Babbitty has head tilt...

[Kipcha]

Yesterday afternoon at work I got a call from Mom about Babbitty not acting quite right, so I told her if he was still off when I got home we would bring him in to an emergency clinic. I got home and he seemed completely normal again, getting up and hopping right over to say hi, eating, pooping, all that good stuff.

We get up this morning and I let him out for a run around the basement, first thing he does and runs and hides under something and sits there.

Panicking a bit because Babbitty NEVER hides, I pulled him out and realized his head was slightly tilted to the right. It's not much of a tilt but it is there, so we went to the clinic right away and he is now on Baytril and Fenbendazole for the next two weeks. She said that it is either an ear infection or e. cuniculi and these drugs should fix him, although she mentioned that they are unpleasant (Mostly the Baytril) and may put him off his food so we need to be vigilant. Hopefully this is something that will get fixed easily.

See, fairly slight but still there...

 

[Pipp]

Oh no, not Babbity!!

Baytril may work, but I find that it rarely does around here.

Did she give you a pro-biotic? Baytril caused a major upset with Marvin last month because I forgot to give him the probiotic 2 to 3 hours after the antibiotic.

Fenbendazole may help, it seems to have some anti-inflamatory properties, and its a safe drug regardless, but its very unlikely to be EC or any other parasite, that's no longer the line of thinking in rabbit care.

An x-ray may have confirmed the infection if you've got the budget, always a good way to go. If you don't, then load him up with antibiotics and if it works you have your diagnosis.

I've had head tilt happen from ear infections, trauma, sepsis and liver disease. I've had one EC/parasite bunny tilted, but it was in addition to other more common symptoms. (Most expected EC bunnies on the coast are more likely to have raccoon roundworm).

A two week prescription probably won't do the trick, the usual protocol is more like a month. Otherwise it can come back.

I like Chlor Palm for ear infections, and it's best to combine it with another antibiotic, eg: injected duplocillin or Baytril.

Hope he's okay!

Great that you caught and treated it so soon, that's the most important thing.


sas :clover:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Pipp wrote:

Oh no, not Babbity!!

Yeah,^^ that's exactly what I said when I saw the topic. I agree with Pipp, with my one bunny who had head tilt, I really wish we'd done the xray, it would have helped so much in diagnosing as we ended up trying medication after medication without any helping, and the EC titer came back as negative as they come (though I know you really need two for a accurage diagnoses).

We tried lots of Baytril and it didn't touch the tilt, but we did find as the tilt went on, she got quickly dehydrated and fluids were a HUGE HUGE help. Also, probiotics helped things alot.

Hope Babbity is feeling better soon-praying for you all caring for her and for her qiuck recovery. ray:

 

[Kipcha]

Thank you for all the advice. Head tilt is something that I have never dealt with (And had hoped I wouldn't have to), so my knowledge was limited. My vet wasn't in today, but the other one that saw him is the owner of the clinic.

She did not give me a probiotic, what would I give to him as one? I'll definitely be calling tomorrow and asking about it.

Does E.C have any other symptoms or anything? I was so afraid of it being E.C (That video on Medirabbit has me paranoid about it) so if there are some signs that it is most likely not it, that would help put my mind at ease a little bit. I've been running through all these worst case scenarios and have got myself a little worked up on the matter.

I was actually planning on the visit this morning to be a $500+ visit, thinking we would be doing x-rays and bloodwork and all that jazz, and was quite surprised when she didn't seem concerned with doing tests. Perhaps I should wait until my vet is back in town and go back in asking for an x-ray, just to get a better insight on all this? When I walked out with only a $120 vet bill it was a huge surprise, I thought it would be way too easy.

You brought up the raccoon roundworm and now I am freaking out a bit, we did have that afternoon in Stanley Park where we posed on the rocks a bit. How would we know it was that? I had no idea there even was such a thing! How fast would it progress? Would just sitting on a rock where there was a raccoon cause it? It says they need to eat something, which none of our rabbits did, but could they groom it off their feet or something?

I'll give the vet a call in the morning. Babbitty is still exactly the same, a bit more active then this morning even, so I'll take it as a good sign.

 

[MarisaAndToby]

Not Babbitty!!! I have no suggestions but will be keeping you in my thoughts and sending good vibes down south. Keep us posted!

<3

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[gmas rabbit]

Poor Babbitty. I would treat it agressively. Personally I prefer Chlor Palm as it treats a mulitute of bacteria infections. I would also get hold of Brandy with MiniLopHop as she has experience with treating head tilt and may be able to give you some really good advice. I know that you treated for parasites when you got home but possibly another treatment is in order??

 

[majorv]

You can get probiotics at a pet store usually. Benebac is one of the brands, as well as Probios.

 

[Kipcha]

Thank you everyone for the good thoughts.

Alma, with a few people recommending it I plan on asking tomorrow about it since my vet should be back in, the one we saw isn't the one we normally see so I don't know too much about her methods, although she does have a very good reputation as well. Babbitty is also now on Panacur every 24 hours just in case, and all the other buns have another dose of Panacur due in 10 days. Hopefully that's enough to keep everyone covered...

Didn't get a chance to get to the stores today for Benebac, they all close so early on Sundays, but will be going out tomorrow to hunt some down for sure!

I'll be posting some pics and an update on Babbitty's condition shortly, just trying to get him to sit still for a second...

 

[Kipcha]

His head tilt is more noticeable then yesterday but he is still eating, drinking and pooping plenty so that's a good sign! He did fall over once today, but he was bouncing around and very excited to see me coming so I don't know if it was completely loss of balance or slightly clumsy... Hopefully it doesn't get much worse and just starts improving...

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Hope he's feeling better soon- Nosebonks from Ripley :rabbithop

 

[HEM]

We are hoping for a fast recovery for Babbitty

 

[MiniLopHop]

Does Babity have the rapid eye movement? That can be a give away that it is EC. I have a movie of how Becky was going in circles in my thread of her saga. She will still do that on bad days. I have also found metacam helps. I think it reduces the inflamation in the ears that makes it worse. ray:

 

[Kipcha]

No, he does not have any rapid eye movement and other then the one time, he has not fallen over either, so I'm wondering if his balance is just a touch off and he just got very excited. I'll be sure to ask the vet about Metacam, that's good to know that it keeps the inflammation down.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I am thinking it is an ear infection, not EC. Perhaps with the waxy build-up and the pressure changes from the travel it drined too far and then got infected? You might want to ask about the ear drops, but they have helped Becky a lot. She hasn't had another ear infection since I started using them.

 

[Kipcha]

That's good to know, he's going into the vet tomorrow for another check up so I plan on getting them to clean his ear best they can and get a better look. I guess to get x-rays of the skull they need to mellow him out a little with just a whiff of anesthetic so it's something he needs to be dropped off in the morning for, so we'll need to figure that out.

 

[Kipcha]

Just a quick update, Babbitty is very nearly back to normal, he has a tiny bit of tilt left but he seems nearly completely back to himself, thank goodness!

 

[Imbrium]

thank goodness!!

 

[MiniLopHop]

:yahoo:inkbouce:arty0002:inkelepht::weee::clapping:

Wonderful! What a relief Babbitty is feeling so much better!

 

[gmas rabbit]

thank goodness. We were very worried about him. nose bonks from Derby.