senior bunny and head tilt

[Ali925]

Hi all,

My almost 13 year old lop Blu started showing signs of head tilt/nystagmus/going in circles last week out of nowhere.  For his age he has been so healthy I wasn’t seeing this coming. It came as a shock and also took me back to a year ago when I lost my 12 year old Oreo to something similar (hers was not ear infection, more of a neurological episode/stroke or something).  The difference this time is that the vet found his left ear (inner and middle) had a very bad infection, pus/blood, etc and we are waiting on results for the culture.  He has been on oral antibiotics and antibiotic ear drops for a week now and we are scheduled for a recheck in a few days.  Unfortunately I don’t see much improvement except that I have been able to get him eating again.  He has never had an ear infection so all this is new to me and I am angry at myself for missing this because it isn’t something that popped up overnight due to the severity of the infection.

I know now that this isn’t a quick recovery and the antibiotics are longer term, and chances of improvement are questionable.  Given his age I am not sure if his recovery is less likely or not.  I am committed to caring for him however I can but I am getting concerned about his falls recently.  Yesterday and today he had an episode where he lost his balance so much that he ended up on his back and only that I heard him kicking his litterbox that I got in there quickly and got him right side up.  His head tilt is different from what I have seen online, his head isn’t sideways leaning toward the ground, but rather he turns to the left with his face reaching his back legs.  His head is upright.  He still has so much energy and circles so rapidly in his confined space (I drastically reduced his area so he is only in  a large litterbox for his safety) and gets height even trying to hop while he is circling.  I am so afraid he will fall over when I am not here and I won’t be able to help him get upright again.

Can it be fatal if he gets stuck on his back?  If he stresses out so much being stuck there?  If I line his box with towels or support he will just mess with them or jump on them.  He is full of energy and still very stubborn, knows what he wants.  It is so hard to watch him like this.  The only thing he can do is go in a circle to the left.  He can turn his head back toward the right to grab food and then his head wanders again to the left.  But I was surprised he was able to move his head back, Oreo couldn’t do that at all once this condition hit.  I am just rambling at this point but I am just looking for any encouragement/advice/anything 🙂 Thank you.

[DanaNM]

Ugh how stressful!

With severe head tilt it’s recommended to keep him in a confined space that’s padded with bumpers so he doesn’t hurt himself, but if he’s jumping that’s not great either. I wonder if you could put him a slightly larger area but just make sure it has soft padding? It’s good you started treatment and the vet is going to do a culture. Did they prescribe pain meds? I imagine it’s very painful and an anti-inflammatory could help with the symptoms as well.

If he is still tilted and circling once the infection clears it could mean EC. My senior started circling and was slightly tilted, and it improved a lot after we treated for EC.

. . . 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.  

[Ali925]

Thank you so much for your reply.  He is doing okay in his current setup thankfully.  He stays in his litterbox all the time, except when he gets brave and tries jumping out… I got him a larger litter box since he is spending so much time in it and then he has a bit of space to separate from where I put his food.  Then I put the box inside the bottom of a large pet store type cage (plastic) but without the cage part attached and then surrounded it with part of his previous large pen, so he can’t go far even if he escapes his litterbox.  He isn’t having rolling episodes thankfully.  He has lost his balance maybe once a day while trying to go beyond what he is ready to do physically, he is ready to run!  But he righted himself last night when it happened.  I had him out in the small extra space in his area outside his litterbox to observe him and he had non circling moments which was so encouraging to see.  Then he launched back into his litterbox on his own and that’s when he stumbled.  I really thought he was not showing any improvement but all of a sudden I feel like I am seeing small signs of it.  I found him sleeping normally, straight, belly and body flat like he used to.  I haven’t seen that since this first all started.  So fingers crossed he is moving in the right direction.  He will be 13 in a couple of weeks so I know he doesn’t have age on his side, but he doesn’t look like he is giving up either.

They reported back that the results of the culture show we are treating correctly with baytril. So at least we haven’t wasted time.  I don’t think he suspects EC because it was clearly an infected ear on the same side that he leans to.  I think if there were no clear signs of infection then maybe then they would consider EC?  Also, no he didn’t prescribe pain meds.  I really don’t know why he didn’t and at the time I was in such shock thinking the worst when I rushed him to the vet that I wasn’t thinking clearly to ask.  I do have some on hand so I have been giving him some once a day and it seems to help.  I go back to the vet tomorrow so I will get more information then and will ask about the pain management.

Thanks again for your comment and fingers crossed he keeps moving in the right (hopefully straight!) direction.

[DanaNM]

It does sound like he is starting to improve and that’s great you got confirmation about the baytril! Antibiotics can take a bit of time to work and it definitely sounds like he’s a fighter and not ready to give up yet!

. . . 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.  

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