Tilted head in two week old kit?

[volz83]

My rabbit just had her first litter of kits 15 days ago and today when I was checking up on them, one of them has a slight tilted head? It's head tilts slightly off and I'm noticing it's scratching the ear it's head tilts on (to the right side). After reading up on tilted heads, could it be an ear infection? What sort of treatment can you give to a 15 day old kit? I have been keeping the nest box clean and the hay used is all from one bag so I'm pretty sure it's not from the hay? The other two kits are doing just great! The one with the tilted head is eating moving around just fine, it's just noticeable when it stops and looks around but it does not tilt all the time? It really took me looking at it to notice. I have been checking on the kits once or twice a day since they were born and this just now started. The only other cause I think of is one day I noticed the little kit was out of the nest box.. it had attached to mom while nursing and got dragged out. I found him/her at the other end of the cage so I really not sure if maybe it suffered an injury to the neck. I never had a rabbit with this issue, any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MaggieJ]

It does sound like a problem with the ear... an infection or perhaps something stuck in it. I suggest you examine it closely to see if anything is visible... a bit of hay, ear mites, whatever. If nothing is visible, it could be an middle ear infection. I have no experience with this problem, so I hope others will post with suggestions. Hope the little guy is okay.

Of course, there is always the possibility of wry neck, so you will want to check out this website:
http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/ecuniculi.htm

 

[ZRabbits]

MaggieJ gave you lots of good information on what might be occurring with your little kit. I had a Polish with ear mites at 8 weeks old and a Lion Head with inner ear infection at 13 weeks old, so understand about head tilt a little bit. With the ear mites, I used Ivermectin. With the inner ear infection, needed antibiotics. Also though Willard did scratch inside his ear and that made a bit of head tilt, but he held that hear flat to his head, so maybe the baby has something in his ear. Just take a look, could have something, a bit of hay in there.

Please let us know how the little guy is doing. Hoping all is well.

Karen

 

[volz83]

Well I checked the ear with the issue and no hay or anything stuck however the opening is a lot smaller than the other ear. The normal ear also sticks up like it should and the other ear is closer to the body. I spoke with my friend whom has breed/shown Hollands for a long time said more than likely it's wry neck. She said it's treatable I just have to wait until he is 4 weeks to treat him. So hopefully he will hang in there! I also noticed that he actually does have a hard time moving around.. tends to go in the direction of his tilted head and falls over. Poor guy!