He’s gone wonky!

[Max&Jess]

Hi all, new to this forum, thanks in advance for any guidance!
On Monday when I got home from work Simba was very quiet, had a very strong head tilt and a floppy ear. He wasn’t eating drinking or pooing properly so we took him straight to the vet. She told us that she thinks he had a ‘rabbit stroke’ and gave us some medicine (metoclopramide, panacur in case of worms and some liquid food). He’s had his medicine and some syringes of water – reluctantly!! – and he’s perked up a lot, started eating pooping and drinking (only today) from his bottle.
I’m still a bit worried though.. his head tilt has all but gone, but one ear is still completely limp and he keeps shaking his head and scratching at it.
Happy he’s on the up but want to make sure we’ve not missed anything!!

Simba is a lionhead bunny, roughly 3 years old – not sure as he was a rescue rabbit

Thank you
Max & Jess

[Bam]

We are not vets here, so it’s very difficult for us to say – as I’m hoping you understand. To me this sounds rather like an ear-infection. Possibly a middle-ear thing that then caused his ear-drum to rupture, which would have given him relief. Have you seen any goo in his ear? How does his ear smell if you put your nose there? There would’ve been no smell and bno goo when you were at the vet if it was a middle-ear infection. But such an infection is consistent with head tilt.

Panacur is often given against a common parasite that causes neurological problems. The treatment should be given for 28 consecutive days to eradicate the parasite.

Strokes in rabbits are rather rare and your bunny is young, but ear-infections are common and should be treated with antibiotics. The commonest kind prescribed for ears is Baytril. Did your vet prescribe any Baytril?

If it was a stroke, it will have to heal on it’s own, just make sure he eats and drinks and poops.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Sorry your bunny is unwell.

Ditto, Bam. This sounds like an ear infection. Sounds like your vet was not very bunny savvy, unfortunately. If you want us to help you find one, let us know your general area.

[Max&Jess]

I had a look in his ears a few nights ago and there was no gunk, no scabs and no noticeable smell. No Baytril prescribed, is it worth going back and asking for some?

Thanks

[Bam]

It seems that a head tilt in a rabbit is often called a stroke, even if it isn’t a vascular problem like a stroke is in humans. This is confusing and I didn’t know that the term stroke is used with rabbits for stuff that has nothing to do with a blood-clot or a ruptured blood-vessel. I found this short explanatory video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydYlODa6mC8

I think you should consult with your vet about antibiotics. As the man in the video says it should be treated with abs and sometimes for safe measure an antiparasitic (panacur, substance name fenbendazole). It used to be thought that this parasite always was the cause of head-tilt but this is nolonger believed to be the case, so abs tend to be the drug of choice for bunny head-tilt-issues. Your vet has already seen your bun and since there’s no gunk (there never is in an inner ear infection of course since it is contained), she can’t do a culture, so I think she should be able to just write a prescription for you.

This was very useful for me to learn, about how the term stroke might be used with regards to rabbits, so I’m grateful that you brought this to our attention.

[Max&Jess]

Got an appt. later this afternoon, the vet who saw him isn’t in today so they can’t prescribe without having a look at him. Fingers crossed they can help!

[Bam]

It’s only good if they have a look at him again, maybe they can give him something for the discomfort he seems to be sensing too. It’s not good if he scrathes himself so much that he gets sores f ex. I don’t know if metacam ( a common pain-killer) would be of use, you can ask. Rabbits that feel pain/discomfort are prone to losing their appetite for that reason alone, and you obviously need him to eat and keep strong.

Healing-vibes for ((((((Simba)))))

[Max&Jess]

It was an ear infection after all, got him some drops and some pain meds, he’s looking better this morning Thanks for your help!!

NB: ive added a picture as our avatar, now you can see why he’s called Simba!

[Bam]

I’m so glad he got ear-meds now!
He looks like a beautiful little lion king =)

Many continued-healing-vibes (((((Simba)))))

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear it

[Max&Jess]

Hi all, quick update on Simba’s progress –
The infection has now burst his ear drum so he has lost all sense of balance and appetite we’ve got him some oral antibiotics (Baytril) and the vet said to continue putting his Canaural drops into his ear.
I wanted to see if anybody had any experience with this – the vet mentioned that these drops are not licensed once the ear drum has burst, but that we should continue giving them to him anyway.. when we put the drops in he goes crazy now (more so than before!) and rolls/falls around uncontrollably, it’s incredibly upsetting to watch but we try to calm him down as much as possible. is it too much to keep giving him the drops? He is in a lot of pain and it really screws with his balance..

Thanks,
Max & Jess

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