Rabbit with wry neck

Question
Hi Dana
I have a 1 year old 2.4 pd,dwarf male rabbit, BunBun. About 4 weeks ago I noticed his head was slightly tilted, I didnt think much about it because I had never heard of tilt neck before. About a week later my hub, told me the rabbit was leaning up against the cage and hadnt eaten any food. I had a bad problem with brown rats getting into the cage and eating there food so I use Rampage to delete the problem, as hard as it was. I dont believe in killing animals but I had tried several different ways to resolve them issue with no success. The rats were actually sleeping in my rabbits cages and pulling there fur out to make nest. A herd of them kill a wood duck I had rescued and eat it alive and took it right out of the cage.
But anyway, I checked on bunbun and he could not even stand up. I brought him in the house and he looked dehydrated. So I offered him the water bottle and he just drank and drank. I put him on the floor and he started going in cicles. So I made him a home in a small box big enough for him to turn around in. I started him on bounce back,electrolytes, and gave him some apples and carrots.
I searched the web and found the tilt neck. There were many options so I choose the over the counter terrimycin water soluble. I gave it to him for a few days and he seemed to get worse. Altho he has been eating good and drinking. HE even grooms himself until he flips over . I took him to a vet and told him all the info I had learned on the web about wry neck. He treated him with Baytril. I was giving him .4 injections 2x daily for 2 weeks.  There was some inprovement but he still could not stand up. I researched other cures and found the EC and I gave him a pea size of horse Ivermectin. Afew days went by and he seemed to get worse. He had stared rolling and at times I had to gently hold him down to stop the rolling. A few nights it was just horrible. Monday 1/14/08 I got the vet to send me a moth supply of Baytril again. I read they have to be on it for several weeks or months to heal and he was only on it for 2 weeks.
So I started him on .4 injections again 1/15/08. I have seen some improvements the rolling has STOPPED. Thank God. HE does still eat really well and drinks. I have also messaged his intire body everyday and help him groom himself. However he can not even sit up at all. Now he does seem to try to sit up. He comes up allthe time and is very alert, but he can stand sit or anything. I also have another 5 pd rabbit that has come down with simlar symptoms and I have him on Baytril too. He can still stand and move around and eats sorta ok He vet really didnt know to much about wry neck except to treat with Baytril or Ivermectin. What else can I do and any other meds I can give him. He is such a sweet little thing. HE always licks my hand everytime I pet him or feed him. COOULD the rats ahve caused this problem. Before the Brown rrabbit came down sick there was 1 rat I gues that had been living in the box with the brown rabbit. The brown rabbit has been like this now for about a week.
Thank You for your help and advice. I am a nurse asst, and also a animal/wildlife rescuer. I have cared for many many animals with the help of vets/online services.
Sincerely
Sherrie

Answer
Dear Sherrie,

I would not recommend you put the bunnies outside if the rats can share their space.  I love rats--they're intelligent and usually sweet--but they can cause life-threatening problems and share some pathogens with your rabbits.  The bunnies need to be indoors, safe from the rats.

Head tilt can be caused by many different things, and the right treatment requires an accurate diagnosis.  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/tilt.html

I would definitely be working with a good rabbit vet who has experience with torticollis/wry neck in rabbits:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and not try to self-medicate without at least attempting to get a culture and sensitivity test done if there is pus in the ear to culture:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

I hope this helps get you started.

Dana