Ugh... did I bring home head tilt?

So.. I think I have a rabbit suffering with either a terrible ear mite infestation.. or head tilt.

I went to a zoo a few hours away on Saturday.. walked through the "barn" section at said zoo and they had a bunch of Flemish Giants inside a kennel type setup inside the chicken section. There was 2 HUGE (The largest flemies I have ever seen, and Ive seen Flemies.) does. One nursing a 2 week ish old litter, 1 who seemed to just be there for company possibly? And 2 older kits they SAID are 4 weeks, but I suspect closer to 6. They are huge. And just persnality wise acting a bit older than 4 weeks but I digress.

I took the older baby with the biggest ears because he seemed friendliest and a bit bigger than his brother... I DID notice in the car on the lnog ride home that he seemed to hold his head funny, but the ears on this creature were so massive I figured that was why, they look huge and awkward.

Got him home and put him by himself in an outdoor hutch that is away from the other rabbit, just in case.

That night at midnight, I ended up going to hospital by ambulance with heat stroke and diabetic DKA, severe and nasty. I was not released until yesterday late afternoon, hubby did the rabbits and horses because I still felt so crappy and I just couldnt. He didnt notice anything serious with the baby, but Im not sure that he would really, just throwing feed and hay and checking water..

Today when I went to feed... oh my.. he was shaking his head a lot, disoriented and almost acting drunk, stumbling some, obviously off balance but not terribly. But.. the head.. is tilted about 70 percent of the time, his ear is bothering him. hes rubbing it and trying to clean it and shaking his head alot. Sigh.

Now given where he was raised (water and feed off the ground, saw DUST, with chickens surrounding the area they were in, with wire walls, so not solid), I am hoping its a bad mite infestation. I have some drops for mites so I went ahead and did 3-4 drops in each ear. He was unimpressed with me. I also dewormed him with safeguard just to be safe.

I desperately do not want to lose this kit. He is SO sweet and I am attached.. I also made the mistake of assuming he would figure out the water bottle I had given him, he hadnt drank AT ALL since Id brought him home so I wonder if thats contributing to his condition.. I gave him a dish of water with ACV and he immediately started sucking it back... drank for a solid 5-6 mins before he stopped for a breath.

So much fail on my part in so little time.. I really hope I haven't messed this poor sweet fella who I've named "Oakley"... please send jingles for my poor sweet little guy!

:bunnyhop:

if he's scratching at his ears it is likely an infection instead of e. cuniculi, but it's best to keep him separated obviously.

treating ear mites won't solve the infection, though it will help if mites were the problem. look in his ear, if it's red and inflamed, warm to the touch, it's infected. it might also smell pretty bad. if there's a black kind of "crust" in the opening, that's mites. you can gently scoop those out with a q-tip, it'll help it heal faster and the mite meds will penetrate deeper. you'll need to clean his ears out every couple of days if there's mites. either way, you should get him on an antibiotic. you can get pen-g at a feed store and it should clear it up, provided the infection is bacterial.

Sorry but what is pen-g? Im going to call the feed store and see if he has it! <br /><br /> -- Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:04 pm -- <br /><br /> Ok I figured out what it is and my feed store hs it. It's an injectable, so what dosage should I use? He said he has 100ml bottles of it. Also I have never given an injection to an animal so any tips?

copying from another thread:

generally, 0.1 cc per 2 pounds body weight loading dose followed by 0.1 cc per 4 pounds body weight every other day. So a 5 pound rabbit gets 0.50 cc subcutaneous x 1 (DuraPen/ BiCillin )then 0.25cc SubQ every other day until symptoms have been resolved for at least 7 days.

Click to expand...

your feed store should have syringes and needles - you'll want the highest gauge you can find (bigger the number = smaller the needle.) i think 22 gauge is the smallest you can usually get, and it'll work fine. i usually inject mine into the loose skin above the shoulders. sit the rabbit in your lap and pinch the skin between your fingers. inject the needle into the space under the skin, not into the muscle. you can draw back on the syringe and if you see blood, try again. if you pinch enough skin though you shouldn't have a problem. try not to insert the needle slowly - a swift, confident poke is best and will hurt the animal less.

My friend got a bunch of world champion flemish giants a couple months back.
Here's a pic of one of em, notice how I had to use my legs to help lift it up, friggin 20lbs.

We noticed they do not eat much feed, say 90% hay and 10% pellets, but if they don't have hay they wont eat more pellets either so they'll starve themselves only eating that 10% pellets. Also they don't know how to drink from water bottles and the kits at the same age were twice as big as her usual flemish giant kits. So she struggled to get them to trive in her usual setup.

So for now try the pen-g, keep an eye on his ears and maintain quarantine. Also, those kits might be the age they told you, just the genes playing their part

Well, he's not doing very well.. doesn't look very well anyways.. I got the Pen-G and administered the first dose.. I really hope it gives him some relief quickly.. I feel so bad for this poor fellow..

How's he doing today?

Seems to be perking up some! I have hope!

Is he better? <br /><br /> -- Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:01 am -- <br /><br /> Is he better?

I wouldn't say he's better.. he's still got the head tilt going on and is star gazing a lot. BUT he's much more steady and less disoriented.. still stumbles around sometimes and he seems to be having twitches or seizures I'm not sure which. Today while I was holding him I offered a carrot and HE TOOK IT! Ate it voraciously. That is the first time I got him to eat anything since I've had him. He's been nibbling hay in his cage but I've been offering fresh carrots every day when I hold him and it was like he had no idea what they were.. today he latched on with vengeance and ate until he passed out on me. I'm really praying he pulls through.. I've not been this attached to a rabbit before.. hang in there little Oakley! <br /><br /> -- Sat Jun 10, 2017 4:01 pm -- <br /><br /> Baby seems to be doing better, he's still eating and drinking and is more active now, doesn't seem to be as disoriented.. but.. his head is still titled. He has two more shots of pen-g to go, is he always going to hold his head tilted or should this resolve?

it depends. sometimes it improved but if it's severe he may just be a "special" bunny all his life

That's a shame.. I really am peeved at the zoo who sold a kit in this condition. It's a damn good thing I had the presence of mind to realize he was in trouble and get him the help he needed.

I have become incredibly attached to this adorable fellow, and I'm just really hoping he pulls through ok. "Oakley" went back to his outside hutch last night, as inside he was cooped up in a very small cage not suitable for a baby his size and I figure it may affect his muscle, etc not being able to move about much now that he's more coordinated and not at risk for hurting himself anymore.

He has two more shots of the Pen-G left, but he still has a very bad tilt to his head.. he is eating and drinking just fine though and is not pooping much more and is less bloated so I believe we may be alright. Here's hoping!

Figured you all might like to see a few pics of the not so little guy!

well as long as he's healthy in general, that tilt just makes him adorable. No wonder you got so attached