# My Rabbit Is Disoriented and Circling



## mariethomas (Nov 13, 2013)

Hello. This is my first thread and I'm still fairly new to the website and forums. 
I have a male young rabbit, estimating his age around 4 months. He's been with me for one month and 2 weeks. 
My rabbit has access to pellets, fresh water and a grass hay.
Where I reside, finding hay is very difficult. I know the importance of hay in well balanced diet, and decided to go with grass hay as soon as possible. I've been introducing it to him in small portions, and he enjoys every bit of it as well as his pellets. But recently he's started eating less of his pellets. We changed his food (the other one wasn't available) and it's obvious he likes the new one less. I came home from school to notice my rabbit in what's the basement of his cage. He has 3 floors, all a bit high. And the vet says it might be possible he could have fallen. But he usually greets me or is doing something other than laying down when I arrive from school. 
I suspected something was wrong when I noticed less poo, and not much food or water consumed since I was away. I took him to a vet, and all he could tell me was that he had a broken nail, and that he was "physically fine" after trimming his nails. I brought him home, and he was circling the ground and seemed very disoriented and his eyes were roaming. Again, scared and not satisfied with results I brought him to another vet. She told me he did not have an ear infection and gave him a shot to "calm down".
Now he won't eat or drink and I'm worried.
Any advice?






My rabbit above.
All help is very appreciated, thanks.​


----------



## JBun (Nov 13, 2013)

It's possible that your rabbit still does have an ear infection, but it's internal so the vet wouldn't be able to see it by examining the ears. An xray might possibly show evidence of it. Another possibility is the parasite e. cuniculi. Both things will cause circling and eye movement. Can you tell if the eye movement is horizontal or vertical? A good rabbit vet would have known these are the primary causes of circling in rabbits and would have at least prescribed an antibiotic. But in case it is e. cuniculi, the antiparasitic fenbendazole and the anti inflammatory metacam, should also be prescribed. So your rabbit needs a rabbit safe antibiotic like baytril, and fenbendazole and metacam. If your vets aren't very experienced with rabbits then you will need to ensure the antibiotic is safe for rabbits as some, like penicillin if given orally, can be very dangerous for rabbits. The antibiotic often needs to be continued for 2 weeks after the last sign of symptoms, though you also have to keep in mind that sometimes permanent damage occurs and symptoms won't go away completely, but they will stop progressing. 

The fenbendazole should be given at a dosage of 20mg/kg once a day, for at least 28 days. And the metacam should be given as long as needed. How long depends on the severity of symptoms and how quickly they go away.

What country are you located? You need to see a *good *rabbit vet, and maybe we can help you find one.

Do you know what medication was in the shot that the vet gave to your rabbit? If your rabbit won't eat and drink now, you can try to encourage him to eat by giving him a small treat or a little bit of a dark leafy green like cilantro or parsley. And also offer a water dish if he drinks from a bottle. But if he won't start eating and drinking, you are going to need to syringe feed him food and water. You can use plain canned pumpkin(nothing extra added, no spices), or you could soak the pellets in warm water. You may also need to put it through a blender to make it smooth enough to come out of the syringe tip, so it doesn't clog. Then use a (needleless) syringe and put into the corner of his mouth and slowly squirt a little in there, giving him time to chew and swallow. Do the same with water. You don't want to do it too quickly so your rabbit doesn't aspirate any of the liquid. You should be feeding about 6cc of food per kg., every 3-4 hours.

You also need to restrict him to the bottom floor of his cage, so he doesn't injure himself. You may even need to confine him to a smaller cage to restrict his movement, and pad on each side of him to stop him from continuing the circling. You'll need to keep towels or pee pads under him to absorb the urine, and you'll need to clean frequently and make sure he's staying clean.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/cuniculi/pyrimethamine.htm

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Safe_drugs_main.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/Unsafe_medication/Unsafe_drugs_main.htm

http://onthewonk.com/
http://www.mohrs.org/hrswebpg19.html


----------



## jamesedwardwaller (Nov 15, 2013)

mariethomas said:


> Hello. This is my first thread and I'm still fairly new to the website and forums. ​
> I have a male young rabbit, estimating his age around 4 months. He's been with me for one month and 2 weeks.
> My rabbit has access to pellets, fresh water and a grass hay.
> Where I reside, finding hay is very difficult. I know the importance of hay in well balanced diet, and decided to go with grass hay as soon as possible. I've been introducing it to him in small portions, and he enjoys every bit of it as well as his pellets. But recently he's started eating less of his pellets. We changed his food (the other one wasn't available) and it's obvious he likes the new one less. I came home from school to notice my rabbit in what's the basement of his cage. He has 3 floors, all a bit high. And the vet says it might be possible he could have fallen. But he usually greets me or is doing something other than laying down when I arrive from school.
> ...


dear mariethomas,-I hope the bun is eating better now.!-many questions here,-but the key is appropriate exotic dvm attention-- inner ear problem??-physical imparity.??-rabbits don,t get sedatives like people--check the paperwork from the dvm and study the drug-(injection)-and study the buns behavior,eating habits,poops-as you are doing-here is a medical website with a lot of info http://www.medirabbit.com --place a mirror near the bun-,he seems to be fearful,stressed,-which is not good for the gi-tract,-please provide more info as you can..-sincerely james waller :brown-bunny:twocents:bunny19


----------



## mariethomas (Nov 15, 2013)

Update: Casper seems to be in good health again. He is eating again, using the bathroom and back to his old self again. 
Sorry for the late update.

I live in Cuenca, Ecuador and I'm American so my customs are much different than they are here. Finding a good rabbit vet is a bit hard, and I've been to many vets (as I have other pets) but none seem to have any experience in rabbits. The drug seemed to have helped and by now has obviously worn off. What exactly has been given to any of yours pets doesn't not go on record or given to you on a receipt. 
I have two rabbit cages and am able to take out and modify the height of the floors on his cage so that isn't a problem. 

Thanks for your help.


----------



## mariethomas (Nov 15, 2013)

I don't know if he could have an inner ear infection because as suggested above, x-rays do not exist where I live for rabbits. He's much better now so I hope he will remain this way. Thank you.


----------



## Nancy McClelland (Nov 15, 2013)

ray:


----------



## JBun (Nov 16, 2013)

I'm glad he seems to be doing better. I can imagine how hard it is to find a good vet where you are. One thing that some rabbit owners in countries that don't have good vets will do, is post on here or another rabbit forum, asking for information about what is going on with their rabbit, like you did, then will take that information to the vet to get the correct help and medication for their rabbit. You just have to be really careful about letting a dog and cat vet treat your rabbit. Rabbits are very different and some medications used for cats and dogs, can be deadly to rabbits. Also dosages are different for rabbits. I would suggest never letting the vet give your rabbit anything without knowing what it is and if it is safe for your rabbit. Certain antibiotics especially, can be fatal if given.

Also research too. The medirabbit website is really good for showing common problems with rabbits, and what is needed to treat them.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/index_en.htm


----------



## mariethomas (Nov 17, 2013)

Sorry for another question but you seem to very knowledgeable on rabbits. Is this normal? My rabbit usually sits under my desk as I use the computer, so I decided to go sit with him and pet him, and then while I was, he just plopped over onto his tummy with his back legs out like this? Could it be gas? Also one of his eyes seems to be a bit red, but I'm giving it time to pass. 
Is he just comfortable in his environment? I've never seen a rabbit do this.


----------



## JBun (Nov 17, 2013)

He's totally comfortable! Rabbits will only do that if they feel completely safe and relaxed, but not all rabbits will do it so that's probably why you haven't seen it before. With gas and belly pressing, often the hind end will be tucked under and pushed up(though not always). But the best ways to tell the difference with belly pressing and just relaxing is that rabbits with an upset stomach usually won't eat or not eat much, will be breathing more quickly, may be squinting their eyes, and will keep changing positions trying to find a way to get comfortable. I don't know that any rabbit will kick out it's back feet like that if it's belly is hurting.

The red eye could just be due to irritation from something. You could try using a plain sterile saline solution to rinse it out(the kind used for contacts but not the kind with chemicals in it). And just keep checking it each day to make sure it gets better. If it doesn't or gets worse, it's possible the eye got scratched and you may end up needing antibacterial eye drops.

I just have to say that your rabbit is sooo cute!!! He almost looks like a panda bear.... with long ears


----------



## Azerane (Nov 18, 2013)

How adorable! He does look like a Giant Panda  Glad to know that the other issues cleared up. I agree that the eye redness could simply be minor irritation from something that will go away.

He is definitely relaxed in that photo, rabbit's are great at suddenly going into relaxed mode.


----------



## mariethomas (Nov 24, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies! Casper is in good health now.


----------

