When it rains it pours. Now head tilt.

[Ham Sangwich]

So I posted about my little guy Jack over the weekend regarding a bleeding issue. Well this afternoon I came home to find his partner Chester acting strangely. Just this morning Chester was laid out near the window enjoying the sunbeams and this evening he started acting like he was getting head tilt. I was concerned and watched him and it got worse and worse. Within 3 hours he went from almost no sypmtoms to now not being able to stand up and basically he is curled sideways in a C-shape. I have him in a giant plastic tub with pillows and soft blankets around so he can’t hurt himself and waiting for tomorrow to come so we can go to the Vet’s.

Ugh, poor little guy. I know it’s E.C. and not an ear ache (you can see his eyes just dodging back and forth, it’s E.C.) so this is going to be along process of meds and gradual progress. I was really hoping this would come on slowly so he wouldn’t get to this point, but no such luck. I’ve never heard of it progressing so quickly. Absolutely amazing. I feel so bad for the little guy, not to mention myself, more vet bills and unemployed. Ugh. I’ve seen this stuff before at the rabbit shelter I volunteer at so I know little Chester’s going to pull through.

So has anyone here had a bunny with head tilt that progressed this fast? How long was recovery for your head tilt bunnies?

 

Thanks.

[BinkyBunny]

 I have had a bunny with head tilt but only due to an ear infection, so if you feel certain it’s e.cuniculi, then make sure to get him to a vet asap to start a treatment program. As you know there is no cure, but it can help prevent permanent damage due to what the parasite is doing currently. (That’s the most simplistic way for me to describe it) 

Also, check out http://www.onthewonk.com.   A very good resource for those that are dealing with head tilt. (especially if it’s due to e.c)

[jerseygirl]

Oh dear! Well I’m sending (((healing vibes))) to both Chester and Jack!

If your vet is the one affiliated with the rescue you volunteer with, would they be open to doing a payment plan to ease the pressure?  Another option might be Care Credit. A forum leader (Sarita)  has mentioned this before, it covers veterinary care. http://www.carecredit.com

[RabbitPam]

I’m so sorry. There are a few posts with lists of financial aide options in the forums to look for as well.
I’ll see if I can scare them up.
{{{{{{{{{{{{Healing vibes, Chester & Jack}}}}}}}}}}}}

[RabbitPam]

http://www.humanesociety.org/animal…_care.html

BB posted this link to the Humane Society for financial assistance. (above) Also,

This list was provided by a member who lives in PA, so not all may be available to you locally. Thought it worth copying again here:

American Animal Hospital Association http://www.aahahelpingpets.org/home / ” Through the AAHA Helping Pets Fund, veterinary care is possible for sick or injured pets even if they have been abandoned or if their owner is experiencing financial hardship.”
Angels 4 Animals http://www.Angels4Animals.org “Our services range from financial aid to complete treatment to those pets and pet owners in need.”
Care Credit http://www.carecredit.com A credit card company for health care, including veterinary care. “With a comprehensive range of plan options, for treatment or procedure fees from $1 to over $25,000, we offer a plan and a low monthly payment to fit comfortably into almost every budget.”
God’s Creatures Ministry http://www.all-creatures.org/gcm/help-cf.html “This fund helps pay for veterinarian bills for those who need help.”
Help-A-Pet http://www.help-a-pet.org/home.html “Our efforts focus on serving the elderly, the disabled, and the working poor.”
IMOM http://www.imom.org “We are dedicated to insure that no companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged.”
The Pet Fund http://thepetfund.com/ “The Pet Fund is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit association that provides financial assistance to owners of domestic animals who need urgent veterinary care.”
United Animal Nations http://www.uan.org/lifeline/index.html “The m ission of LifeLine is to help homeless or recently rescued animals suffering from life-threatening conditions that require specific and immediate emergency veterinary care. We strive to serve Good Samaritans and rescue groups who take in sick or injured animals. In certain cases, LifeLine can also assist senior citizens and low-income families pay for immediate emergency veterinary care.”
UK Assistance with Veterinary Bills http://www.petloversonline.co.uk/financial.htm “Most of us can cope with the financial commitment involved in the day to day care of our pets. However, how many of us come out in a cold sweat when our pet is ill or injured and we know we have to take it to the vet? Most of us are fortunate enough to be able to afford it but, some of us who love our animals dearly cannot. Unfortunately we do not have a PDSA or a RSPCA Centre within our area, but there are a few charities who may be able to help.”
http://www.petsamaritan.org/Medical/

[Sarita]

Vibes to Chester.

The Care Credit has helped me tremendously – to get the “promotion plan” which is deferred interest your charge has to be a minimum of $300 and you have up to 12 or 18 months to pay it in full as long as you pay the minimum each month. My vet worked with me so that I would not have to make payments until I met the $300 to put on the promotion plan but at that time I had alot of sick rabbits so it didn’t take long. They do have a low apr as well for the smaller charges (well it’s not terribly low as it is a credit card).

[Sarita]

Here’s a link for more info on how it works:

http://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks.html

Of course, your vet has to take the Care Credit so it’s only worth looking into if they do.  My dental vet did not take Care Credit which was a bummer.

[Ham Sangwich]

Thanks everyone for the details. Fortunately after talking with our shelter President we’ve figured out how to do this pretty cheaply. There are a lot of meds required, and lots of time required so i guess perhaps it’s good i’m unemployed. We are taking him to Vet this afternoon to confirm diagnosis and provide dosage but we’ll be treating for E.C. and ear infection with abendazole and antibiotics to cover both bases, plus meclizine to get him feeling better. On top of that force feeding critical care for a while. Hopefully he’ll feel better, although it’s supposedly a very long recovery. I’ll keep you all posted with what goes on.

[Sarita]

Sounds like a good plan! Continued vibes and do keep us posted.

[Andi]

Seems you can’t catch a break
I hope you can get to the Vet ASPA, to get started on treatment.

Not an upper, but My friends rabbit went from a small wobble in the evening, to full on head tilt within hours. He was taken to the Vet first thing in the morning, after 3 days of treatment at the Vets they were not able to help him. So I am very pro ‘get to the Vet’ from seeing this, until then I had no clue how fast it could worsen.

Good luck with your little guy, sending lots of healing vibes your way for a speedy recovery.

[foxtailskies]

Awww that’s no good I hope Chester feels better soon!!!! Head tilts are always scary, they just come on so fast.

The eye-flicking isn’t a guarantee of E. cuniculi, just so you know! It’s called nystagmus and they can get it for a number of reasons, including “regular” bacterial ear infections- any disturbance to the inner ear upsets that same bunch of nerves. If that makes you feel any better!

[Ham Sangwich]

Hey hey, just wanted to update everyone! foxtalksies, you’re right i read more about this yesterday afternoon.

So yesterday little Chesty went to the Vets. He was a perfect gentleman (he’s been to the Vet’s so many times over the years, when i first took him in from the shelter he had stasis problems from not knowing how to drink and eat regularly, he’s from the streets of Bridgeport, CT and no idea how long he was out there…). Anyway, the Vet (South Wilton Veterinary in Wilton, CT, Dr. Fahey is an awesome rabbit Vet, our shelter loves and recommends her!) agreed with the idea of treating him for both E.C. and ear infection. He seems healthy otherwise, vitals good, etc. She has treated a fair number of head tilt buns before (probably most from our shelter…) and she said the key is hitting it early and hard, which we are doing.

So here’s what we are doing:
Albendazole – 1x/day – knock that E.C. out!
Metacam – 2x/day – take the edge off and lower inflamation
Baytril – 1x/day – ear infection
Penicillin shots – every 2-3 days, can increase to daily if he’s eating on his own and not effected – ear infection
Meclazine – crush part of tablet to help with nausea – at least 1x/day probably 2x/day
Baytril ear drops -2x/day – to treat all sides of potential infection
Eye balm for his down eye – 2x/day

On top of this also feeding him critical care and some water from syringe from time to time to make sure he’s getting food through.

So this morning i was rewarded by waking up to him having eaten 2 leaves of lettuce i left for him over night and a big puddle of pee and a pile of small poops! He’s grooming himself after the force feedings of critical care and he’s fighting me when i try to put anything in his mouth so i think so far so good, he still has his strength!

I’ve got him in this little habitat for now (excuse iphone photo):

[Sarita]

Bless his heart, what a sweet photo – he’s so lucky to have you to take such good care of him. I think it’s a good idea to treat for both as well. Look at all those meds! Surely with all this care he will recover very soon.

[Karla]

I was just reading the other day that in small rabbit breeds, E.C is often the culprit when a bunny gets head tilt, whereas in bigger breeds, it is often caused by Pasteurella.

I don’t know the size of Chester? Just in case, you also want to look into Pasteurella.

I hope he gets better soon!

[Ham Sangwich]

 Hi Karla, 

He’s a small dwarf bunny, about 3 lbs. He has had pasteurella all his life, in mild form, essentially eye discharge that comes and goes. It’s very difficult to get rid of. This could work it’s way to an ear infection, but I read, and Vet said usually that also involves heading into an upper respiratory as well, but his breathing was great upon check-up yesterday. That being said, we’re hitting it with baytril and peniccillin so if that’s the case it should clear it up. He actually seems to be getting a grasp on what’s going on and trying harder to stand straight while his head is sideways. I’m helping him by providing support on his side while he’s trying to stand. Encouraging signs considering it’s only been about 40 hours since this started. 

[Karla]

Poor little guy.

I really hope all your effort will help him quickly!

[bunnyluvr]

Healing vibes for you sweet little bun (((((((((((((((Chester)))))))))))))))))))! Hope he’s better soon.

[Andi]

Glad to hear some improvments are showing, that’s great Sending healing vibes his way.

[mrmac]

Poor little boy! Healing vibes for Chester! I hope he starts feeling better soon. That photo is so sweet.

[RabbitPam]

The circumstances are sad, but that really is a beautiful photo.
Your vet sounds excellent. What a strong little man he is to have been through so much!
{{{{{{{Hugs for Chester}}}}}}}}}}

[Ham Sangwich]

Just an update. He seems to be keeping up his strength. I’ve been helping him walk around a bit (just providing support on his side slightly) and he’s figuring it out. He tried to run today out of the blue, which was surprising to me. It didn’t work that well as he kind of fell over, but i’m glad he’s trying. The rapid eye movement has stopped. His down eye looks pretty good (i have eye ointment to use twice a day, might be helping). He has plenty of energy as is evidenced when i give him meds or try to force feed him critical care. He’s a stubborn bunny. Only problem that has developed is a compulsion to lick the leg his head tilts towards as well as his body above the leg. I’m trying to figure out why, and stop him. It’s not raw yet, but a day or two more of that licking and i’ll have yet another issue to treat. 🙂

Well anyway, he’s in his little box right now enjoying some sunbeams coming through the window. He loves that. I think he’s solar powered.

[Sarita]

I wonder if he’s licking that leg because it may be “asleep” – I know alot of rabbits lick paws and bite them constantly due to nerve damage.

It sounds like he is definitely doing well – more solar power energy vibes to him.

[jerseygirl]

Hello, how are Jack and Chester doing?

[Ham Sangwich]

Posted By jerseygirl on 08/17/2010 05:32 PM
Hello, how are Jack and Chester doing?

Hi Jerseygirl, 

Well Jack hasn’t had any reoccurence of the bleeding, and with Chester’s head tilt Jack has taken a bit of a backseat. Jack seems to be doing fine though, everything normal right now. Chester is doing well, now over a week of meds in him. Seems his balance took a step backwards today as he fell over a lot when I let him out of his little enclosure. The last few days he was getting the hang of it, but it looks like his head is a bit more to the side than before and he’s having trouble balancing again. I am sure this stuff goes back and forth as far as progress and regression so i’m not too worried. He’s eating well, his poops are getting a bit bigger which is good. 

The only issue i’m having is giving him his penicillin shots. He has a good amount of extra skin to get it subcutaneous, but it seems to come back out after the shot. I may not be getting the shot in there deep enough i guess. I’m going to do it with a bright light on. Since he’s black it’s harder to see what i’m doing. 

He seems happy enough, grinds his teeth when rubbing his head, eating and pooping. All signs of a happy rabbit. 🙂

[jerseygirl]

Good to hear he’s happy! I remember other members mentioning this issue with penicillin. I think a different gauge needle was suggested. One for drawing it and a different one for administering it. I suppose your vet or the lady you’ve mentioned at the rescue would have some tips for you.  

[Sarita]

Did the vet give the pen-g already drawn into syringes? I find this to be impossible to administer this way because the syringes are kept refrigerated and they sometimes seem to become unusable due to condensation from the fridge.

Most people don’t want the whole huge bottle of pen-g – I am caring for a friends vet that needs pen-g shots and her vet put the pen-g into a container with a plastic thing on the end like the bottle to draw up the pen-g individually when I need too and I’m finding that works so much better than the pre-filled syringes. I do use one needle to draw and one to administer the shot – I find drawing up the pen-g really blunts the needle and I need to to be fresh and pointed to administer it. They also put some stuff around the container to keep it dark because light affects the pen-g.

I know that a bottle of pen-g is pretty inexpensive but if you know you won’t use it before the expiration date then you are pretty much wasting a huge bottle.

[Sarita]

Actually I think they put the pen-g in a blood collection vial because it has the plastic on the end that allows you to draw the pen-g into the syringe (but they put some gauze type stuff to keep the light out).

[skunklionshow]

My Jessica had head tilt.  She went from normal to tilt in less than 24hrs.  Her tilt was not as severe as some cases.  We chose not to run the e-cun test & instead just treated her w/ worming meds & antibiotics.  I also had to knock down her multi-level palace b/c the vet said she could fall so she needed to stay on a single level.  Also had to monitor her food/ water b/c tilt will obviously affect the type of bowl they can eat from.  We put her food on plates on the ground. 

My vet had another tilt case that came in the same day as Jessica.  They didn’t want/ couldn’t follow the tx protocol, b/c it was just a rabbit, so that rabbit did not recover.  Jessica did recover after about 6-8wks of treatment.  The vet reminded me that e-cun may still cause brain damage (slight) so your rabbit may not return to 100%.  My Jessi has had to undergo litterbox retraining, but she is doing fine today.  Vet said that even though Head tilt looks scary & horrible for your rabbit, it is highly treatable & not a death sentance; it just requires dedication on the part of the owner.

[Ham Sangwich]

 Thanks for the info all. skunklionshow, thanks for the story, fortunately for Chester I’m fine giving him meds and stuff. I’m fairly certain if you asked him he’d prefer I just left him alone. 

As for the pen G, i have a large bottle, it’s one that we use at the shelter, just using it for the time being. I never thought about the possibilty of dulling the needle though. So to get this straight you draw it with one needle, then squeeze it back out into a separate needle? So you’re keeping on needle just for drawing and throwing away the others as they are used then. I will try that, today is his day for the next one so i’ll see how that works. Thank you, good tip! I do leave the bottle out of the fridge for about 20 mins before i draw the pen to try and get it to be less thick. 

[foxtailskies]

Yes, the two needle solution is pretty much the only way to give pen-G without headaches Stuff’s a pain in the butt to deal with. Use one needle to draw up medicine from the bottle, then change the needle and inject with the new one. Needles do dull in the rubber stoppers on medicine bottles, but the real issue with Pen-G is that it likes to clot and solidify in the needle; that’s probably why you’re getting backflow.

I wouldn’t leave the medicine out of the fridge for too long though, since repeated temperature changes can potentially make the medicine less effective. You can always draw the medicine up and cup the syringe in your hand for a minute to take the chill off, which keeps the rest of the bottle at a more stable temperature.

Glad to hear Jack and Chester are doing OK though!

[MissKris&Koji]

I have had good luck with less sub-q injection leakage in the past by holding up the skin tent a little longer after the shot before releasing. I guess that gives it a chance to spread out under the skin or something, not sure, but I had similar problems with some pre-drawn Baytril syringes.

[Ham Sangwich]

Update: Tried using the two needle solution for pen g, worked well, but going through lots of needles! I had someone else recommend drawing the pen g up into the needle then expel it back into the bottle and draw it again. Apparently that works to lubricate the needle because it makes the second draw easier and delivery sub q works well. Decent 1 needle solution.

Chester has been dealing well, eating his pellets now too, can drink out a water bowl without falling, etc. He’s even figuring out how to move around a bit faster, hopping away from me as soon as i put him on the floor. Little bugger. Still not much progress on the actual head tilt, but he seems to be adjusting to it pretty well. I’ll just continue treatment protocol until I see improvement or 6 months and then evaluate whether to continue. He’s older at 7-8ish and if the meds aren’t doing much it may not be worth annoying him with them and I’ll just leave him alone at that point. We’ll see though.

[Sarita]

That’s interesting about the drawing and redrawing of the needle for the pen-g! Do you find that this works really well? Do you plunge the needle twice or just plunge once, draw, expel and draw again?

I agree that the 2 needle solution is wasteful but it does work better for the patient and the caregiver.

Thank you for the update on Chester and continued healing vibes.

[Ham Sangwich]

 Hi Sarita, 

Just one plunge of the needle through the rubber top, and then draw in the pen g, push it out, draw it in one more time, then withdraw the needle from the rubber top. It has worked the 2x I have done it so far. It is apparently the method we use at the shelter all the time. It was news to me as well. Let me know what your experience is if you try it! 

[Ham Sangwich]

Just another update. Head tilt still here, he’s definitely getting used to it. He now kicks at me when i put him down after meds (pretty good balancing act really) which tells me he’s back to his old naughty self. The real challenge is figuring out how to retrain him to use the litterbox. He just pees wherever he is and doesn’t like going into the litterbox anymore. I have one that has a flat front so he doesn’t have a high wall to hop over, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

Still doing meds, will give it a few more months and see what happens.

[Chassit]

Wow, I am really sorry to hear all of that. Head tilt is definitely something I hope to never have to deal with. Good to hear your guys are adjusting though

[jerseygirl]

Thanks for the update. Would the meds be contributing to his loss of litter habits?

[Ham Sangwich]

Well another update on Chester. I’ve been lax on updating here, but unfortunately he passed last night. I am still in disbelief. He had a Vet check-up Saturday morning, started treating him again for an ear infection instead of e.c. with two shots from Vet and evaluate how he does. Unfortunately all of sudden i was woken up to kicking in the litterbox and when i picked him up he only lasted another minute or two and died in my arms. It may turn out he had a bacterial infection in his brain, and the shots affected that, or just coincidence.

He was the light in my life, an absolute inspiration the way he handled his head tilt. He would still run around, eat, drink, lounge, he would even kick at me when he was mad! I am thankful for all the time he had. If I do a necropacy I will update with the results. Sorry to be a downer. 🙁

[jerseygirl]

I’m very sorry to hear this. My deepest condolences.
He certainly was a trooper! You gave such outstanding care to the little guy and I’m sure it gave him some comfort to be held as he went to the bridge. How is his buddy Jack doing?

[RabbitPam]

I am so sorry to hear about Chester. My condolences.
If you don’t mind, I will put the news in the Rainbow Bridge section so others will know it is a new post from you and learn your sad news.

binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/114083/Default.aspx

Please refer to the link above, “Ham Sangwich’s Chester has passed” in the Rainbow Bridge section. I am locking this thread and referring all replies to that, since it is more recent.

Again, my deepest condolences, Ham. {{{{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}}}}}}

[Author]

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