(RIP) Hyacinth - rolling & wry neck

[TinysMom]

I'm a bit concerned so I decided to post here. A couple of days ago we discovered Hyacinth had wry neck - we also learned why - an obvious ear infection. I've been treating her - but she has started the eye darting and rolling - not too bad - but pretty bad.

The last two nights she has slept on our bed - she loves to cuddle up next to Art. He says it is so weird to wake up in the middle of the night and see one eye peering up at him.

I just spent the last four hours holding her in my arms - letting her snuggle into me. As long as she's being held - she doesn't roll.

I'm not in there right now because I'm getting her meds ready - she's getting Bonine (sp?) to keep from rolling and a bit of pain meds "just in case". Her ear was pretty inflamed so I am sure she doesn't feel the best. After the pain meds kick in - she seems to feel a lot better and nibbles on food (she's lost some weight too).

I know how to handle wry neck - but here is my concern. Hyacinth is probably one of my oldest - if not my oldest - rabbit. I bought her from Bob Whitman a little over 3 years ago - and she was I think over a year old then..maybe two years old.

I'm worried about her heart when she starts rolling cause it really really scares her (ok - it scares any of them) - but with her age...she doesn't need this stress on her heart.

Here she is from when I first got her - you can click on the pictures to see them larger...







I've always called her my little "pot belly pig". (She was imported from the UK and I fell in love with her the minute I saw her).

Anyway - please pray that she stops rolling until the meds kick in more and she gets better.

This morning she had a good breakfast of greens and banana peel and was able to sit up enough to eat on her own (plus she had some poops as I was cuddling with her under the covers).

I really need to get weight on her and get her to stop rolling while we wait for the ear infection to go away.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Sending many prayers for Hyacinth and you to Peg.

ray:ray:

ray:ray:

ray:ray:

ray:ray:

Susan:sickbunny:

 

[Maureen Las]

She's really really cute....
I know that she 's getting the best care :sickbunny:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:

I hope that she improves.

if she's about 5 that is not really that old.

 

[mouse_chalk]

Oh, she's so pretty....

Thinking of you guys and hoping that Hyacinth improves....

:hug:

 

[undergunfire]

Are ear infections treated with steroids and Doxy, Zithro, or Baytril....like in rats?


:hearts to you and Hyacinth. I remember her!

 

[Becca]

I am so sorry Peg :hug:

Hope everything works out :cry4:

 

[polly]

awww Peg I am so sorry she isn't well she sure does look like teh older style of lionheads. I am so with you as I have one off balance at the moment he is getting treated with antibiotic and antiinflammotory injections

sending you and Hyacinth :hug:

 

[pumpkinandwhiskersmom]

Prayers are on the way, Peg. Hope she starts improving soonest!!ray:ray:

 

[marissa]

You are in my prayers! Good luck with her

-Marissa

 

[TinysMom]

undergunfire wrote:

Are ear infections treated with steroids and Doxy, Zithro, or Baytril....like in rats?


:hearts to you and Hyacinth. I remember her!

Well first - Hyacinth had ear mites a couple of weeks ago...so we treated her and I gave her a Pen G shot "just in case"...as in ... just in case she wound up with an infection from them. I frequently do this - its nothing new....but if there is a bad case of ear mites I do it.

I've been halfway keeping an eye on her - but she's been doing really great. So Friday night Art showed her to me about 7 pm and was like, "I think she's got head tilt".

Sure enough...she did.

Needless to say - my vet isn't open. I wasn't going to drive her to San Antonio for this and stress her out even more.

So I started her on Pen G shots. She was good for a bit but yesterday she started rolling - not all the time - but a bit. She rolled enough that I gave her Bonine for the rolling and it seemed to help.

When I first experienced wry neck in bunnies - and a vet said, "its best to just put the rabbit down" - we followed Barbi Brown's methods. Then Randy joined the forum - we talked a lot about wry neck since he's dealt with it. He convinced me that Pen G is far better than Barbi Brown's methods...I've since had a couple have wry neck and the Pen G pulled them out of it. (I'm not saying Pen G is a miracle drug).

When I took Houdini to the vet a few weeks ago and the vet gave him Baytril to try and stop the septicimia (sp?) - I asked for Zithromax or something stronger than Baytril. He stated that his first course of action is ALWAYS Baytril and he is hesitant to use something like Zithromax without first using baytril. From things I've read - and experienced - I tend to disagree with him.

Hyacinth snuggled in my arms for about 4 hours this morning. I've checked on her a couple of times this afternoon since I went to get groceries and then spend time w/ my family. She's between a couple of pillows so she can't roll. The last time I went in - she was sitting up and grooming herself and had eaten most of her lettuce, fresh spinach and had thrown her banana peel off to the side. When I put it back in front of her (she normally LOVES banana peel) - she threw it at me.

My concern is that when she starts to roll - she gets really really scared. I can see that she's starting to hold her head better and the Pen G is working. Its just a matter of waiting for it to work enough so she won't roll. She's definitely not as bad as some I've had when it comes to how much she rolls and she can sort of control the roll a bit now better than she did before. But what concerns me is how her heart races and she looks up at me with such fear in her eyes. As I said, she is older than the others that I've had become ill.

She has slept with us the last two nights - mostly cuddled in Art's arms as she chooses to go snuggle up next to him. She has something under her in case she pees...but she tends to like to get on MY side of the bed and pee on the towel that's over there. Gee .... thanks Hyacinth.

So right now her course of treatment is Pen G, Bonine (for the rolling) and a bit of pain meds for any pain she might have. I notice that about an hour after she gets the pain meds - she starts sitting up better and eating better and of course...throwing stuff at me if she gets mad.

The surprising thing of all this is....she's becoming a cuddler. She used to hate me...and even last night and yesterday she was nipping me and biting at me. Today though - she snuggled in my arms for those four hours and when I woke up - she gave me a couple of kisses.

I think she knows I'm on her side.

By the way - I would normally recommend that people visit a vet for wry neck (or any other thing that looks major). In this case - I saw the pus in her ear and I know she has an ear infection....

 

[undergunfire]

Thank you for the explanation, Peg. I was just curious if it was the same with rats...inner ear infections, that is.

A common illness with rats is URI's. I know what it is when I see one (as do many rat people), so I treat it myself with shower steams and Baytril/Doxy I have here at home from previous vet trips.

Sometimes, it is always best to keep them home and comfy IF you know what you are doing and have people on hand to talk to who know what they are talking with. Which, I know that you know what you are doing, Peg, as you have dealt with this many times.

:hug:

 

[TinysMom]

Amy,

My biggest regret (well - one of them) - is that I treated Puck with Barbi Brown's methods...and I believe that had I known Randy at that time and known that head tilt is so often from ear infections...I could have possibly seen him have a full recovery.

Unfortunately, at that time - the vet I had spoken with (who no longer works at that vet clinic) felt that the best thing for wry neck bunnies was to "put them down so they don't suffer". My local vets wouldn't treat rabbits...so I had almost no where to go unless I went to San Antonio...which I figured I'd hear the same advice of "put the rabbit down" since that is what so many others had told me.

One of my younger bucks, Ziggy, came down with wry neck for a couple of days in May I think it was. I treated him much like I'm treating Hyacinth and unless you had been around a wry neck bunny in the past - you would probably not know he'd ever had it. Sometimes...every so often...you can kind of see a reminder of it...in the way he holds his head or something. Its hard to explain. But he sits upright - has a very active life....is just a sweetie.

As you saw when you were here - in spite of his disability - Puck still loved life and enjoyed it. But it hurts me to think that maybe he could've had a full recovery....still yet...I was going with what I knew at the time. I'd talked to a vet shortly before he came down w/ wry neck about it....so I knew what the answer would be.

I'm fairly confident that Hyacinth will recover. I'm already starting to see improvement in her. But what bothers me is just how bad her heart races when she rolls. Art and Robin say the others have done this - that New Hope did it. But when I hold her close to me and feel her heart racing...it just feels "different". Maybe its because she's a bigger girl. I don't know.

All I know is I've lost far too many....and I'm fighting for her.

Randy and I have talked about steroids in the past too...I'm just not comfortable with them if we can control the rolling with Bonine. So far...she's really doing good.

My biggest concern?

She's stealing my husband....now he wants to snuggle with HER...in fact, I left the room to do something - he went in to check on her and came out going, "Where is Hyacinth???"....

I explained that I'd lightly covered her w/ the blanket and if he looked underneath - he'd find her (the light appeared to be bothering her eyes). Sure enough - he looked - and there she was....and he spent some time snuggling with her.

 

[undergunfire]

Aww, what a sweetie!

Was it New Hope that was sick when I was there and she was in the pen in the living room and always had pumpkin smooshed on her face and would spit it out at you? I just am horrible with names.

I know Hyacinth is being loved on right now, totally. I saw much of a connection you have with your sickies because you worry about them so much.

 

[TinysMom]

To say I'm exhausted right now would be a major understatement. I think Hyacinth is wiped out too.

When we went to bed last night - she kept tossing and turning. Whereby yesterday afternoon she was standing up and eating - she couldn't stand and was laying on her side...and she'd flop every few minutes. I held her close for a couple of hours but noticed she was getting feverish. Art was sleeping - so I had Robin help give her a shot of sub-q fluids and I got some more pain killer in her to help her rest. She had dribbled out a portion of her last pain killer so I figured that it was ok to give her a bit more. That helped...somewhat.

Instead of sleeping with my c-pap machine for my sleep apnea (which has a mask and makes me look like Darth Vadar)...I slept without it and just held her in my arms as much as I could. I tried to not hold her too close so that she wouldn't get hot...but enough so she felt secure and wouldn't roll. A couple of times - Art woke up and held her so I could run to the bathroom and then come back.

Miss Bea is VERY upset that I have another doe on HER bed. She has jumped up several times to sniff at Hyacinth...steal any leftover lettuce...and thump me off when I'd say her name.

I just left Hyacinth surrrounded by pillows and snuggled in tightly so I could soak her lettuce, spinach and carrots in water and make up her Bonine/Tramadol dose.

I am supposed to be working today - luckily - I had set aside two days to work with someone else this week and those projects got canceled on Saturday afternoon (the other gal is doing them alone). So I'm bumping some projects to later in the week so I can spend today with Hyacinth. Art & I are trying to figure out how we can schedule things this week so someone is with her almost 24/7....when they get to rolling like this it can be pretty nervewracking on them (I'm sure Ali knows what I mean) and having a human there to help seems to be a comfort. It may mean that I wait and do some of my work after 2 pm (which I don't like) so he can be with her while Robin & I work on my assignments....I don't know. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I'm waiting to see what today brings - if last night brought the bouts of rolling largely because we think she got dehydrated even though we offered her water several times. I'm going to add some vanilla to her water to see if that will entice her to drink more.

Prayers and good thoughts will be very appreciated - I will fill y'all in later on. I really was hoping I'd wake up this morning to find her standing on her own two feet looking at me for her breakfast. I'm hoping I don't have to hand feed her and that she'll eat somewhat on her own once the medication hits..

 

[TinysMom]

Well - I can tell her meds have kicked in. For one thing - she was halfway sitting up....and she ate some lettuce, spinach, carrot, banana and me. That is...she tried to bite me...more than once. As she got tired of eating - she kept trying to throw her lettuce and hitting me in the face with it once. I told her "NO" in a firm voice and she gave me this look of "How can you say that to me?" and then threw her lettuce again. Then she got this sleepy look in her eyes and settled down for a nap. I suspect she'll be napping for an hour or so if Miss Bea will leave her alone...Miss Bea keeps insisting on grooming her - but Miss Bea is a rough groomer. (She also got up on the bed and was stealing Hyacinth's lettuce, carrot & spinach).

I'm going to use the next hour or so to eat and get things done around the house - of course, I'll be checking on her every little bit. But she's looking better right now than she did 12 hours ago...that's for sure.

I'm hoping that as the Pen G continues to work in her system - she'll get her balance back.

 

[jcl_24]

RE the photos of Hyacinth: Just look at that face and mane :inlove:

May she continue to improve. Yes if you can manage to eat and such while she's sleeping, you'll have a bit more energe for the 24/7 bunny caring you are doing.

Fight on sweet Hyacinth ray:

Jo x

 

[Maureen Las]

You are doing everything humanly possible for her..and moreray:

 

[TinysMom]

Well - I'm about to head to bed but I thought I'd update everyone on Hyacinth.

She's....doing much better than last night - but not quite as good as I'd like. Sometimes she'll sit for half an hour or so without rolling - then she'll get mad and go to fling her lettuce or something (or adjust her towel) and she'll start rolling and flopping. A couple of times I've walked into the bedroom to see her laying on her side - meaning - she's rolled - but she's made herself be still.

She just got her nightly dose of Bonine and pain killers - and I'm about to head to bed with her vegies which have been soaking in water. I suspect it won't be long before Miss Bea will be up on the bed to get her "tribute" since she is being so gracious as to allow Hyacinth to be on HER bed.

I'm hoping that in the next 48 hours we'll see the rolling stop completely. That would make me so happy.

But for now - at least she's learning how to stop the rolling (I don't know how she does it as usually I stop it for her and just hold her for a bit)...

Thank God Art is a patient man - and he loves animals too. He napped with her and snuggled with her for a while tonight - till she bit him. He thinks she's getting more feisty now that she's feeling better. That would be something to celebrate I think....

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I'm so glad she's getting cranky... If she's got the energy to waste on being rude to you, things must be looking up

 

[TinysMom]

Hyacinth did pretty good yesterday but is having a rough day today. I'm juggling my work around so I can stay home with her again today and just hold her and love on her.

She slept in my arms last night (in spite of the C-pap machine mask) and for the first hour or so - every time I would doze off...she'd start kissing my arm until I'd pet her. After about the 5th or 6th time of her doing this....I finally fell asleep.

Anyway - she's not as active today as I'd like (or she is active by rolling uncontrollably).

I'll hopefully have a better update later tonight.