spend quite a lot of time speaking to people that have buns fighting inner ear infections and to be honest the recovery time varies a lot. I would say that if you haven't seen any change after 2 weeks though that a change of antibiotic might be necessary.
Without doing a S&C it is hard to know which antibiotic will work so it's often a case of trial and error.
Xxx

Xx

 

[MightyMax]

It's sounds like you have a good treatment plan now

I spend quite a lot of time speaking to people that have buns fighting inner ear infections and to be honest the recovery time varies a lot. I would say that if you haven't seen any change after 2 weeks though that a change of antibiotic might be necessary.
Without doing a S&C it is hard to know which antibiotic will work so it's often a case of trial and error.
Xxx

Xx

I would concur with this. I hope there is change by the time you see your vet on Monday, but it may take a while longer than this. This is the reason people use two antibiotics *at the same time* as trying one at a time can make for slow progress. If one hasn't worked, it's given the infection a longer time to get ahold.

Good luck xx

 

[bunny mummy 1]

I do agree MightyMax and I am tempted to do the panacur aswell even though the vet didn't want to.
She's currently scoffing curly kale down like it's no ones business. We've had critical care banana grapes baby food and a lot of hay today. Starting to eat more and more on her own so this is good but not really any improvement on the wonky head. She is definitely fully alert and we even used the litter tray once (I helped her hop in) and still very off balance

 

[nickybunny1]

Glad she is eatting more, that's a good sign though it must be difficult to see her like this. Did your vet give you anything for the dizziness? ? Was it stemitil?? I can't remember if you stated but is she still on metacam? ? Hope your wee one has a comfortable night x

 

[MightyMax]

I do agree MightyMax and I am tempted to do the panacur aswell even though the vet didn't want to.
She's currently scoffing curly kale down like it's no ones business. We've had critical care banana grapes baby food and a lot of hay today. Starting to eat more and more on her own so this is good but not really any improvement on the wonky head. She is definitely fully alert and we even used the litter tray once (I helped her hop in) and still very off balance

Warmth and very gentle massage to the neck is what I do for my 'rolling' buns... The muscles have gone into spasm and can be coaxed out very slowly.

Acupuncture can help a head tilted rabbit:

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/head-tilt.html


The benefits of physical therapy:

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/physical-therapy.html


I have worked together with a veterinary physiotherapist on several rabbits, and it's been very rewarding


I realise 'alternative' treatments can be a contentious issue for some people, but if you want to take a look, the cold laser therapy mentioned here has been very successfully used:

http://rabbit.org/alternative-thera...eletal-issues-and-to-stimulate-wound-healing/


I do agree with you about the Panacur. Perhaps you could press the point with the vet and see whether they think it would be OK?

Hugs for a peaceful night for you both xx

 

[bunny mummy 1]

Glad she is eatting more, that's a good sign though it must be difficult to see her like this. Did your vet give you anything for the dizziness? ? Was it stemitil?? I can't remember if you stated but is she still on metacam? ? Hope your wee one has a comfortable night x

Yes we have stemetil and metacam although running low on the metacam. She's acting like her normal self just wonky. She will eat my spider plant she's taken quite a liking to this

 

[nickybunny1]

Aw that great, sounds like you gave everything covered. I hope the antibiotics work soon but if they don't you have other options to try. Eatting the spider plant ! Naughty girl! Keep us posted as I will be thinking of her x

 

[bunny mummy 1]

Just had some more food and meds. Eaten quite a bit herself today too. Lots of spider plant and kale and carrot leaves! Scoffs them down. Poops are the biggest they have been so far. Not quite normal size but a big improvement. She's fully alert and has even used the litter tray a few times today! Which she couldn't do previously. She can hop in and out herself. She's still pretty wobbly on the stair and does fall over a little if she gets excited. Thinking of rescheduling tomorrow's vets appt just to give her a few more days as she's showing some improvement.

 

[MightyMax]

Just had some more food and meds. Eaten quite a bit herself today too. Lots of spider plant and kale and carrot leaves! Scoffs them down. Poops are the biggest they have been so far. Not quite normal size but a big improvement. She's fully alert and has even used the litter tray a few times today! Which she couldn't do previously. She can hop in and out herself. She's still pretty wobbly on the stair and does fall over a little if she gets excited. Thinking of rescheduling tomorrow's vets appt just to give her a few more days as she's showing some improvement.

I'm glad she's doing well

 

[bunny mummy 1]

Another day another slight improvement. Just want her to get back to normally eating on her own. Will make life so much easier. Still force feeding her much to her disgust.

 

[MightyMax]

Another day another slight improvement. Just want her to get back to normally eating on her own. Will make life so much easier. Still force feeding her much to her disgust.

That's really encouraging to hear