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

~ILoveMyBunny~

Alpha Buck
I was hoping my first post about our newer little one was going to be a happier one...
Cutting a long story short, a few weeks ago we ended up with a new baby rex. We've had him between 3-4 weeks now, he's app 3 months old with the most beautiful, wild personality. He's as hyper as anything and has incredible balance. He regularly perches on the edge of an open cardboard box (!) we've got for him in his pen. I've never seen a rabbit balance like that. He can perch on anything. He's like a bird.
Last night however I noticed he seemed to be favouring the left side of his head. It was hard to tell if it was there or not as he was too hyper to sit still and let you get a good look. This morning however I realised I wasn't imagining it and his normal balance wasn't 100%. He fell over a few times when periscoping and just looked slightly unsteady. Since then I've seen him have some nasty looking falls backwards and sideways.
Obviously he went straight up the vet and he's been put on panacur and metacam at the moment (though the vet has ordered him in another form of fenbendazole - I'm guessing lapizole? - to swap to on Tuesday as panacur is hard to dose accurately and he's only 1.25kg at the moment.
Thankfully he's still himself from a mental point of view and still very, very hungry. But I'm so worried about him. It's hard to tell if he's still the same or if he's gotten any worse. I have an awful suspicion his head is tilted a bit more than it was and his balance may have gotten worse. But it's hard to tell. He's been unusually quiet for a lot of the day, though has gone more like himself tonight and finished all his veg earlier within minutes.
We don't know the cause yet but he's so young to have this :( Having had EC (along with severe stasis) take both Willow and Maple from us I'm terrified of it being EC.. The vet did find a small amount of wax when he inspected his ears but didn't think it was significant enough to cause the problem (as far as it's possible to see into the ear visibly anyway).
I don't know what to do for him, poor little thing :( He's such a healthy, bright, hyper little thing. He's so young and tiny, he doesn't deserve this at his age :(
I don't know if I should see what, if anything, the panacur does until Tuesday or if he should go back for antibiotics or something in the morning? Or whether he should just have an x-ray at this stage or not. Unfortunately Willow and Maple went downhill rapidly so my experience with EC (if it is EC) is limited to just a rapid and awful outcome :cry: Though in the their cases they actually never developed head tilt but balance issues and rear end paralysis along with rapid weight loss (Maple in particular), incontinence and severe stasis. Harley at least is still eating very, very well. Only symptoms seem to be head tilt and balance/rolling over backwards issues. He can still run fast, just has the odd issue with balance. No nystagmus that I can see either (vet did also check his eyes)
I hate seeing him like this :cry:
 
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If it is EC, you should see some improvement in a week or so, although it can also get worse, then better again. You need to prevent reinfection by cleaning anything in contact with urine as that is where the spores are shed, It is especially important to do a thorough disinfect on days 21 and 28 of the treatment cycle (eg using bleach, Virkon S or steam clean) of anything he has had contact with,

It is worth asking about antibiotics as he could have an ear infection which is affecting his balance.
 
In such a young Bunny EC is likely to have been contracted rom their Mum at birth. As Shimmer mentioned, a middle ear infection is a possibility. It is not always possible to diagnose middle ear disease without skull radiographs/CT scans. So I would mention if a covering abx may be a wise precaution in the absence of a definitive diagnosis. There is quite a bit more information on these links :

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/head_tilt.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/HeadTiltVestibularRabbit.htm

https://www.veterinarywebinars.com/...-are-caused-by-central-or-peripheral-disease/

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/Encephalitozoonosis.htm

https://www.dechra.co.uk/therapy-ar...cs-antifungals/disease-information/e-cuniculi

https://www.dovepress.com/encephali...-manageme-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-VMRR

http://www.greendale.co.uk/cuniculi_disease.html

https://www.msdvetmanual.com/ear-di...-interna/overview-of-otitis-media-and-interna

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

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

http://www.tokyovets.com/2017rabbitear3.pdf

There is also a FB Group that offers support and advice to those caring for a Rabbit with Head Tilt

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelpforHeadTiltHoppers/

I hope your Bunny makes a good recovery, it can be a long journey but it is possible xx
 
So sorry to hear this, poor Harley. I really hope improves soon, sending loads of vibes for him xxx
 
Sorry to hear your new bun is poorly, I hope it's something easily treated, sounds like you have loads of experience dealing with these things. If it's an infection Make sure your vet treats for just as long as you would EC, I learned that lesson the hard way myself with a tilty bun.
 
Sorry for the late reply everyone, between Harley being ill and being ill myself it's been a difficult weekend/start to the week.
Not sure what to make of this at the moment. A few times I thought he was getting worse but then seemed to pick up. Overall he seems to have been a lot better today, but in the last hour or so seems more wobbly. The head tilt isn't too bad and doesn't seem to be consistent; sometimes he can hold it up so it's almost normal, other times it tips to the left. He has been holding his head back a lot too (i.e nose in the air).
The bigger problem seems to be his balance, poor thing. He's a bit wobbly in general but keeps falling over. It's so awful to see, especially for such a young little bun :cry: All he wants to do is run and binky and every time he does he falls over. I've had to restrict him to his pen a lot more because he keeps crashing/falling over and he's got himself stuck on his back a couple of times. Poor little thing looks so confused and shocked when it happens. He can't understand why he can't just binky. It's heartbreaking to see him go like this when days ago he was running and cornering like a formula 1 car.
He's been such an excellent boy with his meds, takes them without me even needing to pick him up! I can't believe it. He's swapping from panacur to lapizole tomorrow so he can have a more accurate dose for his weight. Got a recheck on saturday at vet.

Thank you all so much for getting back to me. Thank you so much Jane for all the links. I've looked through some already but haven't been able to read them all yet. Been such a difficult few days. I've been in a lot of pain myself and seeing Harley like this is just heartbreaking. Not to mention dragging up some painful memories.

On a side note, he got his own litter tray yesterday (pictured below) and I can't believe how amazing he's been. He's sticking 100% to it with absolutely no encouragement or training of any kind. Bearing in mind this is an unneutered baby bun, I'm amazed by how flawless he's been. I think he may be the fastest learner yet.
Such an angel.

Just a quick note, that's Aubiose not wood shavings. I ran out of fitch a while ago and I'm using Aubiose until I can find something else. Don't like the stuff to be honest, I want something like fitch but having trouble finding a good replacement. I can't justify the huge mark up on fitch these days, not when I've got so many litter trays (not to mention two joined hamster cages!) to clean!
Need something softer, especially for our hamster as for him it's bedding, not just litter :?
 
Can see his head tilted a bit more in the above picture, though sometimes it's hard to tell if he's just turned it or if it's actually tilted. He can hold it pretty normal sometimes.
Such a precious little thing.


 
Just remembered, something I needed to ask.. Does anyone know if F10 is a suitable disinfectant in this case (made to its stronger strength)? If not I can easily order some Virkon but F10 is the disinfectant I have at the moment and normally use.
Also what temperature should soft bedding (e.g blankets, bed) be washed on? He has a soft dog-type bed, as well as a blanket that needs to be washed and some vetbed from the carrier (borrowed from the other buns so need to be sure it's safe before they use it for their next vet visit)

Also I wasn't aware there was a urine test for it now. Would it be worth me asking the vet do you think? He never mentioned it so I don't know if he knows about it either.

Aside from my concern about Harley I'm concerned about observing a strict hygiene protocol around the others. I don't know if I should treat them all as a precaution or not? I'm not too comfortable as the last time I gave them all panacur as a matter of routine (something I stopped doing a while ago) it sent Snowflake into severe stasis. But I don't know if it would be better to be on the safe side? Do you think I should be giving them all panacur at this stage? Or just be very careful that they don't come into contact with anything Harley has?
 
Awe. He is absolutely adorable. I hope that he is all better soon and can go back to being a racing car bunny. I love his coloring by the way.
 
He's a handsome fella :love: Is his left eye a bit gunky ? If so and his head tilt, when it occurs, tips to the left this would make me think that middle ear infection may be what is going on, rather than EC. Did you speak with the Vet re giving a covering abx ??

Re the cleaning F10 is fine according to Molly Varga

https://www.thewebinarvet.com/pages/e-cuniculi-in-rabbits-separating-facts-from-myths/

Interestingly in the above link there is reference to Molly stating that the use of Fluoroquinolones (abx such as Baytril) may be a useful as part of the treatment of EC

If any of your other Rabbits have had contact with the same terrain used by Mr Rex and may have been contaminated with his urine then it would be a good idea to treat them with a course of Fenbendazole too. But I would discuss that with your Vet :)

I hope Mr Rex remains in good spirits himself and that you start to feel better soon too.
 
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He is gorgeous:love: I hope you are both feeling better soon, sending more vibes and hugs xx
 
Harley started to get worse last night and went for an appointment today. They've put him on baytril now too but my goodness he's got worse :( No new symptoms (e.g incontinence, anorexia etc) but his balance is almost non-existant. He's throwing his head backwards a lot (I guess that's what Molly Varga's book meant by 'stargazing'?), especially when he eats. At other times it drops to the side, though not always. When I stroke the top of his head it goes completley on it's side in a very unnatural way.
Someone reassure me that things can get worse before they get better..?
He's falling and rolling all over the place. He couldn't get in and out of his litter tray anymore without help so I've given him an old corner tray which is much lower and a puppy pad in case.
It's awful as he is 100% himself mentally. He wants to run, he wants to explore his now changed surroundings but his body is all over the place. He doesn't understand :cry:
The only positive is his appetite has, if anything, got worse than before (in a good way) - he's eating any food in sight as if someone will snatch it away at any second. He was even eating at the vets in the waiting room while the dogs barked next to him. Completely unfazed.

The vet has referred us to an exotic specialist (Origin Vets) who we're seeing tomorrow. Fortunately they come every two weeks to consult at our normal surgery so it's timed well in that sense.
The vet today was as always fantastic, said pretty much everything I read last night in Molly Varga's book. She mentioned steroids but that it sometimes makes the prognosis worse and thinks it might be better to leave that as a final attempt if he gets worse.
She did mention the word that I was completely unprepared for as an 'option'. I didn't think we were there yet. I still don't but wow did it hit me.. My Mum and I were nearly in tears. I wasn't ready for that word to be mentioned yet..
A bunny this young, with so much life and spirit should not be in this position :(

He's on day 9 of fenbendazole and day 1 of baytril. Metacam ended yesteday.

Edit: Oh sorry Jane, I missed that... No, his eyes are nice and clear though I can see in that picture how it looks like they might not be. Forunately his eyes look okay.
He's starting to develop sore hocks now too, which idiot me forgot to tell the vet. Won't do him much good that I've removed all hay from the floor/litter tray and put it in a hay rack as I know that's the best thing for the hocks. Just don't want him eating hay contaminated with urine.
He's got a nice soft pad in half the pen, hopefully that might help. I'll use some sudocrem too.
My poor boy :cry:
 
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One of my buns used to get repeated bouts of head tilt (they were always secondary to something else such as needing a dental etc). Back then there wasn't titre testing so my vet and I always treated for both Ec and ear infection. (so panacur, metacam and baytril) One of the best things I bought him was an ugli donut bed from hare apparent, he could lean against the sides for stability.



Interesting to see in Janes link that F10 and trigene are suitable. Trigene can be used in the washing machine so would be fab for your vetbed and blankets.
 
Thanks Amy. I hadn't actually paid much attention to trigene as I already have f10 so finding it to be a suitable disinfectant was all I was looking for. But it's fantastic to hear that it can be used in the washing machine! I'll see if I can get some as there's definitely a small amount of urine on his bed. It's currently sealed up in a bag whilst I figured out what to do with it and I think he's missing it.

I had been considering getting him something like a dougnut shaped pillow-thing to try to help him balance as I've seen them used. However at this stage I know he won't stay in it. He insists on running around and not sitting still. He still has so much energy and he's desperate to burn it off.
 
He is such a beautiful little bun, I really hope that the combination of meds start to work for him, really soon. Your vets sound really good, which is always reassuring. Hope you feel better soon too xx
 
If its any consolation my head tilt bun lived til the grand age of 13, so I know its disheartening but there are plenty of positive recovery stories out there, don't give up hope x
 
Just that is something. Right now I'll cling on to whatever hope there is, no matter how small.
I thought that I had read that that can happen sometimes (probably from a post on here, I'm so stressed out right now I don't know what I've read and where I've read it!) so I'm hoping that's the case.
I'm certianly not ready to give up on him. Yes, if it really does come to that and he's suffering badly with no real hope of improvement I will somehow do what needs to be done. Though goodness, it may break me. But I really don't think we're there yet and while he's still fighting I'm going to fight with him.
He's such an angel. He's got the sweetest temperament. There's a cheeky little attitude in there too but he's such a sweet boy. Losing Maple to this awful illness at 2 1/2yrs old was bad enough. He's about 3-4 months! It's just not right :(

Unfortuantely no, I'm not on Facebook. Someone out there still likes to stalk me so I'm careful what I put and where. I'd be easy to find on FB :(
I think my Mum has an account though so I'll see if I can get her to have a look.
 
Amy, that actually is! It's comforting to know that other rabbits have fought through it and come out the other side. 13 is a wonderful age. You must have really looked after him so well.


Thank you all of you, I've been feeling rather hopeless since I got back. I know this is still really serious but it's good to know he still has a chance xx
 
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