SnowyShiloh
Well-Known Member
I'm making this thread so I have a record of Ned's care, so I can share his treatment with more experienced bunny people who can tell me if the treatment sounds good, and so I can get advice from those same people! And so I can just keep anyone interested updated on his condition.
So my poor Neddie has an ear infection again
He is an approximately 5 year old (exact age unknown as he was adopted as an adult almost exactly 4 years ago) small-medium mixed breed neutered boy bunny. He's been quite healthy except for an ear infection 2 years ago. He came down suddenly with head tilt in July 2011, which we treated immediately (2 am trip to emergency vet) and thankfully he was able to recover in 6 weeks with no lasting head tilt. He was treated with a daily dose of Azithromycin and weekly Pen G injections. This is the thread about his first ear infection struggle: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/bunny-scanning-eyes-going-circles-61458/
He did struggle with maintaining his weight for the next 12 months or so, which the vet attributed to the effects of the illness on his aging body, but to our surprise he started gaining weight again about a year ago and has been the picture of health! He would also occasionally turn his head slightly to the right when he was tired, but that too subsided after about a year. After his ear infection, we were very careful about not stressing him out so as not to cause another flare up and I check him every day for signs of nystagmus and a turned head.
Unfortunately, Ned has had another attack. I came downstairs this morning to find him with nystagmus and his head drifting to the left (instead of the right, it changed sides!) repeatedly. He had an extremely hard time standing up and walking and rolled a couple of times Scared the bejeezus out of me when he was on his side and kind of curled up in the fetal position about 5 seconds after I realized what was going on. We scooped him up and took him to the vet immediately. Lucky for us, my all time FAVORITE vet treated him- he was gone for a long time and then came and decided to only treat birds, but recently chose to treat rabbits again! This vet has a TON of experience with rabbits, so I feel really lucky! The vet peeked in his ears and saw no sign of infection (last time there wasn't any sign, either), then had him sedated and took x-rays from 4 different angles. He found that a bone behind his ears (sorry forgot what it's called?) has signs of thickening in some places and severe thinning in others. He thinks these bones are full of pus and that's what is making him sick.
The vet decided to treat Ned with the same meds as last time- daily Azithromycin and weekly Pen G shots- since it worked well before. He thinks that Ned's issues with weight maintenance were probably from the Azithromycin and said if it starts happening again we will change the med to chloramphenicol, but since bunnies are classified as food animals (!), he would have to get special permission to prescribe it. If meds don't work or if he has another attack at some point in the future, the vet is interested in doing a surgery to completely remove the bones that are holding the infection so he won't get sick anymore.
He got his first Pen G shot at the vet's office and will begin the Azithromycin tonight (need to pick up the prescription from the pharmacy). Poor baby is scanning back and forth, back and forth with his head but is able to move around his cage with some difficulty (even peed in the litter box, bless his heart!) and has not rolled since we got home. Normally he doesn't really like being held but when he gets like that, he seems to prefer being held. He was in my arms the entire 3+ hours we were at the vet office and didn't try go get away.
So, that's what's going on with my sweet boy. I am worried of course but glad we caught it fairly early again and am so glad we have our favorite vet to treat him! I really hope Ned can kick this again and be all better forever without needing surgery! Has anyone heard of a bunny getting surgery to remove these bones? Sorry I can't remember what the vet said the bone is called, but it was VERY apparent in the x-rays and looked almost like an empty marble.
Please think healing thoughts for my beloved Ned!
So my poor Neddie has an ear infection again
He is an approximately 5 year old (exact age unknown as he was adopted as an adult almost exactly 4 years ago) small-medium mixed breed neutered boy bunny. He's been quite healthy except for an ear infection 2 years ago. He came down suddenly with head tilt in July 2011, which we treated immediately (2 am trip to emergency vet) and thankfully he was able to recover in 6 weeks with no lasting head tilt. He was treated with a daily dose of Azithromycin and weekly Pen G injections. This is the thread about his first ear infection struggle: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/bunny-scanning-eyes-going-circles-61458/He did struggle with maintaining his weight for the next 12 months or so, which the vet attributed to the effects of the illness on his aging body, but to our surprise he started gaining weight again about a year ago and has been the picture of health! He would also occasionally turn his head slightly to the right when he was tired, but that too subsided after about a year. After his ear infection, we were very careful about not stressing him out so as not to cause another flare up and I check him every day for signs of nystagmus and a turned head.
Unfortunately, Ned has had another attack. I came downstairs this morning to find him with nystagmus and his head drifting to the left (instead of the right, it changed sides!) repeatedly. He had an extremely hard time standing up and walking and rolled a couple of times
Scared the bejeezus out of me when he was on his side and kind of curled up in the fetal position about 5 seconds after I realized what was going on. We scooped him up and took him to the vet immediately. Lucky for us, my all time FAVORITE vet treated him- he was gone for a long time and then came and decided to only treat birds, but recently chose to treat rabbits again! This vet has a TON of experience with rabbits, so I feel really lucky! The vet peeked in his ears and saw no sign of infection (last time there wasn't any sign, either), then had him sedated and took x-rays from 4 different angles. He found that a bone behind his ears (sorry forgot what it's called?) has signs of thickening in some places and severe thinning in others. He thinks these bones are full of pus and that's what is making him sick. The vet decided to treat Ned with the same meds as last time- daily Azithromycin and weekly Pen G shots- since it worked well before. He thinks that Ned's issues with weight maintenance were probably from the Azithromycin and said if it starts happening again we will change the med to chloramphenicol, but since bunnies are classified as food animals (!), he would have to get special permission to prescribe it. If meds don't work or if he has another attack at some point in the future, the vet is interested in doing a surgery to completely remove the bones that are holding the infection so he won't get sick anymore.
He got his first Pen G shot at the vet's office and will begin the Azithromycin tonight (need to pick up the prescription from the pharmacy). Poor baby is scanning back and forth, back and forth with his head but is able to move around his cage with some difficulty (even peed in the litter box, bless his heart!) and has not rolled since we got home. Normally he doesn't really like being held but when he gets like that, he seems to prefer being held. He was in my arms the entire 3+ hours we were at the vet office and didn't try go get away.
So, that's what's going on with my sweet boy. I am worried of course but glad we caught it fairly early again and am so glad we have our favorite vet to treat him! I really hope Ned can kick this again and be all better forever without needing surgery! Has anyone heard of a bunny getting surgery to remove these bones? Sorry I can't remember what the vet said the bone is called, but it was VERY apparent in the x-rays and looked almost like an empty marble.
Please think healing thoughts for my beloved Ned!
