Peanut's sick - the ongoing saga

[m.e.]

I'm bringing her to the vets shortly.

Came home from running errands and found her unsteadily wedged between her food dish and the edge of the pen. Her eyes are moving back and forth rhythmically. She's wobbly and unsteady. Looks like it may be some kind of seizure, but I'm not sure...Rex is laying near her.

When we were doing her ear drops this morning, she fought her way out of my brothers hands and took a flying leap into the pen. She landed on her feet as far as I could tell. I checked her over (and over) thoroughly for any injuries and couldn't find anything. This isn't the first time she's done this, so we were careful and didn't have her far from the floor, but still...did she hit her head at all? I'm a mess just thinking about it.

I'm really scared this time :cry2

 

[naturestee]

These symptoms do tend to go along with head tilt. Maybe your vet should treat her for E. cuniculi too, just in case? But it could be caused by the ear infection.

I hope she's okay. Let us know how it goes at the vet's!

:hug:

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear this. I don't have any advice but I wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you and Peanut. :hug1

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh Poor Peanut! I'm sending good wishes her way! Keep us updated.

 

[Pipp]

Oh nooo! Poor Peanut!! Poor Emily!!!

Stay calm, you don't want to stress the poor little girl out even more.

Hopefully it's just the natural progression of the infection and it will clear up as the meds do their thing.

Let us know!!

ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:ray::clover:

 

[peapoo_bunny]

poor peanut! ill be thinking of you and peanut!!:hug:

 

[bunnydude]

Sending good vibes to Peanut!
:clover::clover::clover:

 

[Maureen Las]

I thought that if an ear infection became fairly bad that it does cause unsteadiness, dizziness, eye rolling etc. and can be very upsetting to both the bunny and owner. As far as I know it is treatable with antibiotics and it is real "head tilt" I think that some people pad the bunnies area (or support her with towels rolled on each side of her) as she is probably very dizzy.Some bunnies need to be syringe fed as they are too dizzy to eat. As far as I know they can recover. Please let us know what your vet says and hang in there. I had an article on head tilt that I just sent to someone..it is under Peteducation.com..... head tilt(wry neck, torticollis)

 

[m.e.]

I've barely sat still for more than five minutes today, but before I collapse into bed I wanted to update people on Peanut's condition:

Peanut has a vestibular disorder, with unsteadiness, rolling, and nystagmus ("rapid involuntary rhythmic eye movement", courtesy of Wikipedia). The vestibular issues can be caused by a number of things, but in this case the vet is fairly confident that it's due to her inner ear infection. In addition to the antibiotic ear drops, she's taking an oral antibiotic (Orbifloxacin, watermelon-flavored) and a pain med/anti-inflammatory (Metacam). He did offer to test for pasteurella and E. cuniculi, but with three animals sick at the moment, I opted just to treat the symptoms for now and will perhaps do the test later (when my bank account is more obliging).

It was heartwrenching to watch her flail around on the exam room floor. Dr. G is a wonderful vet and was so gentle with her (he even gave nose rubs to Rex). When we got home, I was able to syringe feed her some banana baby food along with her Metacam. That was around 6 pm; at 9:30, I syringe fed her a more substantial meal of pellet slurry, bananas, and pumpkin, and gave her the antibiotics. She started to perk up after a few mouthfuls, and even cleaned her face as I cradled her in a towel (mommy's a bit messy with the syringe).

At the moment she's sleeping nose-to-nose with her faithful companion. Rex has positively doted on Peanut, licking her face and even cleaning her butt and feet. After eating and taking her medicine tonight, she seems to be a little more steady on her feet. But just to be safe, the floor of the pen is covered in grass mats and anything that she could hurt herself on has been removed.

I wish I could respond to everyone personally, so here's a general "Thank You" for the prayers and vibes. I appreciate it more than I can express.

 

[pamnock]

Peanut has been in my thoughts and I'm praying for a speeding recovery for herand some rest for you! The stress of worrying over a sick animal can be absolutely exhausting.



Pam

 

[Greta]

Aw, poor lil' sweetie! give her some treats (when she can handle them) and a nice big nose rub for me!

Gretaray: and the Bun Boyz :brownbunny :bunny5

 

[cheryl]

aww peanut has her"boy" by her side:inlove:,i will be keeping little peanut in my thoughts and all my buns are sending their sweet little bunnylove and get well wishes



cheryl

 

[Maureen Las]

It sounds like you have a very knowlegeable vet..I hope that it desn't take long before she's back to normal.ray:ray:ray:

 

[bbgrl20]

prayers for you and peanut! and a big hug for rex for being such a good companion:hug: You will be in my thoughts and prayers:clover:

 

[Eve]

Aww poor Peanut, I wish her a speedy recovery.It sounds like she is gettingplenty of loveand attention from both you and Rex, I'm sure its making the poor little sweetie feel better.

Both you and Peanut are in my thoughts :kiss:

 

[adamjai]

She's so lucky to have you and Rex! Hoping she'll feel better soon!:kiss:

 

[Maureen Las]

How is she doing today? Any changes?:sickbunny:

 

[rabbitgirl]

Poor m.e.! And poor Peanut!!!

Hope all goes well from here on in...:hug:

Rose

 

[naturestee]

Any improvement today? Rex is such a sweetheart to help her clean herself!

 

[m.e.]

She's doing fairly well this morning. I fed her breakfast a little while ago, and now she's back in her cage...in fact, I just looked over, and she was leaning rather heavily on Rex for support. He's been a real champ through all of this.

She still can't walk, or feed herself, or make it to the litterbox. She does try to wash her face, which doesn't work very well. But Peanut's too headstrong to let something like this get her down. Rex and I have a tag-team system: I feed, he cleans.

Here are some photos of Peanut this morning:

[align=center] Rex cleaning her bottom
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[align=center] Sprawled out
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[align=center] (excuse my toes, and the messy bedroom :lookaround)
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