Rabbit lost balance

Question
Hi,

I have a 6 year old male med-lg Holland ? Lop.  He has always been in the bast of heath forever.  About 5 months he stated having sneezing fits.  Financial problems have limited by response to benadryl, which has worked pretty well.  No other problems.  His sneezing has decreased from four fits a day to a few small sneezes every three days with out regular medication.

Three days ago, he had an itchy ear thing where he would not leave his ears alone and shook his head for a little while, but that was the extent of that.  Now today, he was sitting in his area and he jumped strangely sideways.  Then he jumped forward, fell over on his side and started kicking his legs.  I immediately got his to his feet and he ran in his box normally.  10 minutes later, he came out of his box and hoped 5 times then fell over and kicked frantically. I picked him up and held him and now he is sitting quietly.  The whole thing seems like he is losing his balance and falling over, then kicking to get back on his feet as opposed to a seizure or something.  he seems to be kicking just to get up.  but the whole thing has me freaked out.  I have Neomycin / polymyxin B and hydrocortosone drops.  Should / can I use these on him.  If it is an inner ear infection, which I strongly suspect, will it work?  Please help, the estimat to bring him in for tests is $500.00 and I have about 60.00 to my name.

Please help with any suggestions.  If you have a test to suggest, I could do that, but.

Answer
Dear Patrick,

Do not use the neomycin drops.  They are very unlikely to be effective, and may make things worse.  If this is an inner ear infection, then the information here will be relevant, even if he doesn't have a head tilt, since the causes and treatments are the same for many of the common causes:

www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

I can't believe a test (for what?) would cost $500.  You need to find a vet who will work with you and within your financial means:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Injectible bicillin is very inexpensive, and is often very effective against head infections in rabbits.  It is the ONLY type of penicillin safe for rabbits, so DO NOT SELF MEDICATE, or it could cost your friend's life.  Use any medication on your bunny only under the supervision of an experienced rabbit vet.

I am sure you can find one who can help you for much less than $500, and even work out a payment plan with you.

I hope this helps.

Dana