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Head tilts in young rabbits

22 11:35:52

Question
Hi...I'm hoping you can help me. Last October, I purchased a baby dwarf rabbit from a local pet store. She's adorable. :)  Her name is Rosie, she's now 9 months old, and she's a beautiful buff color.  She adjusted to her new home very nicely.  I also have a cat, and they get along reasonably well.  

On April 15th, I took her to the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital to be spayed.  I had been warned that female rabbits are susceptible to uterine cancer, so I wanted to be sure to have her spayed early to avoid any problems.  Her surgery went well, and I brought her home the next day.  I noticed in her discharge instructions that there had been an abnormal finding in her routine blood work.  She had an increase in lymphocytes that they called 'normal in a young rabbit.'  I felt uneasy, but figured they knew what they were talking about.

About a week ago, I noticed a slight left head tilt in my rabbit. I took her to the emergency room right away, but they didn't seem too concerned.  They sent me home with an anti-inflammatory drug (Metacam) to be given twice daily for 14 days and an antibiotic (sulfatrim) also to be given twice daily for 10 days.  They said it could be a middle or inner ear-infection, but they weren't entirely convinced. (Since she's so young).  It's now a week later, and my bunny's head tilt has gotten noticeably worse.  She's still very bright and alert, but because of the severity of the head tilt, she sometimes tips over and rolls uncontrollably until she's able to get her bearings.  I'm taking her back to Penn tomorrow for a follow-up, but they don't seem to have any answers for me.  (I've spoken with them via telephone many times since last week).  They're going to re-check her blood and consider CT scans.  My questiion to you is:  What could be going on here in such a young rabbit?  Does it sound like an infection to you?  I've heard sometimes these things just come and go with rabbits with no real explanation.  Could this be so?  Should I be preparing for the worst? :(  Please help!  Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Karen Marie

Answer
Hi Karen Marie,
Possible causes of head tilt (also known as torticollis or wry neck) are:
Middle/inner ear infection (otitis media /interna)
Stroke (cerebrovascular accidents)
Trauma
Cancer (neoplasia)
Cervical muscle contraction
Encephalitozoonosis
Cerebral larva migrans
Intoxication
A diagnosis as to the cause of the problem is frequently made after elimination of other possibilities. The most common is the inner ear infection, so quite possibly it is that and this is treatable. Most of these are treatable, but if the worst comes to the worst then to stop your bunny from being in unecassary pain then she may be put down. But do not give up hope yet! Hopefully as she seems fine in all other aspects she will get better.
I hope this helps
Katie