Need Opinion for Crooked Face

[kittyjung]

Hello, I am new here and need help with my bunny, Chao-Guay. He is 3 years old now. My boyfriend and I got him since he was 10 weeks old. He isn’t neutered but very well behaved. He has a routines and free to run the whole house during the day except at bedtime. He is super happy and healthy. No problem with eating and pooping. Last mid-May, my boyfriend and I noticed his face was crooked. It wasn’t a droop. His right side was tight up, so it looked like his left side was swollen. Also, we noticed his right eye was getting smaller compared to the left eye. No health issue or any trauma. We took him to see a rabbit savvy (2 weeks after symptoms) because we were concern about his ears and teeth. The vet didn’t see anything wrong. She thought it maybe from uneven fur due to shredded season. She told us to start revolution in case of ear mites and told us to come back if Chao-Guay still had symptoms. A week later, we took him back because the vet wanted to sedate him to complete oral examination, ear, and x-ray skull. However, the plan was changed. She took another look at Chao-Guay’s ears and teeth and decided to do completed blood tests instead. She wanted to know if organs work properly and no infection. Also, she wanted to test for EC disease which may cause neurological problem. Another week later (06/20), we got all results back. Everything looked good. No infection and EC was negative. Now, we have no clue why his face is crooked. Doesn’t anyone have the same experience?

PS, Chao-Guay is a indoor bunny. Always home with us and never stays overnight at different places.

Thanks,
Kitty

[jerseygirl]

Hi Kitty
I know exactly what you’re talking about -the pinched up look. My lop Gooseman has this.
You can see a photo of it in this older thread. (Treat it as a read-only thread).

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/162071/Default.aspx

I’m not entirely sure what the cause of his was. He had surgery for a facial abscess and it occurred sometime after. I was taking him in for regular penicillin shots also and one time, the nurse seems to hit a spot that made him jerk and squeak. I always wondered if he’d gotten some nerve damage then.

[LBJ10]

Wooly has this, but it is due to chronic problems resulting from a tooth root issue. Has the vet done x-rays? One thought is that it could be an encapsulated ear infection that is now putting pressure on that nerve.

[kittyjung]

My vet planned to x-ray skull, but she changed her mind and did blood works instead. She checked his teeth and ear twice and said nothing wrong with them. 

[LBJ10]

I tried to post before, but got an error. Anyway, I was saying that an encapsulated infection may not be apparent during an inspection of the ear canal. It may not show up in bloodwork as well.

[kittyjung]

LBJ10, so will x-ray show if he has an encapsulated infection?

[LBJ10]

It depends. There is the possibility of a false negative with an x-ray, but MRIs and CT-scans are not readily available. An x-ray might show an infection though or something else. Right now, I’m not really sure where else you could go from here. After all, the vet already bloodwork, etc.

[jerseygirl]

Oh I hadn’t seen the photo before. He looks rather like my agouti lop boy.

For Goose’s xrays, it showed a little swelling but no clear outline of abscess wall. The vet actually called telling me he thought it was a tumour. You can see a bit of swelling on RH side and how the cylindrical bone of ear is obscured. Sorry it’s not very clear. 

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