Help! rabbit has bad head tilt and closed eye

[JBun]

That zoo vet sounds promising. The best rabbit vet in my area is also a zoo vet. Sometimes they have spots available for emergencies. I would call up first thing Monday(or tomorrow if they are open) and explain the severity of your buns condition(if you didn't already relay this info when making the appt.) and see if you can get in as an emergency appt., but do make sure they make the emergency appt. with the zoo vet and not another vet(unless the other vet will consult with the zoo vet as to how best to treat your bun). Just know it may cost more to be seen as an emergency appt.

The pen g procaine isn't going to work as well as the pen g procaine/benzathine. The benzathine is long acting, so keeps the blood serum levels up to work against the bacteria. If you read that last link I posted, the person that wrote the bicillin study clarifies the details of why it's important to use bicillin(pen g procaine/benzathine) and not just pen g procaine.

1 cc syringes are going to be better to use, especially if your bun isn't very big, as only a small amount is used, and the smaller syringe is needed to get an accurate dose measured. 20g is fine to draw up from the bottle, but you will need 22-23g to give the injection. And 1/2 in. might be too difficult to get the injection where it needs to be. I wouldn't use less than 3/4 in. I buy mine online, some pharmacies will sell them without a rx, or if you see that vet you could get them there if the vet wants you to go ahead with the pen g injections.

Good luck at the vets and I'm so glad you were finally able to find one that can help your bun.

 

[Squishybabies]

Any update? Keep us posted on your sweet little boo!

 

[Bunnylover*]

Update!
So I went to the zoo vet last night and she gave my boo a pen g shot not the combi one. I was upset about that because she says it's a preservative and that's not healthy for him. He has to go back every 3 days to get a shot of the pen g again for a couple times she said. She also gave me Baytril again because I was out of it from last vet. I sill have the sulfa from the other vet also. She said maybe wait to give him the Baytril and sulfa and see how this pen g works but I don't agree I want to give him at least one along with the shots to try and help him more. Do you guys think this is ok?

She also gave him Meloxicam I think
For inflammation/pain. Our other vet claimed my boo is not in pain from this head tilt and wouldn't give pain relief. But this new vet did. I couldn't find info on the web if he is in pain or not. I assume so because why else would this vet give it to me. I was distraught last night and didn't ask every detailed question I wanted to because I was upset she said she recommended him to be put down also but said we would give him a shot and see if it worked. He has some bumps in his jaw along with the head tilt and closed eye
But like I said he's still eating/drinking just fine and can even stand but he occasionally falls over when trying to get around because his head is tilted sideways. She also gave him one last thing... motion sickness pills to see if it helps with him get around better.

So that's where boo is at right now. Sorry took so long to get back with you guys it's just his appointment was not till last night. I'm praying this pen g will work. I feel silly I could have just given it to him at home because I had bought it last week. But I waited to give to him in case this vet would give to him with the comination in it. Anyone please let me know if you agree for me to give him the Baytril and sulfa still or just one of them while he's on the pen g shots every 3 days for a week or 2 I think she said he's getting the injections.

Thank you so much for all your help! I just really want to save this little guy.

 

[Bunnylover*]

I also wanted to say I feel so much better taking boo to this new vet. She seemed very knowledgeable and was very nice at helping explain everything to me. I just wish he could have had he combi pen g instead of just the pen g by itself.

 

[JBun]

If he's eating and drinking fine, he's probably not in too much pain. Rabbits will generally not eat well or stop eating when they are in too much pain or discomfort(eg. dizziness). But think of what an ear infection is like in people. If you've ever had one, they hurt, so yes it's likely he has some pain, but it may not be severe at this point. So getting meloxicam should help some with whatever pain there is. But the biggest benefit of giving meloxicam is for reducing inflammation, which is a big contributing factor in cases of head tilt. And ongoing inflammation can result in permanent cell damage occurring. So you can imagine how important it is to try and reduce any inflammation there might be.

The motion sickness pills could help. Ear infections can cause dizziness and balance issues, so it may help. Meclizine is the one I have experience using, but I haven't seen any improvement with it's use. Benedryl(diphenahydramine) is also sometimes used for head tilt in rabbits. I'm not sure how it's supposed to help, but if I ever have to deal with head tilt again then I think I will try the benedryl and see if it makes any difference.

I don't know what the deal is with the vets having an issue using pen g procaine/benzathine. There are loads of references for it's use in rabbits, and it's the primary treatment protocol for treating rabbit syphilis. So it's not like it's an uncommon antibiotic to have to use with rabbits. The problem with only using pen g procaine is that it's short acting, so the blood serum levels aren't going to stay up, which is important in treating an aggressive infection especially. Pen g procaine isn't intended to be given every 3 days. It's a daily antibiotic. So there may be minimal benefit with it's use every 3 days, but the likely thing is the infection will continue to worsen and the bacteria may become resistant to the pen g because the proper amount isn't being prescribed. Think of when you are prescribed a daily antibiotic. The doctor doesn't say it's ok if you just want to take it every 3 days. You're supposed to take it every day until you are done with the course, or you risk the infection not clearing up and it becoming resistant to the antibiotic. The same would apply with using pen g procaine in rabbits. Pen g procaine is a meant to be given as a daily injection. The references for it's use in rabbits say so(from the links I've already posted). It's the addition of pen g benzathine that makes the penicillin long acting so it keeps the blood serum levels up enabling it to only be given every other day. If you read that last link I posted about the person following up with info about the study that was conducted, she talks about why you can't just use pen g procaine. And this isn't just some lay person or a simple rabbit owner. This is someone who conducted a scientific study on treating abscesses in rabbits in a laboratory setting, so someone who is experienced with this type of thing.

I think I would be inclined to do the pen g procaine/benzathine and get the bottle myself, but I'm not going to say anything about it in your case because I would hate it if you used it and something happened to your bun. Because I do know of people that have lost rabbits that were being treated with pen g procaine/benzathine. But lumps on the jaw could very well mean there are abscesses developing there now, which is not good as it means the infection is spreading and infection can spread to the jaw bone itself, which is incredibly difficult to clear up once that's occurred.

As for giving a combination of pen g and one of the others. I'm pretty sure pen g and baytril can be given together but not sure about pen g and sulfa. Though I don't really see the point in giving the baytril since the infection is likely resistant to it at this point.

So this is just what my choice would be, the infection is spreading but my bun is still acting happy enough and eating fine, I would do pen g procaine/benzathine injections every other day, and continue giving meloxicam. But this would also be me kind of going with my gut feeling too, and sometimes what I feel is going to be right for my rabbit in a particular situation, isn't going to be right for someone else's rabbit. You have all the links and all the research into bicillin(pen g procaine/benzathine, Combi pen) use in rabbits that I've already posted. You could also google treating head tilt in rabbits or treating jaw abscesses in rabbits and see what you come up with. In the end it's you that will need to decide what is going to be the best route to take.