Bunny is not being herself :(

[rebeccalyn7]

Pepper's head keeps turning left
And her right eye was twitching before but stopped.
There is no vets open today,
Anyone for advice????

 

[LakeCondo]

I got out my trusty copy of Rabbit Health in the 21st Century & my thought is it's head tilt ie wry neck. That is just a description of the main symptom & can have a number of causes.

The most common causes are e cuniculi or a bacterial infection of the middle or inner ear. So the main thing you can do until you are able to see a vet is to keep track of her behavior until then & jot down what she's done in the last week or so: going outside, food-wise etc. You could also look for discharge from the ear. The book mentions that rabbits with head tilt tend to have an increased problem with being picked up, so keep that to a minimum if you can.

Or I could be completely wrong & it's something else. [The book would be SO much better if it had an index.]

Let us know how things are progressing. I hope all will be ok.

 

[rebeccalyn7]

Found a vet that was open, and we just got there before they closed, and it was head tilt.she is now on anti biotics for five days but is already being a curious little monster xD
Thank you for your help

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Did they determine the cause of the head tilt? Ear infection, E. Cuniculi, etc? What medication did they give you? Head tilt is really hard to fully treat alot of times without the proper medicaition-also, alot of times they need to be on the medication a while. Keep a close eye on her and keep up the TLC :sickbunny:

I hope your bunny gets better soon! I'll keep her in my prayers!

 

[fantaysah]

Sorry to hear this as head tilt is very difficult to deal with. Hopefully its not too bad a case and she doesn't get worse. I know some of the members here have had cases where it lasted several months before it was completely healed. Please keep us posted so we can help if it gets worse and cheer if it gets better

 

[rebeccalyn7]

She's just had her second anti botic and is traveling well.
Thank you for your concern
Means a lot

 

[rebeccalyn7]

The vet said the cause was the wind?
She's only a small bunny.
Apparently it's a Chinese acupuncture.
The wind has been stronger than her.. As well as having another bigger bunny

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[LakeCondo]

This is a real vet?? The wind?? Very Middle Ages, except for the antibiotics. What test was done to confirm it was bacterial?

I certainly would see another vet before the antibiotics run out. One who identifies causes & doesn't just try antibiotics for everything. Also start giving probiotics to prevent the disruption internally that antibiotics cause.

 

[wendymac]

Yeah, I'd be questioning the wind thing, too.

 

[fantaysah]

Sorry but i giggled a little and if i think it sounds screwy ( hey ill go for almost anything) then it probably is.

 

[rebeccalyn7]

Well my bunny is better.
So just see how it goes.
But thanks

 

[Erren]

I would really recommend a course of panacur. Sometimes antibiotics can get rid of head tilt, and you caught it early, but the protazoan parasite that causes the condition is very hard to kill both in the bunny's system and in bun's environment. It lives in their urinary tract, but sheds spores every thirty days, when this happens it spreads to other systems, including the brain and can cause paralysis or death, when it gets in the ears it causes infections, which throw off the rabbit's balance and make their heads tilt. Antibiotics cure the infection, but the underlying problem may still be there. If you have any concerns at all, or are as crazy paranoid about your rabhit as I am about mine, then get some panacur (from the vets or online, it's not even expensive) and do a 28 day course of that. Most rabbits you can just pop it on someting they love to eat and they'll chow down (it's a white paste) or squirt it in their mouth. It's also used for worming rabbits, so it's frequently used with few side effects. i nearly lost my bunny from this a couple of months ago, and e.c is hard to get out of their system entirely. Lex lost use of his front, then his back legs, and he's only just back to 95%
X

 

[rebeccalyn7]

Wow thank you for the heads up
Definitely going to google it and try and buy some.
Thank you.

She's had all her antibiotics now so so far she's running around her run crazy

 

[LakeCondo]

And in my opinion, antibiotics can do more harm than good if probiotics aren't used. For example women often get a vaginal infection after taking antibiotics if probiotics aren't used.

 

[Erren]

I'm sooo glad your bun's feeling better. keep an eye on the little tinker. i took Charlie and Lex to the vets today for their shots and Charlie won't even look at me now. I was asking the vet about how often they can have panacur without it getting toxic to them, because I'm so worried Lex is going to get sick again, and he said they can have it at least 3 times a year. Non-symptomatic dose is 9 days, if the rabbit is ill then it's best to hit it hard for 28 days. Apparently E.C gets them when their immune systems are weak, or if they just don't have a great immune system. Neither of my other bunnies showed any symptoms. Weird illness - it causes granulomas in their brains. i'd never even heard of it until Lex got it

 

[LakeCondo]

Immune systems can be boosted with probiotics, not overdoing treats, etc.