Hi from a first-time bunny owner!
The vet thinks that our rabbit Timber has pastuerella since he sneezed a huge white snot onto our floor. She didn’t take a culture or look inside his ears—she’s doing a trial-and-error method with antibiotics to figure out which strain it might be.
However, I’m starting to worry that his Pastuerella is more advanced than we think—it may be an ear infection or more! He may have been exhibiting a possible precursor to head tilt for weeks, but since I am a first-time bunny owner and we only adopted Timber last month, I had written it off as just a funny facial expression of his, and never told the vet. (Since I don’t know what “normal” is for a bunny yet, I don’t have a baseline with which to compare any changes.)
From what I now understand, a pinched facial nerve can develop with pasteurella/ear infections (the infection will put pressure on the nerve that runs from a rabbit’s ear to his lip). Indeed, I’ve been noticing that sometimes his nose will be “crooked” or asymmetrical, i.e. it’ll look like he has had a stroke—his nose will be pulled *inward and downward.* It lasts for maybe a minute at most—it’s not constant. It only happens when he’s sniffing really hard, but otherwise seems pretty involuntary. His face sometimes resembles these rabbits:
Bunspace photo
SmallAnimalChannel photo
Right now, Timber’s “symptoms” are:
– – Pastuerella (incl. lethargy and a disinterest in the treats that he usually clamors for)
– – An occasional crooked nose
– – Hot ears
He is still healthy in terms of:
– – Eating hay and pooping normally (but I’ve heard that ear infections sometimes don’t affect these)
– – No diagnosed ear infection
– – Not dizzy
With that in mind, can anyone shed light on the following questions?:
1. 1. Am I correct to think that a possible path of head tilt is: Pastuerella > ear infection > pinched facial nerve > head tilt?
2. 2. If your rabbit has a pinched facial nerve, did it start out being constant, or were there just *bouts* of crookedness in the beginning?
3. 3. Is it possible to have a pinched facial nerve without any signs of dizziness (i.e., is dizziness going to be the next step)?
4. 4. Will his meds for Pastuerella (2mg of Sulfatrim) also clear up an ear infection, or should I have the vet test for an ear infection specifically? Her trial-and-error method of diagnosing the Pastuerella strain would take 1-3 weeks. We are to call her at the end of each week to let her know if the antibiotic is not working and she will provide a different one.
Thank you! I basically want to treat a possible ear infection + prevent head tilt, but need to know whether I’m just being paranoid!