# Sudden onset severe eye twitching/head tilt/loss of balance



## Tara Brown (Jan 10, 2011)

This morning all of meat rabbits were fine. This evening i went in to feed and one of my does is tucked in the corner of her cage, head bobbing to one side and eyes twitching back and forth. She also seems to only want to turn to the right and has trouble walking. I offered her some greens and she ate some but went back to the corner for some more head and eye twitching. She ate her pellets with relish this morning, but not tonight.

Have been looking on the internet and seems like it could be an inner ear infection or a protozoan infection. But the onset has been so fast and so severe...

This is a meat rabbit i was having a hard time getting bred, then it turned out she had gotten pregnant, had some babies all over her cage and i couldn't save them. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it or not.

Is there anything that i can do for her?

Thanks!


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## switchman62 (Oct 19, 2007)

Sounds like what we always called "wry neck". I think it can be caused by several different things but, you can probably search with that term and find more info. 

Hope everything works out,
Dave


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

With such a sudden onset, I would say seizure or injury at this point. I've had a bunny go flying from my arms and after she landed, she was dragging her back feet, and I was sure she'd never walk again. I went and got the pellet gun to put her down and when I got back, she had control over her legs and was moving around her cage. Within a day she was normal but probably sore, lol. 

Now, not gonna guarantee that she'll be fine but if she's not SUFFERING, you can try to wait it out. IMO, I'd probably put her down as it sounds like severe effects and it's hard to say wether they are 'suffering' or not. If there's question, I usually opt to put them down as I believe it's more humane. 

Overweight does sometimes have trouble getting bred, and having babies out of the nestbox isn't abnormal per se either. Especially in maiden does. So I doubt it's connected to her neurological issues you're seeing now.


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## Honorine (Feb 27, 2006)

You have two choices, cull/butcher her and eat her, or dose her with ivermectin and see if it gets better. I was told that the eye twitching was actually a good sign that treatment was possible and may be successful, I've never tested that theory. I would use oral or injectable ivermectin.


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## moonkitten (Mar 4, 2005)

I assume that you didn't know she was pregnant and didn't put a nestbox in, which is why the kits were scattered around the cage. 

How long from the unexpected birth of the kits to the head bobbing and eye twitching? How is her stool? Is it normal volume, hardness, etc? Did she drink during the night?

More info is always helpful when diagnosing at a distance


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## Tara Brown (Jan 10, 2011)

Thanks for the replies everyone.

She seem better today - her eyes have stopped twitching and her mobility is slightly better. Her head is still reeeally tilted to the right and she still wants to go in circles to the right.

She is eating for sure: pellets, hay and greens. She even ate lastnight during the worst part of her issues. Not sure if the water level in her cup has gone down or not.

Her poops are smaller and softer and kind of clumped together.

Re kit delivery: yes, i didnt know she was pregnant so there was no nest box. Th babies were all alive but very cold, i put them in a nest box but the doe ignored them and they died. That was a week ago. I still feel bad about that...

I dont think she could have injured herself as she has been calm in her cage for several days now.


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## switchman62 (Oct 19, 2007)

Here is a link for wry neck with a few pics also. 

I hope she makes it through for you.


http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/ecuniculi.htm

Good luck,
Dave


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## moonkitten (Mar 4, 2005)

Hey Tara, how is Ember doing now?


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## Tara Brown (Jan 10, 2011)

Hi All,

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, although the seizure-like behaviour stopped the wry neck only got worse, poor girl. She went to freezer camp yesterday when we dispatched some meat rabbits. She will make a nice meal for my dogs and i saved her pelt to try my hand at tanning.


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## Tara Brown (Jan 10, 2011)

Forgot:

I have a concern as three kits were kept as future breeders from her last litter. Is there any chance that they will develop the same problem?


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## birdman1 (Oct 3, 2011)

I would treat all the rabbits with pour on ivomeic for cattle 1 cc between the ears as the parisites are probaly there (my opnion)


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## moonkitten (Mar 4, 2005)

Tara Brown said:


> Is there any chance that they will develop the same problem?


Well, there's always a *chance*,  especially since we don't really know for sure what the problem was. (There's also a *chance* that all your rabbits could be carriers of whatever.) Without having a necropsy done at a lab, the best that you can do is wait and see. Nothing more might ever show up, it's hard to say.

As for culling the offspring, that's a judgement call that you need to make. Do you assume that the doe was carrying a parasite and that her offspring are also carriers or do you just wait and see... only you can decide if you want to take the risk of going through this again. :hrm:

Having said that, so sorry that you lost the doe especially since she did eventually get pregnant again :awh: :awh:


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