Head tilt

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Emina

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After taking in three female rabbits two months ago one doe developed severe ear mites. We have never had this issue before and we have 8 rabbits total (5 bucks & 3 does). The three does we took in were given to us from family who’s kid refused to take care of them. ‍♀️Anyhow, the lionhead mix doe out of nowhere developed ear mites from nightmare. Severe head tilt, and ear infection bad. Last month we rushed her to emergency vet that’s how we discovered the ear mites, ear infection which was cause of head tilt. Before this only health issue we ever had with our rabbits was broken nail. So the vet (emergency visit vet) put her on Veraflox liquid 25 mg/ml for infection, and Baytril 15 ml for ear infection & gave her steroid shot. She was on meds for a week. Head tilt got bit better after steroid shot but as soon as it wore off it got bad again. She eats, drinks, poops just fine. A week after her emergency vet visit a made follow up to see what else to do.. that vet put her on Baytril chewable 2x per day 22.7 mg and fungal ear drops once a day and also steroid shot. But here we are yet again two weeks later her head tilt isn’t improving. She holds her head up when she eats and drinks but that’s it. All 8 of these rabbits are my daughters pride and joy. She has been showing rabbits since she was 6 yrs old thru 4H club. She takes care of them etc. She’s one who gives this doe her meds etc. None of our bucks have had health issues ever except that broken nail. Anyone else have any ideas or recommendations for head tilt... I really don’t want to put her down but so far we have spent 550$ on her between check ups and meds.
 
If she had/has ear mites, did the vet also give the correct medication to treat that as well(ivermectin, selamectin)? If not, that could be a contributing factor for continued head tilt.

Ear infections in rabbits can be extremely difficult to clear up and can take several weeks or even months on antibiotics. Plus sometimes the first antibiotic used isn't effective against the bacteria involved. If so, another antibiotic needs to be tried. Some rabbit owners have reported good success with azithromycin(though some rabbits may react negatively to it so careful consideration needs to be used when deciding to use it for treatment). With two weeks of your rabbit being on those first antibiotics with no improvement, I would be inclined to ask to switch to something like the azithromycin or maybe pen g procaine/benzathine injections(injection only, never oral). Injectable pen g procaine/benzathine(combipen) is relatively inexpensive and can even be bought otc. I personally would opt for the azithromycin due to the positive personal stories with it's use for head tilt ear infections, and it can be given orally. But pen g could also prove effective, it just depends on the bacteria involved.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/head-tilt.html
https://onthewonk.co.uk/headtilt-help/does-my-rabbit-have-headtilt/

Steroids can help short term, but the use of steroids needs to be carefully considered and it's use can be controversial, especially when the head tilt is due to an ear infection as steroids affect a rabbits immune system and can make them more vulnerable to the infection worsening. So it's usually not recommended except in severe cases as a last resort. A better option in this case would be twice daily meloxicam(anti inflammatory/pain reliever).
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Corticost/Cortico.htm
https://www.vgr1.com/metacam/

If at any point your rabbit starts having difficulty eating and drinking, syringe feeding will become necessary. Usually oxbow critical care(apple/banana) mix is used. So just something to be aware of and keep an eye on.

May also need to consider a different rabbit vet if your current one isn't terribly experienced with rabbits.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
 
He’s excellent when it comes to exotic animals he treats our guinea pigs etc.. Previous owners could have taken care of this easily or told us but alas didn’t happen. I’m picking up refill on Baytril chewable and fungal ear drops and adding Dramamine as well per his advice. He said to give her like small amount of shavings from a pill. But she’s gaining weight eating etc just looks creepy. I have critical care on hand (compliments of guinea pigs issues)..
 

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