Orenoko
Mama Doe
I thought I’d write a thread about the last 9 months of the head tilt experience I’ve had with my little adopted bun Teddy.
I was due to adopt Lilac and Teddy in late November last year. Everything was ready, home check completed, cage bought, I was just waiting for a date. Anyway, about a week before they were due to come home, I got an email saying Teddy had crusty ears and that they would get him to the vet next week (the centre basically has one day a week where all their non-urgent cases go to the vet). I didn’t think too much of it, only to be told the day before he was due to go to the vet that he’d developed a head tilt. I’d never even heard of head tilt, so googled it and immediately thought the worst. The rescue centre actually said I could change my mind and adopt a different rabbit, but I’m not that kind of person so I said I’d wait until he was treated and go from there. A week later they said the infection had gone and his head tilt had almost resolved itself (it wasn’t EC related). He had a very minor residual tilt and a small amount of facial paralysis because of the neurological damage the infection had done. We set a date and I welcomed them home not long after.
Move forward to late December and Teddy becomes very quiet and withdrawn. Cue a visit to my local vet and I was told the ear infection had returned. We were given canaural and placed on Metacam and baytril. I contacted the rescue centre to let them know.
In January things continued to decline. The head tilt came back with a vengeance. I took him back to the rescue centre vet as they agreed to cover the majority of costs in relation to his head tilt. We continued with Metacam and baytril and he seemed to stabilise but not really improve. We continued this way for about 6 weeks, when it became clear he was getting worse. He started rolling, could barely walk, lost loads of weight over a short space of time etc. His facial paralysis also got much worse. He completely stopped using his litter tray because he couldn’t get in it, so the carpet got ruined and we had puppy training pads everywhere! So we were really at last chance saloon in terms of options for treatment. The vet said we could try a steroid injection as a last option to help with the inflammation. Within 24 hours he was up and walking around and his appetite returned with a vengeance!
We returned to the vet every three weeks for a while for steroid injections. He was struggling with the after effects of the head tilt and kept getting his face wet when drinking (he will only use a bowl). I would try to dry his face with a flannel, but he was also drooling a lot, so his fur was always wet on one side of his face and neck. It then all fell out! In a way this was for the best as it allowed the area to dry up. He looked such a mess at this point that I just felt awful for him. Luckily in time his fur has all grown back, he’s able to drink perfectly well now without getting his face wet and he doesn’t drool. He started to adapt quite well to having a wonky head and it hasn’t really stopped him doing what he wants to do or getting around. He has chloramphenicol eye drops morning and evening to help his ‘downward facing eye’ stay lubricated, and I also clean the fur around the eye a couple of times a week with warm water just to be on the safe side.
Prior to this happening I didn’t know anything about head tilt or long-term steroid use in rabbits, but started to look things up and saw some of the side effects of steroid use, so was keen to wean him off if he improved. I also read about the benefits of physiotherapy, so booked him an appointment once he had stabilised on the steroids. He had his first physio appointment at the end of April. He’s not super keen but he tolerates it well and we use plenty of food to motivate him! The physiotherapist gave me a list of exercises to try with him to help build his strength up. Given he had lost so much weight this was also a priority, but one of the side effects of the steroid was weight loss. However he wasn’t strong enough at that time to come off it, so we just had to persevere.
The physio continued fortnightly for a month, and his strength and coordination drastically improved. Although it is expensive, I would recommend it where appropriate for any rabbits in a similar position! He also has daily exercises he does to help strengthen. We’ve slowly increased the length of time between the physio sessions as he’s got stronger.
In May I felt he was doing so well that I wanted to see if he could manage without the steroid. The physiotherapist supported this as it was felt this might help his weight gain. I saw a different vet than normal at the rescue centre who hadn’t treated him before (in hindsight this may have been an issue). They agreed we could try it, as if he went downhill we could just try the steroid again, which made sense.
Fast forward seven weeks and he starts to fall over and look more clumsy in himself. Other than that he seemed fine, was eating well, still doing his exercises etc. Perhaps I was too quick to seek vet advice but given how much he’d been through I didn’t want to let him down. So the vet gave him another steroid injection and he improved. His weight was still an issue, and remains an issue. It’s hard to try and fatten up one bunny while keeping the other bunny’s weight down!
About six weeks ago I asked the vet if we could stop the steroids due to my concerns over long-term use and his lack of weight gain. We agreed we’d try him with just some Metacam to control any inflammation he might still have. He was managing well up until it got really hot a few weeks ago. I noticed some teeth grinding and he wouldn’t tolerate his exercises. I called the vet and they told me to up the dose of Metacam and also prescribed some co-trimoxazole. The next day I noticed him shaking his head and scratching his ears. I went straight into panic mode thinking the worst, and took him to my local vet again. They noticed his ears were crusty, and said it could be due to the heat, where he’s been lying on one side and his ears have got hot and this has let bacteria grow. So back on the canaural we went! :roll:
Another week passed and his ears were all cleared up. This was about a week ago. I took him back to my local vet who was happy with him. He has also finished his co-trimoxazole. We’re down to having Metacam every other day now, which will stop at the end of the week. I’m also giving the ear drops every other day as well. The vet said I didn’t have to carry on with the drops, but I’m just giving them for a few more days as they’re nearly finished and I figure it won’t cause any harm.
So this is where we are as of today! It’s going to be an ongoing journey with ups and downs and we may have to go back onto the steroids if he goes downhill. Part of me thinks that if he does need long-term steroids in the future, so be it. I’m aware it can cause liver damage but perhaps that’s the price to pay to give him some quality of life for however long he may have. But we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it and although I’m very attached to him I’ll do what’s in his best interests. For now he’s doing well despite his recent setback, he runs around like a lunatic in his room. He even plays now which he never used to do. He’s fully litter trained again, which was a huge job in itself as it took ages and often felt like one step forward two steps backward. I had to buy a larger litter tray with only three sides (it’s actually a potting tray, recommended on a head tilt website), but he goes in and out with no issues now that he’s used to it. The weight is still an issue, I try to feed him extra treats but don’t want to give him the bunny equivalent of junk food! He has a good appetite nevertheless. He is down to having physio every six weeks and that should reduce further. Doing the daily exercises has also provided a chance for me to bond with Lilac as she wants to know what’s going on all the time and comes over for head rubs!
If I’m honest, I don’t think the original infection was treated for long enough given what I now know about head tilt, and I feel this might be why he continues to have problems. But there’s nothing we can do about that now. I’m very lucky that the rescue centre cover the cost when I see their vet. When I can’t get there (it’s 30 minutes away and I can’t get there after work due to my commute) I just go to my local vet and pay as I would normally. It’s not covered under the insurance as it’s a pre-existing condition which is fair enough. I’m in two minds whether to cancel his insurance actually as if he ever got ill or needed an operation I don’t think I’d put him through it.
I will add some pictures when I register for an account to enable me to do so! I’ll keep adding updates to this thread whenever things change, for better or worse. It’s been such a journey, and not one I expected to have to go on when I took him on to be honest, but he’s such a sweet little rabbit, you can’t help but love his goofiness! It’s definitely been a long journey and not at all what I expected when I adopted the pair of them, but I’m glad we persevered with treatment as he does seem happy in himself and that’s the main thing. He was never as outgoing as Lilac and his happy staying in his room while she hoons about the rest of the house. Although sometimes google can make you think the worst, in this case it really has made such a difference, because if I wasn’t able to look up information about head tilt I may have made the decision to have him put down when he continued to deteriorate given how distressing it was. There is such a wealth of information out there about head tilt which is fab.
I just spoke to my vet this morning to let him know how Teddy is getting on, and we’ve agreed to see how he does without medication. I’ll update as to how he gets on!
I was due to adopt Lilac and Teddy in late November last year. Everything was ready, home check completed, cage bought, I was just waiting for a date. Anyway, about a week before they were due to come home, I got an email saying Teddy had crusty ears and that they would get him to the vet next week (the centre basically has one day a week where all their non-urgent cases go to the vet). I didn’t think too much of it, only to be told the day before he was due to go to the vet that he’d developed a head tilt. I’d never even heard of head tilt, so googled it and immediately thought the worst. The rescue centre actually said I could change my mind and adopt a different rabbit, but I’m not that kind of person so I said I’d wait until he was treated and go from there. A week later they said the infection had gone and his head tilt had almost resolved itself (it wasn’t EC related). He had a very minor residual tilt and a small amount of facial paralysis because of the neurological damage the infection had done. We set a date and I welcomed them home not long after.
Move forward to late December and Teddy becomes very quiet and withdrawn. Cue a visit to my local vet and I was told the ear infection had returned. We were given canaural and placed on Metacam and baytril. I contacted the rescue centre to let them know.
In January things continued to decline. The head tilt came back with a vengeance. I took him back to the rescue centre vet as they agreed to cover the majority of costs in relation to his head tilt. We continued with Metacam and baytril and he seemed to stabilise but not really improve. We continued this way for about 6 weeks, when it became clear he was getting worse. He started rolling, could barely walk, lost loads of weight over a short space of time etc. His facial paralysis also got much worse. He completely stopped using his litter tray because he couldn’t get in it, so the carpet got ruined and we had puppy training pads everywhere! So we were really at last chance saloon in terms of options for treatment. The vet said we could try a steroid injection as a last option to help with the inflammation. Within 24 hours he was up and walking around and his appetite returned with a vengeance!
We returned to the vet every three weeks for a while for steroid injections. He was struggling with the after effects of the head tilt and kept getting his face wet when drinking (he will only use a bowl). I would try to dry his face with a flannel, but he was also drooling a lot, so his fur was always wet on one side of his face and neck. It then all fell out! In a way this was for the best as it allowed the area to dry up. He looked such a mess at this point that I just felt awful for him. Luckily in time his fur has all grown back, he’s able to drink perfectly well now without getting his face wet and he doesn’t drool. He started to adapt quite well to having a wonky head and it hasn’t really stopped him doing what he wants to do or getting around. He has chloramphenicol eye drops morning and evening to help his ‘downward facing eye’ stay lubricated, and I also clean the fur around the eye a couple of times a week with warm water just to be on the safe side.
Prior to this happening I didn’t know anything about head tilt or long-term steroid use in rabbits, but started to look things up and saw some of the side effects of steroid use, so was keen to wean him off if he improved. I also read about the benefits of physiotherapy, so booked him an appointment once he had stabilised on the steroids. He had his first physio appointment at the end of April. He’s not super keen but he tolerates it well and we use plenty of food to motivate him! The physiotherapist gave me a list of exercises to try with him to help build his strength up. Given he had lost so much weight this was also a priority, but one of the side effects of the steroid was weight loss. However he wasn’t strong enough at that time to come off it, so we just had to persevere.
The physio continued fortnightly for a month, and his strength and coordination drastically improved. Although it is expensive, I would recommend it where appropriate for any rabbits in a similar position! He also has daily exercises he does to help strengthen. We’ve slowly increased the length of time between the physio sessions as he’s got stronger.
In May I felt he was doing so well that I wanted to see if he could manage without the steroid. The physiotherapist supported this as it was felt this might help his weight gain. I saw a different vet than normal at the rescue centre who hadn’t treated him before (in hindsight this may have been an issue). They agreed we could try it, as if he went downhill we could just try the steroid again, which made sense.
Fast forward seven weeks and he starts to fall over and look more clumsy in himself. Other than that he seemed fine, was eating well, still doing his exercises etc. Perhaps I was too quick to seek vet advice but given how much he’d been through I didn’t want to let him down. So the vet gave him another steroid injection and he improved. His weight was still an issue, and remains an issue. It’s hard to try and fatten up one bunny while keeping the other bunny’s weight down!
About six weeks ago I asked the vet if we could stop the steroids due to my concerns over long-term use and his lack of weight gain. We agreed we’d try him with just some Metacam to control any inflammation he might still have. He was managing well up until it got really hot a few weeks ago. I noticed some teeth grinding and he wouldn’t tolerate his exercises. I called the vet and they told me to up the dose of Metacam and also prescribed some co-trimoxazole. The next day I noticed him shaking his head and scratching his ears. I went straight into panic mode thinking the worst, and took him to my local vet again. They noticed his ears were crusty, and said it could be due to the heat, where he’s been lying on one side and his ears have got hot and this has let bacteria grow. So back on the canaural we went! :roll:
Another week passed and his ears were all cleared up. This was about a week ago. I took him back to my local vet who was happy with him. He has also finished his co-trimoxazole. We’re down to having Metacam every other day now, which will stop at the end of the week. I’m also giving the ear drops every other day as well. The vet said I didn’t have to carry on with the drops, but I’m just giving them for a few more days as they’re nearly finished and I figure it won’t cause any harm.
So this is where we are as of today! It’s going to be an ongoing journey with ups and downs and we may have to go back onto the steroids if he goes downhill. Part of me thinks that if he does need long-term steroids in the future, so be it. I’m aware it can cause liver damage but perhaps that’s the price to pay to give him some quality of life for however long he may have. But we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it and although I’m very attached to him I’ll do what’s in his best interests. For now he’s doing well despite his recent setback, he runs around like a lunatic in his room. He even plays now which he never used to do. He’s fully litter trained again, which was a huge job in itself as it took ages and often felt like one step forward two steps backward. I had to buy a larger litter tray with only three sides (it’s actually a potting tray, recommended on a head tilt website), but he goes in and out with no issues now that he’s used to it. The weight is still an issue, I try to feed him extra treats but don’t want to give him the bunny equivalent of junk food! He has a good appetite nevertheless. He is down to having physio every six weeks and that should reduce further. Doing the daily exercises has also provided a chance for me to bond with Lilac as she wants to know what’s going on all the time and comes over for head rubs!
If I’m honest, I don’t think the original infection was treated for long enough given what I now know about head tilt, and I feel this might be why he continues to have problems. But there’s nothing we can do about that now. I’m very lucky that the rescue centre cover the cost when I see their vet. When I can’t get there (it’s 30 minutes away and I can’t get there after work due to my commute) I just go to my local vet and pay as I would normally. It’s not covered under the insurance as it’s a pre-existing condition which is fair enough. I’m in two minds whether to cancel his insurance actually as if he ever got ill or needed an operation I don’t think I’d put him through it.
I will add some pictures when I register for an account to enable me to do so! I’ll keep adding updates to this thread whenever things change, for better or worse. It’s been such a journey, and not one I expected to have to go on when I took him on to be honest, but he’s such a sweet little rabbit, you can’t help but love his goofiness! It’s definitely been a long journey and not at all what I expected when I adopted the pair of them, but I’m glad we persevered with treatment as he does seem happy in himself and that’s the main thing. He was never as outgoing as Lilac and his happy staying in his room while she hoons about the rest of the house. Although sometimes google can make you think the worst, in this case it really has made such a difference, because if I wasn’t able to look up information about head tilt I may have made the decision to have him put down when he continued to deteriorate given how distressing it was. There is such a wealth of information out there about head tilt which is fab.
I just spoke to my vet this morning to let him know how Teddy is getting on, and we’ve agreed to see how he does without medication. I’ll update as to how he gets on!
