Bunny with scanning eyes going in circles

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SnowyShiloh

SnowyShiloh

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2007
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Location
Alaska, USA
Something is wrong with Ned!! We have no idea how old he is but we've had him for 2 years and he's been healthy until now. He seems to be pooping and peeing normally and is eating and drinking.

The problem: I noticed he was flopped on his side in his cage which is a bit unusual for him, and he had his head turned to the right. Not tilted, just turned like he was looking at something off to the side. I got closer and realized his eyes were scanning back and forth rapidly, which is nystagmus. I immediately took him out of his cage and set him down on the couch and he turns in tight circles to the right. I can straighten out his head so his nose is point forward but when I let go, it immediately lists over so he's looking to the right again. The weird eye thing is constant. He is recognizing food and water but is acting very disoriented and mostly staying still. His eyelids are twitching a bit too and his head is twitching back and forth a little. It's really as if someone were spinning him in a circle and he's trying to look straight ahead. Does that make sense? Unfortunately, my little video camera's battery died so I can't take a video. I ordered a new battery last week but it isn't here yet!

Does this sound like head tilt? His head isn't tilted over at all... We would rush him to the emergency vet but they don't know anything about bunnies. The normal vet should be open on Sunday, I don't know yet if the rabbit vet will be on hand.

For those who remember, our dear Skyler died from EC and I know head tilt is caused by EC.

We are VERY worried for our Doodlebug! I am off to do more research and Paul is petting Ned on the couch and comforting him.
 
Update: I called the emergency vet and they have a new vet who actually treated my rats years ago and seemed competent. We're taking him in right now.
 
I hope he's okay.

It could just be an ear infection. They'll give him fluids antibiotics and Panacur most likely. That will be the treatment whether it's EC or an ear infection.


sas :pray:
 
We're back! Phew, we were there for an hour and a half. The vet doesn't have a lot of experience with rabbits but is very nice and left to look things up online. She did a neurological exam and said he seemed fine, just off balance. She looked in his ears and couldn't see any sign of infection so thinks he has an infection behind the ear drum in one of his hears and that it's probably bacterial rather than viral or parasitic. She didn't think it's caused by EC. He demonstrated his hearty appetite by devouring part of her pear and then licking the spot on the towel where it had been for the next hour (sounds weird but not unusual for food obsessed Ned).

I told her about the Panacur and she looked it up and said that some vets don't prescribe it because it can cause big problems for the bunny with their bone marrow and other things. Also they did not have any Panacur at the clinic right now. For medication, she gave him a dose of Metacam which is supposed to bring down the inflammation in his ear and also 2 weeks worth of 100 mg/mL injectable Baytril, to be given .2 mL once a day. He weighs 3 lbs. We did discuss the issue of Baytril being ineffective because of overuse but she didn't have anything else to prescribe him. She also gave me an article about head tilt from the vet forum she was looking at. She said if he gets worse to take him to the regular vet and to take him back if he doesn't start to improve in a few days.

Does this all sound okay? Sorry it's kind of jumbled. And Pipp, thank you for replying :)
 
Wow, reading the Head Tilt Death thread is terrifying. The parallels between that store and Ned's are astounding, right down to the sudden presentation, it being Sunday, emergency vet clinic visit and BAYTRIL.
 
*hugs* keep in mind that Ringo came down with it as well on a Sunday and here he is 5years later going strong. :)

It does sound like head-tilt. Those meds are ok for now. If he's rolling or even falling sideways bonine can help. You can pick up Dramamine regular car sick kind. Half a pill is what Ringo uses and his weight goes from 4lbs-6lbs.
 
Thanks for responding, Alicia! I really appreciate it since you know so much about head tilt :) I'm worried of course but optimistic Nedders will recover.

Good to know about the dramamine. He hasn't fallen over or rolled but he did have a freak out when I was on the phone with the vet clinic. Paul was giving him a treat and he put his foot on the edge of the couch. His foot slipped, which normally would be fine, but since his balance is off he went flipping around on the couch as we both tried to catch him. He almost fell over at the vet office too. He was staying still for the most part (like he was trying to hold on!) so we used pear to get him to move around. He was very intent on getting that pear and ran in a circle and nearly tipped. The good thing is that he CAN walk straight if he tries and can go to the left too, but going to the right and looking to the right is his default.

If he does end up with this being permanent, will his eyes ever stop with the scanning? It looks so uncomfortable! He does have the tiniest bit of a tilt in addition to the turn to the right and I'm hoping it won't get any worse.
 
My rabbit had something that sounds *ideantical* My vet wasn't so great at treating it for what we thought it was and in the end after test we found out we'd been right and their stubornness killed my bunny. It turned out an infection in my rabbit. I think I have wayy too much bunny ear infection experience for my own liking...so anyone with questoins, feel free to ask away.. (;

If your bunny rolls, Try propping him up in a carrier...prayer he'll get better soon. Metacam should help, it helped my bunny when she was on it at some point!
 
Have no experience ANY KIND of enfections or deases in rabbits but sounds like this post is the post to come if I have ???'s about infection. :)

Hope ur bun gets well fun. No fun when your buns are sick. =)


 
He seems the same as last night. Trying to act normally but laying down more than usual. He lays down on his belly kind of stretched out. It's a position Rory lies in if his belly hurts but I think Ned is doing it because he's most stable that way. It seems like he can hold his head pointing forward better when he's like that.

I want the meds to kick in! Come on, Nedders!
 
Can anyone weigh in on this? Ned loves going outside in the bunny play yard. On the one hand, it might improve his mood, but on the other I'm afraid he'll get more disoriented and it could stress him. Opinions?
 
SnowyShiloh wrote:
Can anyone weigh in on this? Ned loves going outside in the bunny play yard. On the one hand, it might improve his mood, but on the other I'm afraid he'll get more disoriented and it could stress him. Opinions?
Click to expand...
[align=center]

[align=left]Towards the end of the video, I mention how the more exercise Minnie gets - the better her head tilt seems to be- so that might help.

Like Ali, I've had a good amount of experience with head tilt rabbits. I've probably had 8 or so rabbits come down with head tilt over the years - and while it used to be thought that head tilt was due to ec (thanks partly to Barbi Brown's website which is so outdated!) - it appears to be more often due to an infection - possibly in the ears - oftentimes from having mites down inside that perhaps you can't see.

Because my vets won't prescribe anything stronger than Baytril for it and I can't get Zithromax from them - I use Pen G with injections every other day. I honestly believe that many times head tilt needs something stronger than baytril - based upon the stories I've heard from others here in the forum (especially Ali).

I have been trying to think how long Minnie lived with head tilt - I want to say it was well over a year and when she passed away - it was from pneumonia and did not appear to be due to the tilt at all. (I still think that if I'd been home at the time - I could have saved her- but I was visiting my mother in Maine).

I remember that I could put her down on the floor with other girls and she would run circles around them - literally. Partly it was due to the tilt making her go in circles - but she could go so darn fast too. Man...I wanted her energy.

Head Tilt is a scary thing - particularly when their eyes are darting and if they start rolling. Many many nights, I went to bed with Minnie in my arms and would hold her to keep her from rolling all night - and many days I spent holding her to keep her from rolling (although at times she also had a box fixed up to keep her from rolling).

One of the key things to remember during this is that you have to try and keep their weight on them too. I would hand feed them cheerios, bananas, even syringes of baby food - anything that they would eat willingly and eat a lot of. Pumpkin was great too because it is a wet fiber...

I did learn one lesson from this and I think it is important to share. When I was freaking out about the rabbit rolling or whatever - it stressed them and made them roll more. Instead, I'd sorta make light of the situation like "oh my.....did you roll again? That was a 5.4..." and try to help them feel calm. It isn't easy because after I'd put them back in their box and walk away - I'd allow myself to cry and fall apart, But when I was with them - I was the ROCK....I would love on them and coo on them and just tell them how great they were.

Several bunnies that have been on the forum have had head tilt and gotten over it - I think of Pebbles - who we all miss so much.

You will make it - feel free to pm me if you need to talk to someone or I can send you my phone number...

:hugsquish:
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If you're dealing with an infection, you don't want any stress on his system until the meds kick in, so I guess it depends on how he feels about being outside.

Keeping him quiet and stable with lots of rest and nutrients is probably best for a day or two.

But then again if it reminds him of his childhood and/or he really loves it and it won't make him anxious in his current state, it might be helpful.

You know your bunny, I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

Can you get Panacur soon? Always good to give it in conjunction. Even if EC isn't the problem, you don't want any the infection to allow any opportunistic parasites to take hold.

I'd also use a second oral antibiotic I think.

Hope he feels better soon.


sas :clover:
 
Thankfully his appetite is great so far. Ned loves to eat more than anything else!

We're going to keep him inside for the rest of today but may bring him out for a little while tomorrow afternoon to see how he does. He loves the yard. If he acts at all worried I will bring him right back inside.

Our plan for the moment is to give him a couple of days with the Baytril and then take him to the regular vet if he isn't improving. I will beg for more medicine! Before we go in I will ask the vet if she would be open to prescribing more medicine because I don't want to waste $150 on a vet trip and have her just say "It's only been a few days, you should wait until the 2 weeks are over and then we'll see about giving him stronger medicine." The vet we would take him to is NOT the one we saw last night- the one last night works at the emergency clinic only (they don't do normal vet visits) and she is leaving in a couple days to go to Virginia for a few months so won't be around.

This may be sneaky, but I'm going to call the vet office tomorrow to make an appointment for him later this week. There's only 1 vet at the clinic that I trust with the bunnies and she's the owner so is hard to get appointments with. Usually they want me to wait at least a week if not two! This way we will have an appointment ready if he needs it and I can just cancel it the morning of if he ends up not needing it after all.

Alicia, Peg and Pipp, thank you so much for chiming in! I really appreciate it. We will do everything to get Nedders through this. He's such a darling boy and had everyone at the clinic fawning over him. His missing ear combined with the issues from this made him look super pathetic and in need of love.
 
Okay, here's a picture that represents pretty well how he's looking this evening:

IMG_6191.jpg


He's obviously tilting now. Last night and earlier today it isn't as obvious. What's interesting is that you can see that he has his head turned to the right in addition to the tilt, but he isn't turning his head as much as he was last night. So: more tilt, less turning.
 
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