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Info about Head Tilt?

A

Anna_bee

New Kit
My rabbit has been showing the signs of head tilt recently.

I took him to the vet and hes been prescribed Panacur for a month.

Does anyone know the recovery period from head tilt?

Will his head go back up right when hes healed?

How early should I expect recovery symptoms?

Thanks :)

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I would say Panacur isn't enough. You should also ask the vet about metacam or similar which is pain relief AND an anti inflammatory which helps with the swelling in the brain / neurological damage which causes the head tilt itself - just one of many symptoms. If you have more than one bun, the others need a 28 day course too. Also bleach clean as much as you can to reduce the risk of spores living outside the body which they do for 28 days hence the panacur treatment. The bleach solution is one part bleach, 9 parts water left on for 30 seconds and rinsed thoroughly. If you can't bleach it, steam it or at least wash it.

It is often a long process of recovery but depends on severity of symptoms. Keep your bun eating and drinking and don't be surprised if bun appears to get worse before they get better, this is very common. The vet we found who eventually treated our girl bun successfully said that many buns are put to sleep because owners can't handle how the buns look when they have head tilt / EC.

Don't give up, buns can and do make full recoveries. My Buttercup did and she had a severe case of head tilt (one mild and then a few months later a severe case). 7 vets saw her before we found a vet an hour and a half away from us who was brilliant from the first time he saw her.

Buttercup died earlier this year not from anything EC related but from a blood clot following an operation for a damaged paw.

Good luck to you and your bun xx
 
Thankyou!

I contacted my vet about metacam and they said they couldnt prescribe it without doing a blood test first to see if he had any diseases in his organs , as metacam would upset this if so.

Did you experience this? Or had your rabbit had blood tests in the past? My rabbits been loosing quite a lot of weight so I dont know if thats ehy their sugesting it.

His symptoms arent too bad, except slight head tilt and weight loss.

Thankyou for your advice I hope he gets better too! Xx

When you mentioned bleach , you meant to clean their cage with right?


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Is he eating properly? The reason i ask is if he has an ear infection he may be feeling sick and not eating and therefore loosing weight. I would be after an abx as in my limited experience head tilts are often due to an ear infection. I'm convinced that my Mischa's bad head tilt was down to an ear infection. The vet at the time basically treated for everything, bit i'm certain it was an ear infection as he had reoccurrences of it later on in his life. He had Metacam, Baytril and Panacur and eventually made a full recovery. It was a long slog but his head tilt was very bad.

I've never heard of a vet not prescribing Metacam without blood tests. It can affect organs but over an extended period of time. Having said that I would be concerned about the weight loss and would be wanting to find the cause of that.
 
He is eating normally from what I see. But everytime after touching his ears he often does strange head movements. Which lead me to believe he has an inner ear infection too!

The only worrying signs he is showing is: slight head tilt, loss of weight and occasional funny head movemets, also grooming the ears a lot.

I hadnt noticed his weight loss until a couple of weeks ago so I dont know if the head tilt issues where inside him for longer period of time.

Another vet I spoke to said they would give me metacam wihout a blood test. I want to get it but am slightly worried after what the first vet I went to said...

I have only had him for a couple of months but when we got him he weighed 2kg now weighs 1.40kg

:(

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How sure are you on their experience with rabbits? I think we have a few members in Essex if you needed a vet recommendation.

I think Mischa lost weight every time he had an ear infection. Not all ear infections can be seen just by looking in the ears, some can only be seen on an xray. Is he a lop?

On the metacam I would feel that not having it is likely to cause more harm than having it. Rabbits don't show pain but he must be feeling it. Plus it's anti-inflamatory so will help the tilt.
 
Yes he's a lop.

I live in Maldon, If you know any good rabbit vets near there?

I did hear that ear infections can cause weight loss in rabbits, but the first vet I went to seemed to think it must be some other under lying problem that will need x-rays, blood tests that will cost around £200..

Yes I think I will try him on the metacam and if his weight doesnt increase go back for a blood test.


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Hi sorry your bunny has head tilt problems.

Probably a bit too far but William Lewis at the Orchid Vets Brentwood, is a brilliant rabbit vet.
 
Id ask about an antibiotic too, I would strongly suspect an ear infection. Lops are sadly prone them and all the tender feeling in that area that you've mentioned plus the head tilt certainly sounds like the cause. I wouldn't stop the panacur though, just in case it is EC, but that often comes with head leg weakness and other symptoms.
 
Is metacam and baytril not an anti biotic then?

In the future how can I prevent him from getting an ear infection again? Just use panacur throughout the year?

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Baytril is one antibiotic but there are several others :) i think we've had most of them at some point or another as Mischa also had a tendency to snuffles and so does Nutmeg.

Metacam is a painkiller and anti inflammatory. Panacur is for E.C.

It's difficult to avoid ear infections to be honest, try to keep the temperature as steady as possible.
 
How long do you suggest he is on the baytril? He has been on it for 8 days now and panacur for 4.
Also how long do you suggest he is on the metacam for? ( obviously the vets will give a recommended dosage amount, but you've experienced it already so you know what works best)

:)

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To be honest, with antibiotics I'd rather take the advice of a rabbit savvy vet. I probably ought to be more up on abx but i'm not. :oops:
 
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