Head Tilt

[Preston Cooper]

Back in April I had both my buns tested for E Cuniculi. My  girl was negative. but my boy’s results came back with a high titer.  As he had no symptoms whatsoever and  was not shedding any spores (we also ran a special urine test to see if this were happinging) I decided not to put him on any meds.

 This past Thursday I left my house at 9:30 am with  2 happy & (assumably) healthy happy buns in it.  I returned at 6:00 to find my little boy was rolling and loosing balance on his feet.

Within less the 24 hours, symptoms of head tilt with rapid eye movement developed. The next day I rushed him to the vet. 

To date we are treating him for both E C and an inner ear infection. Blood test results related to these illnesses will come back later in the week. In the meantime, he is on Panacur and Chloramphenicol.   He is also getting a dose of Metacam daily (which I find is really helping the situation). I have also been given a med for the dizziness which he has not been given yet, but will do so either today or tomorrow.  I  don’t like to give too many new meds at one time If it is possible, for if there is a side effect, sometimes it can be hard to figure out which drug is causing it.   In the meantime, his fright has seemed to pass and we are working together in managing his daily needs and comfort.

I am truly in shock as to how immediate the symptoms came upon him. Despite the high titer reading before, in reviewing various info posted on line, his symptoms seem to fit more into that of an inner ear infection. I should add we did skull x-rays of which no obvious changes were noted by the vet (not a radiologist).  I have read since that an MRI or CT  are really the only best ways to determine any changes/problems in the ear.

I know these tests (CT) are far from inexpensive. I am waiting to see what the blood tests say, but wondering if anyone out there has ever gotten a CT for thier bun?  Any other insights on rapid eye movement and head tilt is also much appreciated. 

In the meantime I am watching my girl also.  She appears symptom free as of now, thank goodness. They live side by side, but in separate pens. I am also wondering how contagious an inner ear infection could be? And what can cause  this bacterial infection? 

Thanks,

MC

 

 

 

[osprey]

Hi cgia, and welcome to BinkyBunny.  I wish your introduction would have been about a happier subject.

I am going through this now with one of my bunnies, Deanna.  Out of the blue she developed severe nystagmus (eye darting) and spinning because of loss of balance.  She got a two week course of Baytril and Metacam, and she is now on albendazole.  Her titer came back positive for EC, so the vet is treating her for a an inner ear infection and EC.  She has been symptom free for 3 weeks now, the only indication that anything is out of the ordinary is that she has adopted a new scanning behavior, where she slowly moves her head from side to side to see better.  Our vet (Dr. Carolynn Harvey) did not recommend either an XRay or MRI to check the inner ear; she was pretty sure based on the symptoms that the problem was in the inner ear.   Deanna lives as part of a trio, and I am not going to split them up, so they have all been exposed.  She is the only one who showed any symptoms.

[kimberleyanddarren]

i am so sorry your bun isnt well **vibes**

[Preston Cooper]

Hello Osprey,

Thank you for your post. It  is really good news to hear about  Deanna’s improvement..  And to have such positive results in a relatively short period of time must be such a relief. 

Did Deanne’s symptoms come on really fast also?

I have been given 30-C Meclizine for dizziness and am still debating on whether or not use it with his other meds. Today his rapid eye movement appears to have subsided and the head tilt is either slightly better or mor stabalized (not showing signs of getting any worse). 

How long will Deanna have to be on albendazole?

Best wishes to you and your buns & thanks again for the response,

MC

[Preston Cooper]

Thank you!

MC

[osprey]

The course of treatment for Deanna is 30 days of albendazole, then reevaluate her symptoms.  I don’t know if there will be additional blood work or other tests at that time.  I am a little spooked because the albendazole has potentially serious side effects in a small number of cases, so I am watching her closely to see if anything seems out of the ordinary.  Her symptoms were a complete surprise, she had shown no symptoms at all before the nystagmus started.  Her symptoms subsided the next day and have not returned.

[Preston Cooper]

I  share your concerns regarding the meds used forr EC.  Although Panacur/Fenbendazole is commonly used for a variety of parasites in buns, I lost a bunny who was on it for pin worms. Following her second dosage  she had severe GI stasis and it could not be turned around, despite my efforts and the vets. Since then it has been confirmed to me by a very notable exotic vet that she has experienced the loss of 2 bunnies on Panacur for EC, both of which took place in the last few days of a 30 day treatment.  Of  course there could be other factors that contributed to this result, but nonetheless I am uncomfortable over this.

Now my boy is on the Panacur and tonite he is experiencing a degree of GI stasis.  I am very shook up over this, and am going to skip tonites dosage of the Chloramphenical, although I don’t know if this is the cause of the problem or the Panacur.  I have been looking everywhere for the bene bac’s I normally use and have around the house, but can’t find them. Tomorrow if matters don’t show improvement, I will give him a sub-q and further observe.  

I know its terrible to drop a drug before the prescribed time, but I truly fear toxicity.  

What side effects were you told Deanne are at risk for?

I have read that  in Very Rare cases, Fendbendazole and Albendazole have caused aplastic anemia (a bone marrow disease) in bunnies who were treated with these drugs.

The other drug considered for EC is Oxibendazole. This is a horse wormer. 

Unfortunately to date it is believed that none of these drugs is a direct cure for  EC  which is  so common in rabbits, but still a mystery in many respects. More research and studies need to be done.

I am sending good wishes your way and to my little guy.

Regards,

MC

[osprey]

I really hope your little guy recovers from his tummy troubles.  So many new medications for him, this is likely the cause of his digestive problems.

Auntie Heather, who is the director of our rescue, has treated many bunnies for EC, and she likes the albendazole the best of the three choices.  Anemia is definitely a concern, as is reduced kidney function.  The symptoms I am supposed to watch for are the normal digestive issues like not eating or pooping, trouble urinating, refusal to drink water.

Sending head-straightening vibes your way….

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’m sorry you bunny is experiencing this. Sorry I’ve no advice in this department but Osprey is well versed with bunny health! Please keep us posted

*VIBES* for your bunny

[Preston Cooper]

Thanks!

I read that the drug of choice  can vary depending upon the location in the US (east, west,middle); due to a variation in the strain of the EC. .  I am on the East coast.

Just got a call from the vet. Nothing evident in his blood panal.  The EC titer will come back later this week.

She was surprised to hear how his symptoms improved in many ways so quickly, and thinks the metacam helped which is also an anti inflammatory.

The day these symptoms came upon him,  we had a terribe rain storm with thunder and lightening for a long time.  It made me recall how a number of years back, I had a beloved cavy (guniea pig) that developed a breathing problem related to an inflamation. It would always become worse when it rained.

MC

 

[Sarita]

Cgia – I understand that about the drug of choice as well for EC (locations) and I’ve heard all the concerns too.

I had a rabbit who had very slight nystagmus who we treated for both EC and ear infection as well – unfortunately she didn’t make it and I don’t know why – happened on a weekend and it was very unexpeted (so sad for me). She was eating and seemed fine but she did have her daughter as her mate who may have been comforting her. I was doing the panacur for EC and baytril and pen-g shots for inner ear.

It sounds like your rabbit is showing some improvement so that is great. Let us know what the titer says.

I’ve heard that the meclizine may or may not help – it does sound like the metacam is helping though.

[Preston Cooper]

Hello and thank you for your post.
I am so very very sorry to hear about your loss.
Did your bunny have a high EC titer? Was there any evidence of an inner ear infection detected on X-ray or culture taken (from pus)?
Again, thank you for posting.
Regards,
MC, Cgia

[Sarita]

We didn’t even do an EC titer at that time and she didn’t show signs of an inner ear infection either that the vet could see.

Since she passed away only a few weeks after we started treating her we would not have gotten the titer back in time. Eventually I would have done the titer though but we decided to treat her for both since I guess that is pretty common and it does take weeks for the titer to get back.

Opal was a rabbit that was rescued from a lady and a few days later had babies. One of her babies had head tilt and died too which I mentioned to the vet and obviously we don’t know why he had it since he was with the lady who found Opal – it was probably just a coincidence. The baby was about 7 months old so he was not a baby anymore either.

I had also at one time treated another rabbit who came from a shelter for pinworms with the panacur and luckily he had no reactions and it killed the pinworms.

I had also treated another rabbit with 2 different wormers and with metronidazole who had giardia and we got lucky that he didn’t have any side effects – he still has occasional runny stools though but we sent his fecal sample out to a lab and it came back negative for giardia.

[Preston Cooper]

Sarita,
Thank you for the reply.
Yes, the protocol is to treat for both problems when these types of symptoms show up, rather than wait for test results.
Rabbits can be exposed to EC from another rabbit via spores passed through their urine as well as from a mother at birth.

I am glad to hear you had positive results with Panacur as well with another rabbit.

MC

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