6 week old Baby Bunny with Head Tilt

[Angelika]

Hi,

I have a 6 week old baby bunny with a head tilt. Not he is able to move his head to almost the straight position if you have food in front of him, but the majority of the time he holds his head at a tilt. He is only 6 weeks old and my vet said he is too young for the medication that they have for head tilt. Any suggestions?

Furthermore he is part of a littler of other baby rabbits. Does anyone know if the others can catch it? is it contagieous or not?

I don't have much money so i am not able to keep going to the vet? The last visit already cost me a lot and I didn't get any answers really.

Please help. I have been massaging his neck everyday and he really enjoys it, he also has a very good appetite.

 

[aurora369]

Hi,

What medicine did the vet want to give you? And what did the vet think the head tilt was from? Also, which vet did you take the bun too?

I have never dealt with head tilt personally (as several of our members have), but from what I learned from the other members, head tilt is often caused by an inner ear infection. Did the vet look in his ears? Their are antibiotics that are safe for young rabbits, so if that was the cause it wouldn't be expensive to treat.

It's also possible that the baby has ear mites. Which would mean all the buns have ear mites. The treatment for ear mites is also not expensive.

I hope someone with first hand experience will come along with more helpful information.

--Dawn

 

[ra7751]

Oh boy....a 6 week old with head tilt. That brings up a lot of questions that needs to be answered. At this point, we need to look carefully at all aspects. What exactly did the vet find? Did he swab the ears and check for mites or perform a cytology? Look at the rabbit's eyes. Do they look normal...or are they moving a bit. You have to look very carefully for the movement...sometimes it's just a very brief tick. Are all his legs working right. Does he respond to light in both eyes. At this point, it would be nothing more than a guess on what is going on and if it's contagious. I will mention some possible causes of head tilt.

Obvious trauma...like a fall or being stepped on.

Neurological anomalies....rabbits can suffer from vascular accidents...something like a stoke. And it's possible it's a birth defect too.

Blindness on the tilted side.

Pain.

The dreaded EC. Realistically, EC doesn't cause head tilt directly but does contribute to it's cause. With most EC rabbits, there is also some presentation of neurological issues in rear legs.

The most likely cause is an ear infection. It could be a bacterial infection due to mites. We also see some infections caused by yeast especially in hot and humid conditions.

In the abscense of any known trauma, my thought at this time is most likely an ear infection. And while the rabbit is quite young, administering appropriate drugs is the lesser of the evils. If it is an ear infection, the infection willget stronger and more difficult to deal with each day....and if not aggressively treated, the tilt may not correct. And my thoughts for being too small....I treat the smallest of the baby cottontails with the same drugs I do the domestic rabbits. I would have a rabbit savvy vet take a very close look at those ears as a starting point for getting to the cause of this concern.

Let's get some answers to the questions I posed earlier and see if we can find the root cause and get this little guy some help.

Randy

 

[Bunnicula]

Hi, Angelika, and welcome to RO.

Sorry to hear that your little bunny is having some difficulties.

You're getting some excellent counsel from Randy (he's got a great deal of experience and has been a HUGE help to many of us here on the forum). So, while I have no additional advice to add, please know that I'll be thinking of you and your little bunny.

I hope you find the cause and solution soon! ray: Keep us posted!

-Mary Ellen

 

[jaysterbunnylover]

My baby two week old bunny found on floor of bunny hutch . He wasn’t moving at all other bunnies were on top of him like warming him. He wasn’t moving at all until I started stimulation and warmth but now his head is tilted back and he does like jump in my hands like spasm or something but once I try to put him down to walk he falls to his side . I think he hit his head or something . I don’t know if he fell or he was holding on to mom when she jumped down but his head is like tilted back and when I try to feed him he takes in a little bit but then he started opening his mouth wide and it either looks like he’s trying to swallow the food or catch his breathe . I really need informoation or help i don’t want to lose him