What else can I do? Follow up on Nero's head tilt. (RIP)

[Bun Slave]

Hi - on Sunday the vet started him on a daily dose of 1.7ml azithromycin (our bunny is 1.6kg). I've seen no change in him. He's had a bad enough head tilt/balance problems over the past month that he can't hop around at all. We need to bring food and water to him. We've tried a couple of other antibiotics already, which haven't got him able to balance himself. He also gets .2ml a day of metacam.

Am I kidding myself that at some point he'll be able to hop around? I'd be happy with him having enough independence to be able to eat and drink without needing our help. I can set up the bunny room so he could get around if he'd just be able to hop a bit.

I'm so sorry for going on, but we're into week 4 now with barely any change and I'm really losing hope. He's about 7 so surgical options aren't really an answer. I read that this can take weeks or months but that usually seems to be with buns that have some mobility.

Am I prolonging the inevitable? Without the metacam I know he'd be in pain. I don't want him to suffer but I don't want to give up on him if there is a chance he could get to the point where he's able to be with his bunny buddies. I'm getting very confused and disheartened. I love my little guy!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I was at this point with Jelly as well. She had symtoms and was ill for 6 months. (only maybe 4 weeks of head tilt..) but her infectoin and other symtoms..yeah it was a long, hard thing. Now I can't say I can really give good advice being that my bunny didn't make it through.
All I *can* say is that for one thing, you'll kind of know if it gets to the point of not getting better. Like I just knew when it got to the point of her not getting better. Also, we finally had to ask the vet what she thought about recovery. Like how the chances were of it. That might be a good idea since they've seen the bunny before and know where its at. Jelly was so bad that they said there was a poor to fair chance. For a good week I spent with her, fighting with myself about it, but finally i realized what i needed to do
Other questoin: so whats the cause of nero's head tilt? Was it infection? That was Jelly's.. I know somethings are more treatable than others. Also, is he rolling? That was the other thing. Jelly was rolling *alot* *alot* *ALOT* so that clued me in that things were getting worse the more she'd roll. If he's not actually rolling, that may brighten things a bit in my oppinion.

 

[tonyshuman]

Have you tried meclizine? It should help with diziness and rolling. Some vets may want to try multiple antibiotics at one time. Jadeicine is a member with 3 head-tilt bunnies and she has found ways to keep them happy and healthy. The issue is that sometimes if an ear infection has been around a long time, the infection can cause permanent damage to the inner ear, leading to permanent tilt. I don't know when you determine that what you're seeing is permanent tilt and not an active infection, ie when you stop giving antibiotics and say that the bunny will just be tilted. PM Jadeicing--she knows that kind of stuff.

 

[Bun Slave]

Thank you for your replies and help.

Nero still can't hop and we need to bring him food & water. He was struck with head tilt in 2007 and it left his head permanently tilted, so I think this latest bout may leave him simply too far over to get back to where he'd need to be. It is an infection and right now he's on azythromicin. He's already been on a couple of other medications. He also gets daily metacam, meclizine and I've been keeping his down eye clean with eyedrops and refresh lube on the eyelid.

He just has so much fight in him! He's always been a tough nut (though snuggly). He eats and drinks fine, no problems digestively and you see him trying so hard to move around! It makes me really waffle on whether or not the "quality of life" issue is upon us.

 

[tonyshuman]

The quality of life thing is something only the people who interact with Nero can answer. You will know when his suffering outweighs the joy he gets out of life. I have not had many animals that were not at the edge of death already euthanized, but the one I did, he was very unhappy all the time and was just trudging on, living without joy. He was not happy about eating--even treats were a chore. There are a number of ways to assess the quality of life, but I think the best ones are to look in their eyes and see if they are "there", and to see if their favorite things still bring them happiness. The good days should outweigh the bad.

 

[Bun Slave]

Thank you to everyone for the help and advice. Sadly, Nero's health declined and we have let him go to the rainbow bridge. I appreciate everyone's efforts to help get him better.

 

[MarisaAndToby]

I'm sorry. I'm sure you made the right decision and now he can binky free without pain or discomfort.

RIP Nero ray:

 

[tonyshuman]

I'm so sorry. It is a blessing that he is no longer suffering. We do the best we can for our animals, and that is all we can do. It sounds like you took very good care of your Nero.