Drunk rabbit…Head Sway to the max

[wordmonkey]

So we are fostering a rabbit who wasnt at the shelter for more than a second so I dont think they relized. Were hanging onto him until next monday until he goes back to get neutered and we leave for vaca.Yah!

His head sways crazy, like hes drunk. I read some articles regarding head sway and scanning. Hes also pink eye, supposed albino so the actions are mentioned more prominent. But my problem is he’s down right drunk. Drunk to the point that sometimes he falls over almost and catches himself when hes standing up. And the swaying occurs when hes laying down as well. Hell tilt right then left then almost all the way over until he catches himself. He wont be back at the shelter till next week so I was just wondering if this could be a neurological problem.

 

[osprey]

Wow, that sounds scary.  Any chance he has head tilt?  Another thing to consider: Does he do this all the time or only when he is in strong light?  We had an albino bunny in The Haven that we thought was blind.  He would huddle in a corner, then seem to bump into things and not react to the world around him.  It turned out that he had so little pigment in his eyes that the slightest bright light would blind him.  When we got him out of the bright light, he did fine.  Are the vets at the shelter good with bunnies?

 

[MooBunnay]

Hi! Is it the head tilt kind of idzzy? I remember one of our bunnies at the shelter got head tilt, and was falling all over and even poked himself on some hay so it seems to me that could be a neurological problem like E Cuniculi(spelled right?) and thats something that should be addressed by a vet right away from what I have heard.

Also – I have a blind bunny named Grace and she does the “scanning” thing but its much more like a “twitch” kind of motion where her eye goes from left to right very quickly, and her head turns to the right, almost all the way over on her side. She has not had any trouble when standing up though which is why I would be inclined to think its more of a neurological thing.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

A head tilt can often mean an ear infection if you’re seeing that (even after the infection is treated, a critter who had it severely often keeps the head tilt for the rest of its life). But if it’s as crazy as you make it sound, it would sound like a neurological thing.

[wordmonkey]

He does it all the time the head sway. The drunken looking almost tip over few times, seen daily. As for the vets at the shelter they are great we have rescued and fostered before. He got a quick look at but nothing extensive. His story is that he was a frequent visitor. His owner kept him outside unneutered with another unneutered male and they fought all the time, they thought it was playing, and he escaped all the time. But the owner would always show up to claim him before the shelter had time to neuter/chip him or adopt him out. He’s never eaten hay, just backyard grass. When we got him he appeared to be cream, but that’s all urine. With scars and wounds on his back. How tropped looks like on the front page is how "Butters" appeared. So the minute he showed up we swooped in and "adopted" him. We have spoken with them and were told not to worry due to the pink eye, no eye twitching just head movement and that his dispossesion

for being an unneutered rescued male is the best I have ever seen. He eats fine, poops fine, and is rambunctious. His eyesight appears to be fine, no cloudiness or cowering from light. He’s all tiptop shape besides acting like he’s had a few to many. I ask cause I believe we might fully adopt him. Regardless of any problems, just wanna know.

Heres some images…….We have deemed him Butters, like in South Park

 

[osprey]

Poor guy, playing indeed!  It is a miracle that he did not get any abcessed wounds from the fighting.  Good job rescuing him, he’ll need all the care you can give him.

I love the picture of him with the helicopter ears and his eyes half closed.

[poopy]

Northwood Animal Hospital in Irvine gives free first time visits to bunnies adopted from the shelter. Just mention it when you make an appt. I would go check have it check out by a vet.

[wordmonkey]

So does arbor I know…I was just wondering if anyone has encountered this problem and had an outcome to treatment and diagnosis. Its a free checkup which does not include blood tests etc..  Which will be needed. The shelter gave him the once over and a clean bill of health. And all I have spoken with have written it off as scanning. The shelter wont get around to neutering as well as blood tests till monday.

[wordmonkey]

Also, he shows no signs of minior or severe head tilit. Its a sway, a rocking back and forth. Checked his hearing and it seems responsive as well as his eyes and sensitivity to light the best I could. I have seen some real bad rabbits with head tilt that fell over, but that was extremly severe. I did notice something else that might contribute to his falling over, only upright. When he stands he stands with his 2 front paws heel to toe. Bad balance?

Im really looking for someone to say that they had a rabbit and after mri’s and blood tests it was found etc. etc.. Because his great demenor, healthy appearance it calls the usual culprits out of the question. He eats, he sleeps, he poops, he grooms, he plays. He does all the normal healthy bunny stuff.

 

 

[BinkyBunny]

I’ve had three incidents with bunnies who had eye-scanning, swaying and/or balance issues.

Forrest, my first rabbit had e.cuniculi.

Rucy had an ear infection.

Bailey has e.cuniculi.

None of them had head tilt, and Bailey’s balance is better since her treatment, but she can’t fully balance on her back legs alone.She’s even learned to wash her face one paw at a time.

I am surprised the vet didn’t want to check any further. I know mine would have put a test in for e.cuniculi if an ear infection wasn’t present. If it were me, I would seek out a second opinion from a rabbit savvy vet to be sure it is nothing serious.  (even if she’s eating and pooping fine – Bailey was eating and pooping and spunky as ever through her ordeal, but without treatment she would have only gotten worse. )

There is no way for me to know what your sweety pie has.   But I’d seek out a vet who could tell me for sure.

OH….and by the way. WELCOME!! I forgot to say that before.  I’m just sorry you are dealing with something that is quite concerning at the moment.  

Keep us updated.

[wordmonkey]

Thank you for the welcome and answer.

Since he is still technically ownership of the shelter we have to have them care for him. And i do vouch for their qualifications regarding rabbits. He just wasnt there long enough to notice the sway, its not very prominent. We took him out of there so quick he only got a once over look and blood could wait. Ill try to take him and see if he can get looked over tomarrow. You know how they are with scheduling. We didnt want him to sit in quarantine for a week or so and have his neglectful owner show up again and claim him. Hopefully his owner doesnt show up. Now is this disorder quick or slow? Can it wait till monday cause thats when he is officially scheduled for tests and neuter?

Now a questin of severity for my own personal interest and the fact that we may adopt him once hes neutered. I read articles but he does not fall into the severity of symptoms nor did I find anything laying out the diminshing attributes to this from start to finish. But I would take personal experience over anything read. He has full use of hind legs and stands on them all the fringin time wanting to get picked up. And grunts if he doesnt get his way. There is no eye twitching or eye scanning. Just the sway. And it doesnt affect him when he walks. He has the best demenaour for being a neglected unneutered little guy, it just be sad if he was affected by this.

What is the time period for deteriotion?
What other symptoms were your/other rabbits showing?
I read that this is a common dormant bacteria found in a large % of rabbits?
Does it affect different functions of body or is localized to the hind quarters?

Sorry to keep bothering everybody. Maybe I’ll get drunk we’ll kick it and sway together? any thoughts on?

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

I love his name. My brother had a bun named Butters too

[BB Administrator]

Wordmonkey.  I happen to be in admin mode doin stuff and wrote this, but this is actually BinkyBunny.

This also could be a neurological issue, or something harmless, (swaying can be normal in pink eyed rabbits) but there is no way for me to know if that’s what ‘s going on with this precious guy or not.  But I’ll let you know what I know about e.cuniculi

Now is this disorder quick or slow? It can be either.  Bailey has had it all of her life with no symptoms until she reached 7 years old.

Can it wait till monday cause thats when he is officially scheduled for tests and neuter?  In my opinion, and from my experience volunteering with rabbit experts. IF, IF, IF a bunny has e.cuniculi, the sooner the better, because permanant damage can be done the longer someone waits.  Plus, you would want to know for sure because it can be contagious if the disease is in the "shedding" stage.  And I have read and been told that the "spores" it leaves can stick around for 1 – 2 years!  

I read articles but he does not fall into the severity of symptoms:  IF it is e.cuniculi, the first sign of symptoms, severe or not , should be treated to prevent permanant damage. 

I can only answer the next question with my own experiences regarding E.cuniculi

What is the time period for deterioration? It’s different from each bunny.  Many I have seen, it comes on very fast, but with Bailey, it took a few weeks, and the vet that I use said a bunny can just show slight symptoms for a very long long time, even throughout their life without ever getting severe. But eventually as a bunny ages, and as their immune system weakens it is common for the severity of the symptoms to show up. (but some bunnies NEVER show any symptoms)

What other symptoms were your/other rabbits showing? For Forrest, he was spinning, eye-scanning and swayinig.  For Bailey, swaying and weakness in her hind quarters. One leg at a time.

I read that this is a common dormant bacteria found in a large % of rabbits? My understanding is that in the U.S.  1 in 4 rabbits are estimated to have it.   Though many just end up being carriers, never showing symptoms.

Does it affect different functions of body or is localized to the hind quarters?  In addition or instead of the hind quarter weakness, it can affect the kidneys and the brain causing a whole host of neurological issues. 

Sorry to keep bothering everybody. Maybe I’ll get drunk we’ll kick it and sway together? any thoughts on?   The bar is open – Makers Mark and Seven-up for me please!! 

Well, I’m sorry about this. Hopefully it will be something as simple as he being an albino.  I understand that your sort of stuck right now and you can’t get a second opinion. I’ve just never heard of vet seeing the "swaying" movement and not feeling a bit more concerned, or at least do a blood test sooner JUST IN CASE it was e.cuniculi.  Especially since it can be contagious.

I understand too that some bunnies sway to see better, and especially if they’re stressed they might be more apt to do this, but it would be a consistent behavior and since there is no way for anyone to know, because of the short time line,  if this is a behavior or an illness, then I would want a test to know for sure.   At least an e.cuniculi test could rule that out.

 

….oh, yes, and the bar is still open….ready for a second round to wash away the worry that I may have caused.

Helloworld!!

[MooBunnay]

I wanted to also add that Grace’s “scanning” becomes much more prominent when she is nervous – have you noticed your bunny swaying more than normal when a human is around? Since he’s kind of new, maybe he’s just not used to everyone he gets nervous. When there is no one around and you just sneak a look at him, does he seem more settled? Or does he seem to sway no matter what? Grace’s twitch gets very bad when I pick her up, or when she was on Baytril, right after I gave her the meds she got very nervous. ALso, maybe if he’s having some vision problems that could account for the dizzyness, Grace is blind and often collides with things when she tries to move too fast!

[wordmonkey]

Hes sharing our room with us. And asppears comfortable with us while we move around. But when we are relaxed and the lights are off and tv is on in the dim light we can still see him doing it. Hell get checked out very shortly

[Gravehearted]

it sounds like you’ve gotten a lot of good insight, but wanted to also share good wishes and hope he’s doing ok.

are you going to be able to get him into a vet to be checked out? it may be that the shelter has a vet on staff who can check him out.

[skunklionshow]

From a medical perspective….anytime I see human or animal w/ head swaying, drunken looking, or can’t raise their head I automatically think neurological!!!!  Based on what I’ve learned w/ E Cun and my knowledge of neuro disorders, the quicker the tx the better.  Any neuro problems get worse not better over time.  Blind head sway is often different than drunk head sway.  Blind head sway is much more slight w/ drunk head sway including inability to raise head or acting as if the head is too big.  Good Luck!  He is so cute and I hope he comes out of this well.

[wordmonkey]

update…….

So I mentioned we would be on vaca. I have computer acess but no contact with shelter, sucks. So as of today, Butters should of had his family jewels begoned and had blood tests etc., we flipped the bill for that one since he looks fine to them. By the time we get back we should know whats up. Short of an MRI. We adopted him full, screw it, if he has problems we all have problems as well, so….. We’ll do our piece and hes awesome regardless of what could be. He has character for being urine stained. By the time we are back we should know what the culprit is. I bet hes just a crazy party guy.

Off the subject questions…….

I wanna get into this exotic animal insurance that has been discussed around here. Could someone email me more extensive information, in a retarded way I would understand? What are the qualifications for the animal? Lets say it comes back that he has E.Cunillia.a.sda.sd(cant spell it off the top of my head) can he still be insured???? If I lie?*snicker*

What can I use to rid him of his urine staining???

What Should I expect from a newly, family jewel begoned rabbit??? Hes the first….

Bonding a newly family jewel begoned rabbit, Whats the time frame and possible expectations?

He enjoys chewing on facial jewelry and eyelashes….weird????? If he bring him up to your face hell immediately go for one……

[wordmonkey]

Im goin to start a new thread with questions…titled: Everyone knows it’s Butters (Well, that’s me)

Just not to detour from updates here etc.

[Author]

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