Umm....head tilt is something so near and dear to me. I do have to ask how up to date is your vet on rabbit treatments? I do have some concerns.
First, torticollis, wry neck, tilt or whatever you want to call it is usually caused either by head trauma or by an infection in the middle and/or middle ear. Many have long believed that a parasitic infection known as E Cuniculi is responsible for tilt. That does not appear to be the case.
As far as the drugs administered....Baytril is quickly becoming ineffective. All of my vets, all exotic focus specialists, have long ago abandoned Baytril in rabbits. I haven't used Baytril in domestic rabbits in several years. Dexadreson is a variant of Dexamethasone....which is a steroid. The idea behind using a steroid is to suppress immune response. Since we know that rabbits have a very fragile immune system, they carry numerous pathenogenic bacteria and that most tilt is caused by bacterial infections....steroids are contraindicated in this situation. The use of Panacur is related to the misinformation that tilt is due to EC. Fact is that it is not. EC does stress the immune system and that can allow those nasty bacteria to take over.....and if EC is present and you add a steroid, the door is open to some undesirable events as the immune system basiclly collapses from the stress of the infections and the use of a steroid. Panacur is one of the "bendazoles" which have traditionally been used against EC....and we have dosed for up to 60 consecutive days. We now know that Panacur has a very difficult andsometimes impossible task of penetrating the blood/brain barrier to reach the EC. Our experience here, based on treating numerous cases of EC, is that Panacur is not very effective. We are using another horse product, Ponazuril (Marquis) that can penetrated the blood/brain barrier.
I am not avet but I have treated many rabbits here in my rescue and even though we no longer take domestics, I still consult with vets and assist them with treatment. If this were my rabbit....the first thing I would do is culture the "down" ear. If we have presentations of bacterial infection but don't grow anything in the dish, assume Pasteurella (it's a faculative anaerobic that sometimes doesn't survive the trip to a petri dish). I fire the big guns with ear infections as they can quickly escalate and go into the brain stem. My drugs of choice are Pen G (a specific version and concentration)....safe only as an injectable along with either Azithromycin or maybe Zeniquin (which is related to Baytril but without the resistance issues....yet). In some cases we have used Chloramphenicol....but that drug carries some baggage (the problem is for the human...not the rabbit). Ear infections are painful. We use a NSAID like Metacam for up to 4 days and either a narcotic (Buprenex) or a derivitive (Tramadol) as needed. We usually see very high body temps with severe ear infections....supplemental fluids are essential both to control body temp and replenish lost electrolytes. The "down" eye should be lubricated several times per day. I also use an ear drop, most of the time Baytril Otic, and it must be placed deep into the ear canal.
It is very important to treat vestibular infections aggressively. Honestly, most vets are far too conservative. Due to the way the ears and balance mechanisms work in a rabbit....time is limited to control the infections and to offer the best chance at recovery.
The Panacur won't hurt....at least your rabbit won't have any worms. But most likely this isn't due to EC....and if it were, Panacur might not be the answer.
And insist your vet immediately discontinue the steroid.
Good luck.
Randy
If you have any questions please ask.:hug:
