| Wry Neck (Head Tilt): Cause: EC ( E Cuniculi) is a parasite and NOT a bacterial infection. It may be secondary to a bacterial infection but EC itself is a parasite. It is in the blood stream and deposits cysts on the brain which causes neurological symptoms. It is often misdiagnosed as an ear infection since an ear infection can cause a head tilt but most cases of head tilt in rabbits are caused by the EC parasite and not a bacterial infection of the ear. Signs: loss of balance, animals head twisted to one side. Treatments: Immediately call your vet, the more time without treatment the less likely are you to cure it. Treatment depends on the cause so make sure the vet takes a bacterial culture first. If E. Cuniculi is found then treatment may be prednisolone. This is pretty new and many vets have not heard of the possible success with this treatment. Dr Wendy Feaga has her Wry Neck paper describing this treatment printed in the letters to the editor section of Journal of the AVMA 2/15/97. Make sure your rabbit continues to eat, force feed if necessary and get him to drink water. I have also heard of people massaging the bunny's neck to keep the muscles from atrophying along with vet care with success, it wouldn't hurt to try. Prevention: good ventilation to reduce any respiratory infections and good sanitation practices (House rabbits are more susceptible to wry neck caused by unsanitary conditions because they are closer to the waste pan). (from: www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/1155/disease.html#pas) This is poor Brady. He was fine in the am, checked on him in the afternoon and he was like this. Going to the vets tomorrow to find out the cause. This is our first experience with this condition (3/3/08). Will post what we find out. He is housed indoors, so hopefully its from an inner ear infection and all will be well! Hate seeing him like this! But luckily no paralysis in his extremities! And he is eating and can hop but in circles right now. I have provided a solid bottom in his cage now, lined with towels and pillowcases to act as bumper pads so he doesn't injure himself. These get replaced daily with clean dry ones. UPDATE: 3/4/08 Went to the (exotic) vet, was told 80% of these cases do not get any better. When I heard that I was going to put poor Brady down, but after reading Barbi Brown's article I decided to wait it out. So the vet gave him Vit injections of A, D, B. Then gave us Panacur A and Tribrissen Liquid to give Brady daily. Also The night before we went to the vet I gave him Terramycin in his water and Ivomectin wormer. Repeated again in 7 days. Now we wait! Its heartbreaking seeing him like this! For some more info go here: www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/ecuniculi.htm#CAGE%20MAINTENANCE UPDATE: As of today 3/23/08 Brady is still in good humor and eating and drinking well from his bottle. His head is still tilted, but it seems he can lift it better at times. Thinking about making him a neck pillow to help alleviate permanent muscle damage in his neck. Going to have to be creative! If I can rig a soft neck brace for him I'll post a pic. Wish me luck! UPDATE: 4/11/08 - Brady is now picking his head up straight! He can pick it up 100% for short periods! He is also walking straighter, and not in circles anymore! This is a big improvement for this little guy!! I'm am so happy for him! Didn't have much luck yet with the neck pillow.........still working on it! UPDATE: 4/15/08 - Above is Brady with head up and drinking water. Walking upright and straight! His head doesn't stay up 100% of the time yet but he has control over it now! Still gets neck massages daily to help keep his muscles loose. I am so glad I waited this out to see what would happen given a couple months time. So far its been a month and a half since onset of this wry neck! UPDATE: 7/7/08 - Brady is still doing great. He is left with a small tilt but nothing like it was thank goodness! So moral of this story is: don't give up too soon! Give it at least 3 mos to improve! Luckily for Brady this was true! |
| Miscellaneous Info page 2 |
