Head tilt?

[SlinkyKat]

I noticed my little drawf might have a head tilt, nothing severe, I just feel like her head might be tilting to the right a little bit. I’m very very worried. She is a senior dwarf and is completely blind in one eye and somewhat in the other, her eyes have gotten worse over the years and I was wondering could she be tilting her head to see better? Do bunnies ever do that??
She is eating, drinking, moving, and acting normal except for the head tilt, her partner is behaving normal too. No matter what I’ll take her to the vet but I am unable to for awhile (home alone, no car, etc) and I am wondering if it is head tilt is there anything can do to treat/help her at home till I can get to a vet?? I have basic care supplies at home (IV, critical care, gas x, etc).
I’m sorry if this is scattered or hard to read I’m very very worried. Does anyone have any advice? knowledge? experiences? anything would help really. Thanks!

[jerseygirl]

Rabbits can turn their head to side to see better due to blind spot directly in front of them. , But not normally rotate the head for vision.

Is she blinking on both sides?
Are her eyes flickering or slowly tracking back and forth?

There’s not a lot you can do currently at home other then keep stress at minimum (for you too!)
It does sound like she is not bothered much, which is good. If it were evening I wasn’t seeing the vet until next day, I’d give a dose of metacam (if I had some) for the anti-inflammatory properties.

[SlinkyKat]

Thank you so much for the reply! Both of her eyes can close and her eye ball isn’t tracking or flickering. I do have some metacam, what is a safe dose for a 4-5lb rabbit? I now have a vet scheduled for tomorrow morning, should I bring her partner along for morale support or will that just stress them both more? Thanks again for the response!

[Pinkbun]

Hi
I understand this probably isn’t the best reply for you but I’ve been in the same position. My bun was a senior dwarf. Lived till nine yrs. he developed the head tilt within the 1.5 yr of his life and it got progressively worse. He was prescribed metacam. His eyes went cloudy and to the point he couldn’t see or hear. His head tilt devolved and he required help with cleaning his underside. He was more prone to eye infections and GI status (Please be aware of the signs!) he also got regular UTI infections. I did everything I could for him, I loved him! He was my best friend. Sry my emotions are taking over! On his final day when I came to feed him in the mourning, he had collapsed. He was rushed to the vet ASAP. He just didn’t have the strength anymore to stand. The vet said there was nothing I could do and asked me what I wanted. I choose to end thumpers suffering (as he couldn’t walk, hear, see and within the last few weeks he couldn’t feed himself) the vet then told me what it probably was. A brain tumour. Please don’t let this happen to your bun. My vet only told me at the end of it all what it was. I loved thumper. He was my best friend and if I’d known sooner that it was a brain tumour I’d have gotten you the help you needed. R.I.P thumper.
I understand this is a strange reply but I’d wouldn’t want the same thing to happen again. please ensure yr bun doesn’t has a brain tumour as this was very upsetting.

Sarah

[SlinkyKat]

Thank you so much for your reply, especially considering how hard it can be to talk about this for you. I will defenitly ask the vet about a brain tumor. You sound like a wonderful bunny parent and did everything you could for your little guy. Thank you for sharing you experience, I wasn’t aware brain tumors could cause head tilt so I really appreciate your help. I will do any scans, tests, and checks necessary for my beautiful little girl. Thank you.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Slinkykat on 12/14/2018 2:57 PM

Thank you so much for the reply! Both of her eyes can close and her eye ball isn’t tracking or flickering. I do have some metacam, what is a safe dose for a 4-5lb rabbit? I now have a vet scheduled for tomorrow morning, should I bring her partner along for morale support or will that just stress them both more? Thanks again for the response!

If you are in the US, it is likely late at night now..  mght not be worth giving any by now. This is a good little site to bookmark anyway. 

http://vgr1.com/metacam/ 

 If I were giving a one of dose at home, prior to vet visit, Id stick with a conservative dose of 0.2mg/kg (original dosage range was 0.1 – 0.2mg/kg. In more recent years, guidelines suggest 0.2,0.3-0.6mg/kg )

A 0.2mg/kg dose of cat strength metacam for a 4-5 pound rabbit would be 0.73m – 0.91mls
A 0.2mg/kg dose of dog strength metacam for a 4-5 pound rabbit would be 0.24 – 0.3mls 

I now have a vet scheduled for tomorrow morning, should I bring her partner along for morale support or will that just stress them both more?

With her vision being low, it would probably comfort her to have her friend there. However, if the bondmate is not great with travel or the vet, then I’d personally leave them home. 

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Slinkykat on 12/14/2018 5:17 PM

Thank you so much for your reply, especially considering how hard it can be to talk about this for you. I will defenitly ask the vet about a brain tumor. You sound like a wonderful bunny parent and did everything you could for your little guy. Thank you for sharing you experience, I wasn’t aware brain tumors could cause head tilt so I really appreciate your help. I will do any scans, tests, and checks necessary for my beautiful little girl. Thank you.

Here is some of possible reasons for head tilt. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/head_tilt.htm

[SlinkyKat]

We took her to the vet today and because she isn’t exhibiting any other symptoms and her head tilt is very slight the vet wants us to wait and watch. She is apparently fully blind now and the vet is hopeful that her equilibrium might just be off because of the last bit of vision going away. We will wait and watch her closely. Thanks for those websites, I will defenitly bookmark them for future use. Thanks again for the responses . I really appreciate it

[Pinkbun]

Hi
This is starting to sound familiar as thumpers balance wasn’t great either. I would advise you to keep a supply of the Critical Care (even keep some made up for emergencies) for rabbits on you just Incase as I remember needing it almost 2 times a week. Make sure that you alter the cage to make it easier for the animal to move about. I’d also advise using carefresh or kaytee bedding as I found thumper got wet so fast (he got a lot of UTI’s). I would also advise the use of a shallow feeding bowl due to the head tilt and I’d even put the critical care on the food (it helps as it’s easier for the animal to eat , I used it like a topping) make sure you have the metacam! Make sure to check your rabbits bottom Dailey (as sticky bottom is more prone) when the animal has head tilt. Also learn to recognise G.I. Statis, this is vital! As you only have 24 hrs! If you require any help or support let me know.

Nb: apologies I’m not a vet so I can’t diagnose your pet, I’m just going by previous experience. I hope the advice I provided helps (it may not even be needed but this is what I’d advise to help you). I’ve probably said to much but I’m sure someone will get help from it, I care too Much! Lemme know if you require any more help or advice.
I’ve always wanted to be a veterinary nurse but I’m always rejected the placement due to having epilepsy it’s unfair. I always seem to be telling the vet what’s wronge with my pet not the other way round. Sry… I’m rambling!

Hope i helped

[jerseygirl]

Pinkbun, not need to apologise. Sharing about your experience with Thumper is helpful and could help future readers of the forums also.

Im truly sorry you’ve been experiencing discrimination re work experience or placements. Is that even legal? 
Are you with an advocacy group at all? They could having listings of businesses that are supportive.

[Pinkbun]

Hi jersey girl
I hate to bring the forum off topic! I’ll keep it simple. Northern Ireland is the worst place to live if you have epilepsy (I’ve had it all my life and it’s drug resistant) and love animals. There’s literally no uni courses to do with animals and there’s only 1 RCVS veterinary nurse course. you need a placement to even apply for this and I can never get one as I’m always rejected due to my epilepsy. The veterinary practices take one look at my CV and what stands out is epilepsy not my skills. I’ve been descriminated too countless times and I’m fed up with it. Currently I’m doing biomed (pt) at uni (as my mum wanted me to stay in education) but I personally wanted to go to England and study veterinary medicine. It’s because of my many conditions that I can’t move to England as I have many medical problems and I can’t live on my own due to epilepsy. I constantly feel trapped here in NI. I’ve tried asking local organisations for help but they don’t do anything (epilepsy society here only has coffee mourning so not much help) . Trust me I’ve had countless discrimination thoughout my life and I just don’t know where biomed will get me as lately I’ve been diagnosed with depression as I can’t stop thinking about that I’ll never get to work with animals. I don’t want the money I want to do it as I care and I love working with animals.i just seem to understand animals better than people. At least getting appreciated on this forum helps.

Apologies I’m off topic. You can remove this post if you want as its of topic (I understand it’s very depressing to read, but that’s my life) Life is hard when you’ve got epilepsy and love animals

Xox sry to be so depressing

[Bam]

Pinkbun, you’re not being depressing. Although it’s a shame that you can’t get to work with animals, seeing that is your dream. I think you’re doing the right thing by staying in education. Biomed sounds very interesting, even if it’s not exactly what you want to do now. I think getting a good solid education will absolutely make you more attractive to future employers, plus getting through uni is not at all easy, so it shows real persistence and will power if you do it. That’s very important for employers too.

You can always use the chat thread for discussions like these – we discuss all kinds of non-bunny things there (as well as bunny-related stuff of course). We have quite a few other members that have health-issues, sometimes it helps a bit to be able to vent, if nothing else!

[SlinkyKat]

A bit of an update as well as more questions…. Bean, the girl bunny this post was originally about has gotten no worse and is still behaving normally but her partner is now having issues and worse. Her partner (Tibbi) is a young dwarf bunny and seems to have a slight head tilt like Beans, but unlike bean his balance seems to be off, he’s a little bit wobbly and stumbles a bit. He also might have diarehha as his butt seems to have a tiny bit of wet poop stuck to it. I’m not sure if he’s eating, drinking, or pooping normally as I just got home and I’m not sure what he’s been up to. I’m very worried for him. He seems much worse off than Bean. I intend to call the vet in the morning when they open. I prepared critical care and gave him a tiny tiny bit of metacam and gasx.
My questions are
is anything that causes headtilt or these other symptoms contagious? Should I be worried about my other rabbit who is housed separately? What can I do?

[Pinkbun]

Hi
As another bun of yrs has gotten head tilt my best bet would be then that it’s e.cuniculi. https://www.dechra.co.uk/therapy-areas/companion-animal/exotics/antiparasitics-antifungals/disease-information/e-cuniculi This is a zoonotic Protozoa parasite (it’s a mix) and it affects the rabbits neurological system. It spread via spores in urine (it’s strange I know) so if your other bun was near the original affected one that’s how he got it. It can be dormant in a bun for years. Do not worry about yourself catching it as only people with comprised immunity can get it eg AIDS, HIV, elderly.

My best advise to you now would be to ask the vet for e.cuniculi treatment ASAP. Don’t wait for a test! The longer you leave it the more long term effects it will give your buns!!! (My bun developed a limp from it which now severly reduces her mobility) the treatment for e.cuniculi lasts a month and you use a paste stuff. But I’d definitely be going on that’s what it is. As usually buns get is sooner but it definitely sounds like the e.cuniculi. You should treat both of them as they probably both carry the parasite.

[SlinkyKat]

Thank you for the response. I’m going to call the vet when they open today, and hopefully get him in and I will ask about EC. If I can’t get him into vet as quick as I would like, is there anyways at home to treat/hold EC at bay till I can get him in?
He’s doing worse as of now. I don’t think he has pooped at all. I have force fed and watered him. I will update when I learn what vet says or sooner if necessary. Thanks a lot for all the replies/support/advice. I really appreciate it especially when I’m worried sick. It helps a lot.

[Pinkbun]

hi again

there isnt a way to treat it at home from what i know. its a very difficult parasite/fungi/virus (its kinda all of these) to get rid off unless you use products specific to killing it. its difficult to explain it if you dont know the biology. as its a very advanced uni celled eukaryotic organism it shows signs of both fungi and a virus and tecnically its alive as its got a nucleus (its very advanced!)(i love biology!). usually you can treat the minor problems like a cold or flu as there only a virus (prokaryotic without a nuclei) but when yourve got a combination of both…… your in trouble. evolution made the e.cuniculi protoza powerful. thats evolution for you.you really need the stuff from the vet.

i remeber using a paste stuff for my bun called Panacur or something.

hope it helped (sry for the biology lesson ! i also put to much in!)

[Author]

Messages