Thank you for all your replies. I’ll try to explain a bit more about his situation but we are still very much in the dark living here in Vietnam where rabbits are a rare pet to have.
About 5 months ago we heard the local animal shelter had rescued a baby bun from a trash bin somewhere here in Hanoi, Vietnam. The shelter was struggling as it was overrun with dogs and cats and had no experience caring for a rabbit. My bf and I had had rabbits before (though not in this country) and couldn’t bear the thought of the little guy being put down or left in terrible living conditions so we went to see him at the vets for a checkup and possible adoption. We asked about the head tilt and the vet said it could be due to a parasite, infection, damage to the neck or inbreeding but he said there is no way to know for sure. He also told us the bunny was female and about 8 weeks old at that time and otherwise healthy apart from the head tilt. We took Alice home with the antiparasite meds the vet had prescribed and continued to research the condition since the vet couldn’t tell us anything more.
The head tilt never improved and we’re pretty sure now that Alice is mostly blind and deaf, but he gets around great which his sense of smell and we think he can see a little, just not as well as other bunnies. He runs around, plays with toys and generally enjoys life, and is the most affectionate cuddly bunny we’ve ever had. The down-tilted side of his face is a slightly different shape from the upper side so we assume the headtilt is a result of a slight deformation, maybe due to mishandling as a bun or due to severe in-breeding.
Since we got him we’ve taken Alice to 3 other vets in Hanoi (all known to be the top clinics in the city). Only one of these agreed to see him for a surgery consultation to get him spayed when this spraying behaviour started last month (would be about 6 months old now). When we took the bun to this new vet she immediately said that surgery will be too risky because of the head tilt. Her English was not great so it was difficult to ascertain why exactly it would not be safe, but she indicated it was the anaesthetic which was risky.
Alice does have some breathing problems which have been there since we got him. Again no vet can tell us with certainty why. But she’s been on a course of antibiotics for a supposed lung infection a few months ago and the meds took their toll on her and did nothing to improve her breathing. So she just lives with a slightly stuffy nose now which we don’t know what else we can do about.
We knew it would be difficult to raise a bunny in country where we don’t speak the local language and where rabbits are not kept as pets. But leaving him in that shelter wasn’t an option so now we’re just trying to do our best with the available resources. This last week we’ve had to confine him to a pen in the corner of the room which has helped a little on clean-up space. But everytime we go in there to fix up or change litter or hay he sprays us. The only time it’s safe to go near now is when he’s already lying down in cuddle flump mode and we can just pet him. But if he’s up and about the buzzing begins and that’s the warning that we better run and jump out of the pen asap. I feel so bad having him in that pen when he’s been used to being a free roam bunny since he can remember, he looks lonely and is extra cuddle needy now.
We will continue to give him lots of new toys and try to keep the pen area interesting but if anyone has any other ideas we would love to hear them. Thank you so much!