Caring for a bunny that lost almost all sense of balance?

[Aara]

Hello! I just joined the forum as I'm becoming desperate to find information to help my bun, Styx, and all the googling in the world isn't proving very useful besides general tips on dealing with head tilt short term.
(I'll explain his entire situation so this post will probably be long, but I want all the info to be there.)

My bun is a 6 years old Lionhead (completely free-roaming indoors), and about 2 years ago he got very sudden but typical symptoms of head tilt, and he was treated for it by the local vet. The vet said it was E.cuniculi. It seemed to be successful as he has recovered fully save for the slight tilt and occasional running in circles that remained (he could walk fine, it seemed like he just felt safer running in a circle than all over the place like he used to before the tilt). He learned to live with it though and I changed up his environment to accommodate for the lack of jumping. Other than that, he was a perfectly happy bun up until about a week ago.

He, again suddenly, lost the sense of balance and his hind legs got so weak that he was walking instead of hopping around like buns normally do within a day. So I called our vet the next day, and he gave him 3 different shots and some whiteish liquid to drip into his ears for a few days. I don't know what any of the medicine was/is. I just know it helped within days the last time. It's been four days of that therapy now, and he hasn't gotten worse since (he even got better in a sense that he's acting as usual, eating, drinking, insisting on moving about and getting petted). However, the vet told me that if his balance and legs don't get better, the nerve damage is likely permanent, like the first time with the head tilt.
(The vet will be stopping by tomorrow to check on him again, but I will note that we live in a very remote place, and this vet is the only one we have feasible access to, even though he's not a rabbit specialist. He's treated our cats too and he seems to know what he's doing at least. It's the best we can manage in our situation.)

Now, the actual point of posting this...
Styx has a lot of trouble walking without falling over on his side and not being able to push himself back up without a nudge. Otherwise, he eats and drinks fine, and acts like everything is fine aside from the moving difficulties. But I'm very afraid to leave him without supervision at any time for longer than a couple of hours. I've been staying up all night for a week to make sure to nudge him back if he falls over, clean his fur if poop gets stuck in it, and that he's processing foods and liquids correctly. I wait to within an hour from when my mum wakes up to get some sleep while she can watch him for me.
I really want to accommodate him as much as possible with the new issues so he can live as best as he can, but at this rate, it's very exhausting for the both of us, and I was wondering if anyone has a similarly disabled bun and how to make his quality of life better? Is there a way to help him stay upright more or get up on his own so he doesn't just lay there and stress if someone isn't around to nudge him up? There's no chance I'd let him suffer or give him up, so I really need any advice on how to go about keeping him mobile and somewhat independent since he hates being picked up and carried around too often.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JBun]

Do you know what meds your rabbit got the first time for e. cuniculi, and what meds he's been given now this time? Are they the same meds, and if not, do you know why the vet isn't treating with the same meds this time?

There's not a lot that can be done to help stop him from falling over unless he was in a confined environment where he couldn't hop around where towel rolls can be placed on the sides to prevent falling over. If he normally has access to a large space, you might need to reduce it to a small area so if he does fall over, he can still scoot over to get food and water. You will also probably need to put down absorbent towels or pee pads in this area for any urine accidents. If you don't want to have to confine him during the day, maybe just at night so you can get some rest.

One option might be a cart with wheels, for disabled pets. Though it would depend on how steady his front end is. But even with this they can't really be left alone in it unsupervised. So maybe something you could do during the day when you can monitor him. You should be able to find DIY instructions with an internet search.

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/paralysis.html

 

[Aara]

They're the same meds as the last time, but I'll have to ask what they're called tomorrow during the checkup and post then.

Thank you so much for the advice. I'll rearrange his pen into something smaller and more cushiony as even that is pretty spacious at the moment. He's spoiled to the point of never wanting to have his roaming space restricted, but he'll hopefully get used to it during nighttime at least.
His front paws are quite stable from what I can tell, so it won't hurt to at least try so he can wander around more easily during the day.

 

[Maki_p29]

I had a bunny with headtilt/ disabled. He lived for about two years after his diagnosis. Move your bunny to a smaller cadge and line the edges of his cadge with bath towels rolled up tight. This will give your bunny support if they lose balance and they can grab the edge to pull themselves up and or lean on it until they regain balance. Also if your bunny has trouble getting food and water a smaller cadge will help them not have to move far distance to get food and water. Also depending on how tilted their head is you may have to get a lower food bowl and or water dish so they will have easy access. You may have to brush/groom them daily/once a week (depending on how dirty they become/ how much or little they can groom themselves).

With my previous rabbit that was disabled with the headtilt we had to wash him once a week or more (depending on how dirty he got since he was unable to clean/groom himself). After a while we would kinda just wash him up instead of putting his whole body in the water ( to wash him up we would fill a sink with warm water, then add the rabbit shampoo and mix it together then splash some up on the part of my bunny that was dirty(his right side would get soiled often), drain the sink then fill with plain water and repeat, then dry him with towels and brush his fur until he was dry)

also getting on a schedule helps to provide their care helps too and make their play area smaller and line with the rolled up towels. My bunny had a decent life despite his condition. I’m sure yours can too! Don’t give up on them yet.