liffey has the dreaded head tilt (resolved)

[purplepeacock]

randy----do you think it's safe to administer liquid probiotic? i'm assuming a rabbit can't digest yogurt even in small quantities. i felt around lif's skin and truth is----he really doesn't have much meat. i'm thinking i'd have to inject in his hind leg. do you find the pectin in apple to help prevent the c-diff? i also have flax....is that harmful to rabbits? you and alicia have been life saving thru all this...than you both so much!!

alicia---my wonderful hubby has been looking up how to do PT with liffey when he's better. i think this is way harder for him than even for me---although this is the man that cried during 8 below. he's spent the past 24 hours looking up everything he could on head tilt. i feel so blessed to have a man that loves my babies!

 

[tonyshuman]

I would use a special probiotic that isn't milk-based, like BeneBac or ProBios. You can get Bene-Bac at big pet stores and ProBios at farm supply stores. They're in a gel form and don't contain milk products.

He doesn't have to have much meat for a sub-q injection to be successful.

 

[purplepeacock]

tonyshuman wrote:

I would use a special probiotic that isn't milk-based, like BeneBac or ProBios. You can get Bene-Bac at big pet stores and ProBios at farm supply stores. They're in a gel form and don't contain milk products.

He doesn't have to have much meat for a sub-q injection to be successful.

the vet actually put him on bene-bac. i just feel like i'm in a daze right now and even though he got it today i forgot what it was for. forgive me--i'm charge nurse of a dementia unit and worked all weekend. i get home from work and sometimes feel like i'm going nuts too....combine that with being up all night with liffey and i sweare i'm completey brain dead right now!!!!

 

[ra7751]

I prefer Bene Bac as a probiotic. It comes in a powder or paste. If you get the paste, about a gram SID should do it. I use powder since I hand feed formula. Since you will probably be injecting SQ for a period of time....I start over the shoulder and work down each side of the spine and into the flank. Buffer the PCN with LRS which helps thin the drug for injection, buffers the burn of the injection and helps prevent necrosis at the injection point. Keep them moving around. I usually "push" fluids using a butterfly catheter and large syringes. That way you can do several injections with only one stick....sort of like a one time use port. Don't use anything with muchlactose, dextroseor carbohydrates as that may compromise the gut too. A NSAID (Metacam preferred) will help with discomfort. Meclizine works in some rabbits and not so much in others. Just wondering....is he presenting nystagmus? Keep the "down" eye lubricated with tear gel. And monitor body temp.

Randy

 

[purplepeacock]

the down eye right now is doing good. but right now he also is holding his head up fairly well to clean himself. but then when he's done it flops back over. he's already on the bene-bac. that's the only med he likes right now. he's been drinking a lot of water now from his water bottle. i think he got tired of me sticking syringes in his mouth. i want to call the vet today for an anti-inflammatory for him. that i don't have.

 

[itoshiixhito]

How's Liffey doing?

 

[purplepeacock]

he's actually doing quite well. he just finished 2 weeks of abt therapy and still has 2 to go but eat eats and drinks on his own. he is moving about his cage. he's in the small store-cage not the nic cage but for now that's good for him. if i leave the front door of the cage open he puts his paws on it and sticks his head out. less roly-polying about. hardly ever has eye twitching. the head still tilts bad. we will start doing PT with him after he completes abt therapy. but to top it all off during all this stress with liffey i found out that liffey is going to have a new little brother or sister----a HUMAN one.....lol.....

 

[itoshiixhito]

Oh my! Well congrats on the new hoomin! Not quite as fun as bunnies tho

I'm glad Liffey is doing well. It sounds like the tilt isn't really affecting his quality of life, which is awesome

 

[purplepeacock]

he's still not back to his normal self but it's only been two weeks so we shall see. i think in time he will have a full recovery. as for the new sibling...this should be interesting since this is our first baby. so liffey hasn't seen a little "hooman" ever....lol

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

congrats on the human baby,lol. i hope Liffey gets better soon

 

[purplepeacock]

lol...fran you should be due to start working on another hooman yourself...isn't your little one over a year now?...lol....i'm just kidding i'm sure you got your hands full with your crew =) the zoo crew and the kid crew!

 

[bunnymommy76]

Hope he's doing better, I had a rabbit that had head tilt, thankfully it was just a bad ear infection, after a couple of months his head returned to normal. I was so glad because I know, It is heart breaking to see a rabbit with head tilt. Hope he will make a full recovery like my little guy did!

 

[purplepeacock]

UPDATE: Liffey made a full recovery. head is fully upright and he's back to his normal self. he's actually been better for awhile but after 3 months of morning sickness that really should be called all day and all night sickness i haven't been on the computer much to do any updates. Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. i wouldn't have gotten thru without you all!

 

[luvthempigs]

That's great news! thanks for the update

Sorry about the all day/night sickness, that has to be a bummer thank goodness it's only temporary