House rabbit with Horners

Question
I have an older spayed girl (8-9) who I took to the vet because I thought she'd had a stroke. One side of her face, eye, lip all looked really  strange, ear flattened down, etc.

My vet said it's Horner's and affects the nerve from the ear all the way to the lip. We're treating her with a steroid and she's doing better, but I was wondering what causes that? The vet couldn't find an infection, injury or anything. Her cheek was packed with food that she couldn't even feel was there.

I haven't found much on the subject so I thought I would ask, thanks so much for your time.

Answer
Dear Kathy,

I have heard of a couple of cases of *suspected* Horner's, but this is usually secondary to a primary condition, such as an infection.  This article has some information that might be helpful:

www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

Dr. Brown specifically mentions Horner's Syndrome in this article.  But there's not really much out there on this condition in rabbits.  It's far more common in dogs.

I'm glad the corticoteroids are working, and that bun is better.  I hope she continues to improve.

Dana