Head Tilt causes and help!

[Kitty88]

IMMEDIATE INFORMATION:


Location: Bronx, NY.

Description (Breed, color, weight) Lionhead/nethie mix, white with gray points, 3 lbs on the nose.

Age: 8 months.

Sex: unaltered female

Concise Summary of the Rabbit's Condition: head tilt, about 15 degrees to the left, both eyes constantly sliding to the right, unbalanced, not eating.



ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / CHECK LIST: (Please fill in relevant info).

Fecal and Urinary Output

- are the bunny's poops and pees normal? Not entirely sure. Cleaned litterbox yesterday and there were a few poops in there, but really couldnt tell what was today and what was yesterday.
- when did they last use their litterbox? Found her laying in it, not sure if she'd used it.
- any unusual behavior? straining to pee? unusual litter habits? None that I could see.
- what litter and/or bedding do you use? Carefresh paper pellets (the blue bag)

Medical History

- spayed/neutered? Not spayed yet.
- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before? She's been to the vet for a wellness checkup
- is s/he on any medications? None. She and Kashi get an Oxbow Papaya pill every morning.

Diet

- what specifically does your bunny eat? Oxbow adult Timothy pellets, an 1/8 of a cup daily. They both also get a large salad, usually consisting of chicory, romaine, parsley, and kale OR collard greens.
- when and what did s/he eat last? It looks like some of her salad from yesterday was eaten, but the bulk of it was still in her cage this morning.
- any changes in the way s/he eats? (ie: not eating a particular food, odd chewing motions, etc) Not interested in ANYTHING. not even banana chips. Tried to syringe feed critical care and she got so upset she started coughing it up.


Other

- movement - any unusual movements? Is s/he hopping normally? NO,
- is the rabbit molting? No, they both finished molting a couple ofweeks ago.
- any weight loss?No, but in the past two months she went from 2.3 to 3 pounds.
- any sign of drooling? wet face?No.
- runny eyes? no.
- wet nose? coughing? sneezing? Nose was slightly damp, but my room was cold and her temp was really low, 97.
- is s/he breathing normally? Yes, breathing is the same as usual, no strain or hyperventilating.

Additional

- any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach? No, but she likes to reach through the bars of her cage and steal any toys or clothing within her reach.
- has the rabbit been outdoors? Yes, but only with me and she never touched the ground.
- any other pets? if so, have they been ill? Kashi was perfectly fine this morning. Also have a Beagle, but he hasn't been in contact with her recently.


Gracie, the same bunny that won't stop charging people, is pretty sick. I got home today and went in my room to check on her, and found her in her litterbox lying against the side.

A) I've never seen her lie down in her litterbox. Ever.

B) She didn't even get up when I opened the door to her cage. I reached in, and she didn't even turn her head towards me.

I picked her up, took her temperature, and it was only 97, so I commandeered all the dried beans in the house to make her heat packs and wrapped her up in a towel with a pack on either side. I tried to get some critical care into her, but she became incredibly agitated and started fighting off the syringe.

I tried to get her into my vet, but Dr. Stanzione wasn't in. I called a local vet, CAEM, Dr. Pilny, and no one was able to see her today. I'm bringing her to Dr. Stanzione first thing tomorrow morning.

To describe her symptoms a little better, her head is tilted to the left, both of her eyes keep sliding off to the right, only to center and then slide to the right again immediately. At one point, she tried to walk straight and ended up spinning in a circle, which I think confused her, and then she just kept spinning for a good 20 seconds until I ran over and attempted tocalm her down.

Does this sound neurological? Or could it just be an ear infection? What other causes could lead to a case of head tilt?And if she pulls through and makes it home from the vet tomorrow, what kind of post-care can I expect for a head tilt case? I've taken care of special needs buns at the shelter a few times before, but they were mostly physical maladies. I've honestly never even seen a head tilt bunny before today, I have no idea what to expect. I'm just so nervous. She's only 8 months old! She's still a baby!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Well, I dealt with a VERY VERY seriuos head tilt case with my bunny Jelly. I was told later by the breeder who I got my current bunny from that I should have used invermectin as that what always clears up their bunny's ear infectoins. (They couldn't believe I'd lost my bunny to one..)
The vet went on and one to insist she might have EC (neurological, e. cuniculi) So eventually we went ahead and did all the bloodwork. Turns out in the end it had been an infection. With us a least they didn't want to treat for ear unless they were 100% sure it wasn't neurological. In the end she died from ear because of that.
It could be either one of the too ailments, however I'd have them check for an ear infection. As with my bunny when we first took her in, they said there was infection and later changed their mind once there was head tilt to say 'maybe its E. cuniculi.'
Soo, long story short, hopefully 1. you have a good vet. 2. It really could be either thing. I'd have your bunny thoroughly checked by a savvy vet.. There are other causes of head tilt, but ear and neurological are the main two.
Have you noticed eccesive ear scratching? For my bunny, I could *smell* infection at the base of her ears. But I know that's not foolproof either. :/

 

[Kitty88]

Well, she peed and pooped in front of me last night, and then started snacking on some hay. So she's feeling a little better. Lukily, I have a GREAT vet, highly recommended by the HRS, and I am so thankful for him. He usually only does surgeries today, but he saw us at 8:30. He did a blood panel, gave her fluids, and sent me home with Panacur and two types of pills, and a bag of Ringer's and extra needles so I can give her fluids on my own.

He's sending out a blood test for EC, and I'm sure he's doing a blood test for any infections too, but he also checked her ears thoroughly. On the subject of EC, if her test turns out positive, then Kashi definitely also has it. I haven't seen any type of symptoms manifesting in him, however. Anything I should be looking out for in particular?

So now that she's being treated, should I give her a probiotic since she's on the Panacur? If so, does anyone think mixing her pills with yogurt would have a negative effect on the medication? Because I happen to know that she's a sucker for vanilla Chobani, and I have a feeling that would make things much easier on her.

 

[pla725]

Definitely keep her warm. My head tilt bunny Ruby had ear mites when she was found. She found in a park in North Jersey. She did develop head tilt from nerve damage to due an ear infection from the mites. She did get treated but the damage was done. She manages to get around fairly well.

As for the EC, both my rabbits that had that did not exhibit signs of head tilt. They just started with weakness in their rear quarters and it just progressed from there.

She probably needed the fluids. I won't give her yogart. What anitbiotics did her give her? Most of the vets I've dealt either compounded the meds themselves or used a pharmacy that compounded the meds and flavored it.

Good luck. Let us know what happened.

 

[Kitty88]

He gave me a liquid Panacur that Gracie hates, but as soon as he got a whiff of it, Kashi started begging me for a taste. Of course the one that DOESN'T have to take it thinks its yummy, right?

Its almost definitely not ear mites, he checked both ears inside and out and I've never noticed anything odd about them. If it is EC, then I guess all I can do is wait to find out if I have to bring Kashi in for a test of his own. The fluids are mostly because of her complete lack of interest in eating. Dehydration is NOT something she needs to deal with right now.

I'm actually having a lot of trouble getting her to take ANY of her medicine. I got all .05 ml of Panacur in her in 3 separate attempts, and that felt like an accomplishment. I couldnt get any of the pills down though. I cushed them up and mashed them into a little banana, and she was totally uninterested. I tried to syringe it, and it just got all over her chin and chest. (lucky she doesn't have a dewlap yet) I would LOVE to get at least a tsp of Critical Care in her, but she started getting really stressed out and I didn't want to push it. I have seen her eat some Alfalfa hay, and despite ignoring romaine, chicory, and parsley, she finally started chowing down on a piece of kale, which was the first veggie she's eaten since probably sometime thursday night. That worried me too though, since I don't want her to have gas on top of everything else. Hopefully when I get home, a lot more of her salad is gone. Maybe the sub q fluids just took a while to start making her feel a little better.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I'll keep her in my prayers..

Yep, definitly be *sure* to keep her hydtated-its alot easier now to keeep things moving through properly and keep her hydrated then to deal with things like Stasis later. My rabbit got a bad bought of stasis while she had head tilt. Then we were having to get sub-q's into her later and undo the problem. Definitly easier now.

About the critical care-my Jelly seemed like the *H.A.T.E.D* the stuff. Then I realized they had given me a 10 mL. siringe, and she didn't like something that big in her mouth. Once I swith to refilling the 1 mL. one a gajillion times a day, she seemed to take it all. Just an idea! She wouldn't even take the 2.5 mL siringe for med. I had to go back and get a bunch more 1 mL's and refil then 1 1/2 times. lol Silly bunny-gotta love her.

 

[Maureen Las]

Many head tilts are cause by undiagnosed deep inner ear infections and not EC. it is very important that she get antibiotics into her
What are the names of the pills that you are having trouble getting into her????


If your vet doesn't have a method of compounding the medicine..many small pharmacists can take tablets and compound the pills into a liquid using a syrup flavoring that animals like ..

You need to ask your vet if he knows of anyoneand/or get out the phone book and start calling pharmacists
There is another drug called meclizine that is for motion sickness that does help rabbits with inner ear problems. Please ask your vet about this.

A rabbit with head tilt and nystagmus is experiencing a terrible whirling sensation that must be extremely uncomfortable

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

:yeahthat: Many times it seems they right away want to tell you its EC (which is definitly a thing that could and does cause head tilt) while many times though it is an infection deep down.

 

[tonyshuman]

It sounds like an ear infection, which is a more common cause of ear tilt. You also described her eyes moving to the right, which sounds like horizontal nystagmus (basically means involuntary movements of the eyes horizontally. EC has vertical nystagmus.

The bunny needs antibiotics ASAP and meclizine couldn't hurt--it's an anti-seasickness med that some people give to bunnies with tilt.

check out these references:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/head_tilt.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm

 

[Kitty88]

Ok, I'm going to try to update the situation as much as possible. I arrived home last night to find every last shred of her salad gone, as well as most of her papaya pill. I got her to take the 1/2 a pill of Zenequin, and one of the 2 Meclizine pills prescribed. I'm going to give her her second dose of Panacur shortly. (I have a stupid work schedule and its easier to give to her when shes sleepy.)

The horizontal nystagmus (which Dr. Stanzione pointed out to me at the appointment, I just forgot it in the whirlwind of nerves) has completely cleared up. Her eyelids had also been twitched regularly up until last night, and that has also stopped. I have no idea if this is because she finally took the motion sickness medication, of course. She also demolished most of the salad I gave her this morning, leaving behind some parsley and a few stems. Still eating hay like a champ, not much interest in her Oxbow pellets, even though its a brand new bag and she usually loves her pellets. I'm starting to remember she's been leaving behind pellets for the past couple of weeks, she only gets an 1/8 of a cup so that was kind of strange. I chalked it up to too many treats and tried to cut back, but that was literally the beginning of this week. Kashi had also been leaving some pieces of salad, also strange, also chalked it up to too many treats. He always finishes his 1/4 cup of pellets, however.

Gracie is now pooping and peeing regularly. I was unable to get the needle for the sub-q fluids properly implanted, and I'm pretty sure it was mostly my fault for being extremely nervous. Gracie didn't help by continuously running away or attempting escape, and after three or four tries, I stopped because she seemed really stressed out and I just didn't want to bug her. I also figured she'd eaten a normal amount of salad in the last two days and recieved fluids yesterday, so she was doing extremely close to normal, since its not uncommon for her to not touch her water bottle for a day or two, especially since it's gotten colder.