Head Tilt

[swarning1222]

My 4 year old female rabbit has developed head tilt. It's Friday of course but she is going to the vet first thing Monday but I'm already driving myself crazy thinking of all the terrible causes and outcomes. I first noticed last night when I fed her that she sort of looked at me strange, but there wasn't anything else noticeable and she's pretty sassy anyways so I didnt think anything of it. Then this morning when I woke up her head is noticeably tilted. Her eye that is facing upwards I guess seems to be rolling. She's spending most of her time laying down with her head on the ground. I've been making sure she's eating hay and veggies and drinking but she doesn't want anything to do with pellets that I've seen. When I bother her too much with the food though to make sure she's getting enough she is still getting up and moving from room to room. (I'm trying not to let her move around to much, or too quickly I should say, I'm not sure if getting her moving is a good thing or bad thing) but it seems like once she gets up and gets herself focused she can get around somewhat normally. I know their ears go very deep but I've looked in them and have seen no sign at all of what looks like an infection. They haven't been outside at all yet this year but they do get fresh hay. I have 2 other rabbits that are completely fine. The 3 of them are bonded and the other 2 would be lost without her. Are there any positive outcomes this could have? And how worried should I be about my other rabbits? The other 2 are spayed and neutered and she hasn't been yet. She is the most active around the house but doesn't get into anything.

 

[Popsicles]

What do you mean by her eye is rolling?
The most likely thing is an inner ear infection - you wouldn’t be able to see much externally, but as the inner ear is involved in the vestibular system you would see problems with balance - head tilting, wobbly/wonky walking, nystagmus (rapid repetitive eye movements). If possible you should take her to an emergency vet over the weekend rather than wait until Monday so she can go on antibiotics ASAP if this is the case.
Otherwise, e. Cuniculi is a potential cause of head tilt amongst other central nervous system symptoms, but if you have not introduced any new bunnies recently (?) and they haven’t been outside that is highly unlikely.
Brain tumours and other uncommon and unlikely central nervous system diseases could be the cause, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
Hopefully it is an ear infection which will be fixed with an intensive course of antibiotics. Keep an eye on your other bunnies for similar symptoms too. I would definitely recommend seeing a vet sooner than Monday though.

 

[Blue eyes]

Please don't wait until Monday. Get to a vet ASAP.

I had a rabbit that barely started a head tilt one morning. I got her in to the vet within hours. She had a central vestibular issue and even with prompt treatment, it got progressively worse and she did not make it.

 

[swarning1222]

Update... so not having the money to take her to the emergency vet and waiting the few days that I did, by the time I got her into the vet she was spending most of her time rolling and in like a trance. I ended up having to tuck her into a bed that I tucked in a cage so she couldn't move and hurt herself. It was so scary, I thought for sure it was the end for her. The vet told me all of the same things I had read online about all the life threatening things it could be and that their ear canals are too deep to know if it's an infection. So we did the antibiotics first, it was slow to work and her head was still tilted a bit after the 2 weeks and the antibiotics were gone, but she was able to be active again and get around without rolling, even after that though she kept improving and is back to her normal self. (She still sleeps with her head slightly more tilted than before but they said she might always be like that) So, yes get them to the vet right away! But also it could be something as simple as and ear infection! I thought I was going to lose her after reading everything I did about what could cause head tilt and seeing her in the state that she was in but thank god I took her in and have such a wonderful vet!