Baby bun with head tilt/balance issues :( - U/d #37 - Improving!

My poor boy

New symptom :/
His eyes are now rolling. It's hard to say what direction.. To be honest I'd be inclined to say diagonally, bottom left (ear side) to top right (nose side).. If that makes sense?
Am I right in thinking up-down is usually brain and left-right is usually indicative of infection? Not sure what diagonal says? :?
I should note this has started after extreme amounts of stress. Up until today he's been taking meds all on his own, didn't even need to pick him up. However I've just had a 10 minute+ long fight with him to get him to take the lapizole. He normally loves it but he's been fighting it like anything today

~ILoveMyBunny~ said:

New symptom :/
His eyes are now rolling. It's hard to say what direction.. To be honest I'd be inclined to say diagonally, bottom left (ear side) to top right (nose side).. If that makes sense?
Am I right in thinking up-down is usually brain and left-right is usually indicative of infection? Not sure what diagonal says? :?
I should note this has started after extreme amounts of stress. Up until today he's been taking meds all on his own, didn't even need to pick him up. However I've just had a 10 minute+ long fight with him to get him to take the lapizole. He normally loves it but he's been fighting it like anything today

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Sorry to hear he's having more problems, sometimes eye rolling can go hand in hand with tilty buns. My tilty bun didn't really suffer with it but I got him some meclizine anyway which you can crush up as it's in tablet form. Not available in the UK but you can buy it online, it is meant to help with dizziness and eye rolling (I think it's called nystagmus, might have the spelling wrong).

Teddy had a lot of ups and downs with his head tilt so try not to panic that he appears to be getting worse, it can happen. You are treating with all the right things and hopefully he will come through it with time. I ended up having to resort to steroids as and when Teddy had a flare up of symptoms but that's because nothing else was working and it really was his last chance, if the steroid hadn't worked we'd have been out of treatment options. He did live a good life for 18 months but eventually the steroid took its toll so it's something to consider perhaps only if nothing else works. Surgery could also be also an option once his symptoms are under control and if it's needed, I don't have the links with the info any more unfortunately, hopefully someone can help you out and send you them just so you're fully informed. I hope all goes well with the specialist vet, one really common thing with tilty buns is that it can take a long time for them to improve, so as long as he is still eating and has a lust for life I would carry on with treatment and try to be patient (easier said than done I know in this situation).

Also with the medication, have you tried mixing with baby food? All my buns have hated medication but will happily take it when it's mixed in with baby food, they don't even notice it.

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~ILoveMyBunny~ said:

New symptom :/
His eyes are now rolling. It's hard to say what direction.. To be honest I'd be inclined to say diagonally, bottom left (ear side) to top right (nose side).. If that makes sense?
Am I right in thinking up-down is usually brain and left-right is usually indicative of infection? Not sure what diagonal says? :?
I should note this has started after extreme amounts of stress. Up until today he's been taking meds all on his own, didn't even need to pick him up. However I've just had a 10 minute+ long fight with him to get him to take the lapizole. He normally loves it but he's been fighting it like anything today

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http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm

Thank you all, and thank you for all the links Jane. They've been really helpful.
I'll update after seeing the specialist tomorrow. On the positive side I've not seen him fall over backwards tonight like he was earlier and yesterday while periscoping. He also went through his veg tonight as though it would disappear in front of him if he didn't have it fast enough. I'm not sure I've ever seen a bunny eat so fast.
Regarding meds, I'll pick up some fruit puree tomorrow but I doubt it will help. He loves the taste of the lapizole (weird lil thing!) but he's obviously had enough of it now. Fruit puree never fools any of mine :roll:

Thank you all again xx

I really hope he improves soon, sending lots more vibes. Frosty likes the Aldi mamia apples carrots and parsnip pouch food, he laps up metacam in that :thumb:

~ILoveMyBunny~ said:

Thank you all, and thank you for all the links Jane. They've been really helpful.
I'll update after seeing the specialist tomorrow. On the positive side I've not seen him fall over backwards tonight like he was earlier and yesterday while periscoping. He also went through his veg tonight as though it would disappear in front of him if he didn't have it fast enough. I'm not sure I've ever seen a bunny eat so fast.
Regarding meds, I'll pick up some fruit puree tomorrow but I doubt it will help. He loves the taste of the lapizole (weird lil thing!) but he's obviously had enough of it now. Fruit puree never fools any of mine :roll:

Thank you all again xx

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Sorry my reply last night was just the link, had a bit of a Bunny drama going on myself. I do hope that all goes well with the Specialist appointment today. Sending lots of vibes xx

Hope all goes well today. Sounds like you are in good hands with your specialist.

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Good luck today, hope all goes well

Thank you all. Sorry for not updating yesterday, had a lot going on yesterday.
Harley saw the exotics vet yesterday morning. He was really excellent. He made some adjustments, stopped baytril in favour of sulfatrim and gave him some more metacam as he's been off of it for a couple of days. Other than that he's happy at the moment I think with the course of the treatment. He seemed more optimistic about a recovery which is reassuring. While there's obviously never any guarantees he's hoping that he could well make a 100% recovery - obviously with the cautioun that he could be left with some damage e.g head tilt but he's hopeful that as he's so young and seems to be fighting well in himself that he could recover 100%.
No use of the e word today which was reassuring. Obviously I know nothing's ever certain but I feel more hopeful despite his head tilt becoming more severe.
The vet warned it will take some time which we already knew but as long as he's fighting we'll try to stay positive.
On the plus side it seems like he's learning to compensate for his lack of balance, last night he was rolling less or correcting himself quickly when he did.
It may be a long road but he seems to be a little fighter so we're doing our best to stay positive. I admit it's painful to look at him like that.


As a side note I was wondering.. Are rex rabbits more prone to getting or developing symptoms EC? I've never heard anything but I can't help but wonder as my first rabbit was (we now think) half rex and we lost her to (strongly suspected EC). Maple was a full rex and we lost her to (again, strongly suspected) EC. Now poor Harley as our third rex has it. Yet all the other breeds we've had have never developed symptoms (I don't know whether or not they've ever been exposed)
I tried googling out of curiosity but couldn't find much. I did however find an article talking about the zoonotic potential in humans which was about a study in China which sampled three breeds. The rex seems to come out a lot higher for exposure.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4522307/
It also mentions:
Interestingly, the breed seemed to influence the distribution of E. cuniculi seropositivity. In particular, the Rex Rabbit were showed to be associated to a higher frequency of infection respect to Japanese White Rabbit and New Zealand Rabbit (P<0.01). It is noteworthy to mention that also Lonardi et al reported a higher seroprevalence in rabbits of the X breed than Y breed and Z breed (26). These results indicate that there may be a potential association between the genetic line and the seropositivity against E. cuniculi.

So happy to hear that the vet is optimistic for your beautiful rabbit. I hope, every day will bring a bit of improvement.

I’m glad the specialist was optimistic, I hope the new treatment helps :thumb: topping up the vibes.

Pleased to hear that vet is optimistic, he sounds knowledgable. Sending more vibes for your brave little bunny xxx

So pleased its better news.

Sadly I've had many buns with EC, all different breeds. The one thing I've found is that it's usually secondary to something else. The seem to carry it without symptoms then as soon as the immune system gets compromised by stress or another underlying illness the EC takes hold.

Thank you all xx

He does seem a little better in himself today. He's got just a little bit more energy and seems extra cheeky. The nystagmus isn't very noticable today (I'd say because he's less stressed but we had an awful time with meds earlier!) and his balance seems better. I think maybe the metacam is making him feel a little better. I hope so. He's certainly got enough energy!

Amy104 said:

Sadly I've had many buns with EC, all different breeds. The one thing I've found is that it's usually secondary to something else. The seem to carry it without symptoms then as soon as the immune system gets compromised by stress or another underlying illness the EC takes hold.

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Yeah, I've seen it affect a lot of breeds. I'm just wondering if there's something about rexes that makes them more prone? I don't know.
It does make me wonder about the future as for the moment he's not vaccinated at all and not neutered. It's probably too early to worry, he needs to get over this first but I'm wondering if it's going to be safe to neuter him after all. Even vaccinations are a worry.
In a way it's a good job we noticed it that weekend as he was going in for nobivac that coming week :shock:

Hello ILoveMYBunny,

I am sorry I am late to this thread, yet pleased you gave Harley a chance and saw the specialist.
Over many, many years, I have been owned by several bunnies who got head tilt, the latest is one of my current bunnies, Gemini. Only one of my head tilt bunnies was a mini rex, the rest were Netherland dwarf bunnies with small upright ears.
In my experience it is not uncommon for a bunny to get worse during the first few days of treatment. Your vet and mine both prefer the tri-sulfa to treat ear infections. In addition to antibiotics, medicam, and perhaps Panacur, I had to give my head tilt bunnies sub Q fluids and syringe feed critical care. My bunnies regained balance and lost most of the tilt in the first weeks after treatment was successful. The rest of the tilt either took longer to improve or was permanent.

Harley is lucky to have you giving him such excellent care and lots of love. Sending you and Harley some positive vibes for continued improvement. He is a very handsome boy.

Just a little update in case anyone's interested.
Harley has been improving very slowly. His balance has been improving and he rarely falls down anymore. He's gone over backwards once or twice when he's got himself over excited (usually for food :roll but generally his balance is good again. Head tilt is still there a bit but nowhere near as bad and sometimes he can hold it quite well. He's also eating normally instead of throwing his head back or sideways.
Still got a long way to go but there's been some definite improvement and he's doing really well considering. I feel the sulfatrim has helped him tremendously as he started to improve from there.
To be honest I was expecting any improvement to take a lot longer so I'm so pleased to see him picking up well.

Just thought I'd post a quick update on the off chancce anyone might want to know. I'm so pleased my precious boy is doing better.
As long as he doesn't go down again suddenly for some reason I think he might pull through this after all and - I hope - possibly go back to normal

As a nice bonus he's gone back to taking the syringe easily again without me having to even pick him up. Even the antibiotic! He hesitates but the words 'good boy!' said with enthusiasm seem to get him to take it every time! It's amazing how quickly they learn things through such a simple positive reinforcement like verbal praise!
And yet you still get people who question a rabbits intelligence and ability to learn verbal cues :roll:
Anyway, I digress.

Tldr: Harley is improving well

~ILoveMyBunny~ said:

Just a little update in case anyone's interested.
Harley has been improving very slowly. His balance has been improving and he rarely falls down anymore. He's gone over backwards once or twice when he's got himself over excited (usually for food :roll but generally his balance is good again. Head tilt is still there a bit but nowhere near as bad and sometimes he can hold it quite well. He's also eating normally instead of throwing his head back or sideways.
Still got a long way to go but there's been some definite improvement and he's doing really well considering. I feel the sulfatrim has helped him tremendously as he started to improve from there.
To be honest I was expecting any improvement to take a lot longer so I'm so pleased to see him picking up well.

Just thought I'd post a quick update on the off chancce anyone might want to know. I'm so pleased my precious boy is doing better.
As long as he doesn't go down again suddenly for some reason I think he might pull through this after all and - I hope - possibly go back to normal

As a nice bonus he's gone back to taking the syringe easily again without me having to even pick him up. Even the antibiotic! He hesitates but the words 'good boy!' said with enthusiasm seem to get him to take it every time! It's amazing how quickly they learn things through such a simple positive reinforcement like verbal praise!
And yet you still get people who question a rabbits intelligence and ability to learn verbal cues :roll:
Anyway, I digress.

Tldr: Harley is improving well

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Wonderful news !! Well done Harley. It's good to know he has the usual Rex gene that always seems to guarantee a good appetite, even in the most dire health situations. Lord H had a massive seizure a few days ago, but as soon as it resolved he pottered off to continue eating. Meanwhile I was in a state of almost collapse and worried sick !!

Please do keep posting updates about your special boy, he is in the best home to provide him with any care he may need

I’m so glad he is showing such positive signs of recovery

Good news, hope he continues to improve.x