Looking for someone who's been in the same boat - (EC) Randy?

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angieang21

angieang21

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Location
Westchester, New York, USA
My bunny boy Hershey, has been diagnosed with head tilt as a result of e. cunculi. He shares a pen with his girlbun, Bella. I have been syring feeding him Critcal Care and water. He was rolling nonstop yesterday and I padded the cage, "cocooned" him and even made him a basket to stay in...but he still wants to move around - which just leads into nonstop rolling till he finds Bella and stops by leaning on her. My vets has prescribed various things for him and told me to expect it to get worse before it gets better. Today,I haven't witnessed as much rolling which makes me happier than I can put into words.



i was wondering if there was any other members who have had experience with a bun with head tilt as a result of e.cunculi or better yet, one that was paired with a cagemate?

I will be checking in periodically here, but can be reached via my email as well - [email protected] Any input or advice is greatly appreciated.:hug:


 
There are a few members on the forum who have experience with treating a head tilt bunny. Randy is the infirmary moderator and he is very knowledgeable on the subject.

My Ronnie came down with head tilt in October 2008. We immediately began treatment in the form of daily injections of Penicillin, as well as other medications given orally. Daily feedings of Critical Care for weeks as well. Ronnie has been head tilt free since December 2008, but is left with a residual cocked head.

Did your vet prescribe an injectable, such as Penicillin (Pen G) and show you how to administer shots daily? This is usually mandatory in getting the illness under control, but can vary depending on the cause. (You mention E. Cuniculi, ours came down to high levels of Pasteurella)

If you'd like to read our experiences with the illness, you can search the forum for my post from 2008 called "Ronnie has head tilt."

My knowledge is limited to anecdotal, but there are quite a few members who know more about the intricacies and various treatment methods. Good luck and keep us posted! :hug:
 
angieang21 wrote:
I will be checking in periodically here, but can be reached via my email as well - [email protected] Any input or advice is greatly appreciated.:hug:
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Just to help Angie out....her correct email is [email protected] . Angie is a long-time friend of mine via the internet, I have personally met her, and she is an awesome bunny-mom. I have no personal experience with head-tilt and felt helpless when she reached out to me. Please help her if you can.
 
Can I ask how the Vet diagnosed it as EC? It's not an easier thing to diagnose, more often than not it's a well-hidden inner ear infection or sometimes even another parasite. EC can only be confirmed in an autopsy.

The usual protocol is to treat for both.

I'll have to dig up a Randy post with his treatment advice.


sas :clover:
 
I had an American Fuzzy Lop that had Head-Tilt. He lived happily with his girlfriend once he stopped rolling 90% of time, as his girlfriend was old. He recovered well and had a residual head-tilt that made him really cute, and he could only turn 1 way.
Did your vet give you a drug to help with the rolling?
 
My Josie had head tilt back inSept 08...she would always use her best buddy Sunshine as support and would often lean on her....after about six weeks of injections she recovered just fine.
 
I have not had to deal with this personally, but I have read a lot about it.

It's a misconception that EC causes head tilt. EC can weaken the immune system, which can make the bunny vulnerable to an ear infection. Ear infections cause head tilt. I would ask to do a course of strong antibiotics to try to treat what is probably an ear infection causing his tilt.

Regarding EC, I wonder how your vet arrived at that diagnosis. A lot of times vets who don't keep up on their continuing education will see head tilt and say that it's EC, although newer evidence suggests that that's not always the case. Did the vet do a blood test for EC? Are there other symptoms of the disease, like urinary issues, hind leg weakness, eye scanning?

There is a new antiparasitic called Marquis that can be used to treat EC in the brain. Unlike the older antiparasitics (the bendazoles), this one can cross into the brain and kill the parasite there. It's really important to get your guy on this drug if you can. Randy has had quite a bit of success with it in his EC bunnies.
 
He did have his blood checked. He was part of a trio at one time, and all three were tested positive for e.cunculi. He recently had a stressful even that may have made the e.cunculi rear its ugly head.
My vet has confirmed its inner ear realted becaus ehe has the "scanning eye".

I've been fedding him the Critcal Care - he gets 15 cc every six hours. He was eating some greens, individual pieces of hay, apples.... but today I could barely get 5ccs in at each feeding and he has no interest in food - but he is drinking water like crazy - lots and lots of water.

He is on Zeniquin, Meclizine, and Marquis Oral in addition to lub ointment for his eye.

We had terrible storms here in westchester, Ny and my vet has lost power and I haven"t been able to reach him today.

I'm scared that I'm going to lose my boy if he doesn't eat. I going to bring him to the vet power or not or I'm going to bring him to the Animal Er, which has limited experience with rabbits. I'm scared and desperate - I don'T want to lose my boy.
 
Ok, that sounds like the vet knows what they're doing. The Zeniquin is a bit conservative as a choice of antibiotic, but certainly not the least powerful one out there--it's im the same class of drugs as Baytril but is less commonly used than Baytril. I'm glad he's on the Marquis. The excessive drinking may be related to EC--it seems to attack the kidneys early on in the disease.

If he stops eating, it's more important to keep him hydrated. If he's active, pooping, and acting normal, it is ok for him to not eat for a little while. Unless he stops eating and gets lethargic, it's probably not an emergency situation. Another thing you might do is to add extra water to the critical care, or leave a dish of it out for him to eat at his leisure. That stuff can suck up a lot of water, which can make the bunny dehydrated (or thirsty in this case).

Another thing that might be making him not want to eat is the pain from an ear infection. It can be pretty painful. If you can get some food in his stomach, a dose of ibuprofen or aspirin might help him feel a bit better and more willing to eat.

Sorry to question your vet so strongly--it's just that so many vets out there haven't learned about rabbit medicine since vet school 20 years ago, and a lot of things have changed in that time.
 
Ok - I will call about the pain meds. Honestly, my buns always used a water bowl and with herhsey rolling I read that I should change to water bottle - go back to the bowl?

I got 10cc of critical care in him this morning but its like such a stressful ordeal for him. I did get him to take 3cc of baby food bananas. Plus I've been leaving halved grapes for them since the grapes can add for a little extra hydration.

Patti - (((hugs))) - you've always been a great friend and helped me through so many things - bunny and nonbunny. ((hugs))

And thank you everyone for your help - I apologize for all my typos and grammar errors - as you can imagine, I am quite a bit shaken up.
 
Just tried calling the vet - and no answer on the phones means still no power.

If i go the route of using aspirin - moy much should I give him. He's tiny - omly 2.5 lbs.

Thanks!
 
angieang21 wrote:
Honestly, my buns always used a water bowl and with herhsey rolling I read that I should change to water bottle - go back to the bowl?
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We used a water bottle, but placed it very low so that Ronnie could have easier access. However, Ronnie was only rolling about 5% of the time, so our issue was simply finding something that worked with the angle of his head. Water bottles worked better because he had trouble accessing bowls. We had to fill his food bowl to the brim in hopes that he could reach food to eat, because the tilt prevented him from being able to maneuver his head into a bowl.

I would make my decision based on observation, and maybe offer both bottle and bowl. See which is easier for your bun to access. The only caution I would have with using a bowl is that you don't want your bun rolling into the water and getting wet. That was one of the major reasons why I hesitated to put a bowl of water in Ronnie's cage.

 
Good news!

Hersh is making improvements everyday! I caught him munching on some stray pellets the other day - so this morning I put them in a bowl and he's eating them with Bella!!!!!!!:bunnydance: So I throw a few along the floor of the pen so he finds them as he wanders, too. His head is still tilted - invision a clock - he's at two o'clock. But his rolling has ceased and his eye isn't spinning...which leads me to think his world may have stopped spinning as well! My vet will be in on Tuesday and we'll se where we go from there. Till then I'll be continuing his meds as instructed. Also, I put a water bowl in and he's able to drink from it. The only thing is he's still not using his litterbox. I am so thankful and happy for his progress so far! All your help was very appreciated!!! I'll continue to keep you updated! ((hugs)))
 
:yahoo:

For a litter box, I'd get a cardboard box (either disposible or with a plastic or foil tray or a plastic bag as a liner) and cut down one side so its easy to hop in.


sas :bunnydance:
 
My Bunnyman is using the litterbox!!! He is eating hay!!! Drinking water from his bowl!!!! His head is mildly tilted, but he is just about 99% there!! Thank you all for your support and help! I am so grateful that my old man is such a tough guy and recovered. I'm going to make a follow up visit with the vet to see where we go from here. But I am one happy and grateful bunny mommy!!!!
 
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