Neck brace for head tilt

[Harley&Thumper]

Hopefully I will never have to worry about this but can you provide a neck brace to “fix” the neck of a rabbit with head tilt? Is there a risk of doing more harm than good?

[Wick & Fable]

To my understanding, head tilt is the result of inner ear complications that make the balancing mechanism off within the rabbit. Braces are typically used to guide healing for something that’s in the process of repairing, like a broken bone or sprained ankle. A head tilt resulting from something other than muscle strain is usually present because that’s how the rabbit needs to position itself to coordinate correctly. I think adding a neck brace would end up making your rabbit a bit more uncoordinated because it would be like someone forcing you to constantly have your head tilted when you naturally want it to be straight.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Gordo and Janice]

I believe Wick’s analytical deduction and process of thought is probably very accurate. They are tilting their head to try to compensate and interact with their environment in the most effective or efficient way. By bracing you would be inhibiting that natural ability or desire to attempt to compensate making it much more difficult for them.

[Bam]

I agree. The main problem isn’t really the tilted head, it’s the signaling from the balance organs to the brain that doesn’t work properly. The balance organs guides postural control. It’s often only in the beginning the rabbit suffers vertigo -if the tilted head has become “chronic” and the underlying cause has been dealt with, the brain has become habituated to the abnormal positioning of the head. The brain perceive it as the head is in the correct position.

A brace could help if the problem was musculoskeletal, but most head tilt cases in rabbits are not musculoskeletal to their origin. Maybe a modified neck brace could be of some kind of use during the rehab phase, as a physiotherapeutic measure, but I’ve never heard of anything like that.

[Boing]

As someone who’s had and is prone to the human version of this, I can safely say it’s an awful idea. It’d basically immobilize your rabbit, for fear of falling.

[Author]

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