dex179
Warren Scout
Hi All
My rabbit Dexter came from boarding with a head tilt - this has progressively gotten worse over the last 3 weeks.
I went to the vets who thought it was E Cuniculi. So Dexter was prescribed Metoclopramide+Cisapride for the gut statis, and Panacur for the suspected E Cuniculi (which he's taken daily for the last 3 weeks).
However the blood test results came back and showed that statistically speaking, Dexter didn't have E Cuniculi (I don't think they can confirm as there is always a bit of EC present in rabbits' blood). The vets think he may have a middle ear infection, or even worse something wrong with his brain. They said they would need to do an MRI or CT scan to see what's going on. However the risks of this are high and I'm not sure if they do identify something, the next steps would make sense.
Does anyone know what an middle ear infection means? How can you recover from this?
Dexter is nearly 10 years old and has had a history of health problems, hence I am apprehensive of doing anything too rash. He is based in North London.
At the moment Dexter has the following symptoms/problems:
1. Head tilt, which is pretty much 90 degrees to the left (picture attached).
2. He does not have a sense of direction so only runs in circles.
3. Because he runs in circles, he cannot navigate as before and this means not being able to find his food (he only eats wetted pellets)
4. Because of the problems with his vision, he also doesn't move around much. I am using a combination of fleece blankets and vet fleece matts to prevent any problems with wet bottom.
5. His appetite isn't as good as before. I need to either hand feed him or put the bowl of pellets in front of his face for him to eat.
6. He has not touched his water bowl for weeks - I am hoping the wetted pellets gives him sufficient water - I am not sure?
7. His left leg sometimes gets floppy, especially after sitting for too long - this is the same side of his body which his head tilts. See pic 2
I have the following questions, and would be grateful for any help from the forum:
1. Do you think he's in pain, especially from the head tilt? How can I help him?
2. Do you think I need to get his left leg checked (the one that can get floppy)?
3. What is your opinion on his condition, especially given the symptoms I mentioned and the fact the vets think it's not E Cuniculi?
4. Any tips on how I can encourage him to eat or how to make it easy for him to find his food? I used to give him the run of a single room, but have massively restricted the size of his space.
5. Do you think the wetted pellets is sufficient for water intake? How else do you think I can get him to have water?
6. What else can I be doing to help him get better?
Any other comments/tips/notes would be most welcome and greatly appreciated
Thank you all for your help
Dex 179


My rabbit Dexter came from boarding with a head tilt - this has progressively gotten worse over the last 3 weeks.
I went to the vets who thought it was E Cuniculi. So Dexter was prescribed Metoclopramide+Cisapride for the gut statis, and Panacur for the suspected E Cuniculi (which he's taken daily for the last 3 weeks).
However the blood test results came back and showed that statistically speaking, Dexter didn't have E Cuniculi (I don't think they can confirm as there is always a bit of EC present in rabbits' blood). The vets think he may have a middle ear infection, or even worse something wrong with his brain. They said they would need to do an MRI or CT scan to see what's going on. However the risks of this are high and I'm not sure if they do identify something, the next steps would make sense.
Does anyone know what an middle ear infection means? How can you recover from this?
Dexter is nearly 10 years old and has had a history of health problems, hence I am apprehensive of doing anything too rash. He is based in North London.
At the moment Dexter has the following symptoms/problems:
1. Head tilt, which is pretty much 90 degrees to the left (picture attached).
2. He does not have a sense of direction so only runs in circles.
3. Because he runs in circles, he cannot navigate as before and this means not being able to find his food (he only eats wetted pellets)
4. Because of the problems with his vision, he also doesn't move around much. I am using a combination of fleece blankets and vet fleece matts to prevent any problems with wet bottom.
5. His appetite isn't as good as before. I need to either hand feed him or put the bowl of pellets in front of his face for him to eat.
6. He has not touched his water bowl for weeks - I am hoping the wetted pellets gives him sufficient water - I am not sure?
7. His left leg sometimes gets floppy, especially after sitting for too long - this is the same side of his body which his head tilts. See pic 2
I have the following questions, and would be grateful for any help from the forum:
1. Do you think he's in pain, especially from the head tilt? How can I help him?
2. Do you think I need to get his left leg checked (the one that can get floppy)?
3. What is your opinion on his condition, especially given the symptoms I mentioned and the fact the vets think it's not E Cuniculi?
4. Any tips on how I can encourage him to eat or how to make it easy for him to find his food? I used to give him the run of a single room, but have massively restricted the size of his space.
5. Do you think the wetted pellets is sufficient for water intake? How else do you think I can get him to have water?
6. What else can I be doing to help him get better?
Any other comments/tips/notes would be most welcome and greatly appreciated
Thank you all for your help
Dex 179


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