Single hen

[OverWyreGrower]

Our castrated male bunny, Sweeney, has developed a horrific head tilt.

 

He had a smaller head tilt late last year and was treated at Christmas for a possible inner ear/brain infection and the head tilt disappeared. This weekend however, it has come back.

 

His head is tilted so much, he is almost upside down

 

He is still eating, drinking, toileting and moving around, although is quite slow. However, he does keep falling/twisting over onto his back if he moves too quick, or his hutch-mate is too boisterous with him.

 

I'm loathe to move Jet away, as we did this at Christmas and he got very upset about the whole thing.

 

I'm unsure what to do. I couldn't take him to the vets this weekend, but am worried that they'll fob me off with some Baytril, or say he should be PTS.

 

Any help/advice??

[SAB]

It may be neurological problem. Sadly the rabbit we had with this died before we could get him to the vet. The vet helped our guilt by telling us there is nothing he could have done and that taking him to the vet was likely to have caused great distress and hastened his death. That having said, it would be a pity if your rabbit had something which could be cured/eased by a trip to the vet - it is a hard one to balance. Is there any way you could phone your vet and discuss possibilities over the phone (we are very fortunate to have a vet who will do this). Best wishes to your poor rabbit and to you.

[Alfred]

It is quite likely to be a parasite called E. Cuniculi - a protozoan that can form cysts in parts of the body - most often the brain, which causes a head tilt, loss of balance etc. Rabbits can pick it up from hay etc. It can often affect them and then lie dormant before coming back.

The treatment is Panacur Rabbit, a white tube of paste you have to administer once daily by mouth for at least 9 days. (it's worth using it twice yearly as a preventative as well)

As long as the rabbit is eating drinking pooing ok there is a fairly good chance of recovery although some of them are left with a slight head tilt.

Take your rabbit to the vet asap!

(it might be an ear infection or other brain problem as well although these are less common - hence the baytril)

let us know how you get on.