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Questions Regarding Treatment For A Head Tilt Piggy.

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Stewybus

Stewybus

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A few of you may have read about Minky's long term health problems including suddenly getting a head tilt in October.

I'm worried by her long term treatment on Baytril which I've heard will no of no use to her after several months. She was on Baytril 2.5% at a dose of 0.5ml twice a day for 6 weeks then given 4 weeks off this while taking Zithromax which had no difference on her. She went back on Baytril & has been on this for another 6 weeks but her head tilt which seemed to be improving in December is nearly as bad as it was at the start. She's living with 3 companions because she doesn't eat as much as she should when she's on her own.

She's going to see her vet next week but thought I'd try & get some info from others who have experienced this & got their piggies well again. I was told yesterday about Pamicur but this seems to be a worming cure for rabbits! I may even have misheard the name & it may be something else. If anyone can give me any info I'd be really grateful because I just want to get Minky back to her old self. It's heartbreaking to see her walking with her head tilted & sometimes falling over or going round in circles. She's OK otherwise and eats well & bosses her friend about & me when she'll throw her head up to say she wants no more water or probiotic solution.

Please, please, if you can help let me know.
 
Is there a vets near you that you could get a CT scan done at? My Maggie was eating a bit funny, typical early teeth symptoms...but her teeth were fine. A quick zap through the CT scanner identified a middle ear infection. It'd be good to see if there was an ear component going on
 
The product you are thinking o is most likely Panacur (Fenbendazole) which is indeed a wormer, the cattle version is more effective though and your vet should be able to prescribe it.

I am wondering if this could be E-Cuniculi, an infection that can be passed on by rabbits, symptoms include:

Kidney problems such as frequent urination and increased thirst

Paralysis, a weakness in the limbs and inability to move

Head tilt or wry neck

Eye inflammation, cataracts, weeping eyes and eye rolling

Loss of appetite followed by weight loss, which in turn can cause problems in the gut such as stasis

Neurological damage leading to convulsions and loss of balance.

Behavioural changes such as wanting to be completely alone, probably hiding in a corner.

Here is a useful article:

http://www.woodward-vets.co.uk/information/Encephalitozoon cuniculi.pdf

The dose of Panacur would be 0.14mls once a day for 4 weeks.

Please note that this is a managed condition and cannot be cured.

Hope that helps, and gives you something to discuss with your vet.
 
My friends rabbit had panacur treatment as his head tilt was caused by e cuniculi - I'm not sure if that's something that guinea pigs can get?

As far as I can remember, he was always left with the head tilt but still had a great quality of life.

I hope you can get to the bottom of things for Minky
 
Stewy, it would be definately worth a mention to the vet about the above post from Helen, especially now that you are having no luck with other treatments.
 
JBH316 said:
My friends rabbit had panacur treatment as his head tilt was caused by e cuniculi - I'm not sure if that's something that guinea pigs can get?

As far as I can remember, he was always left with the head tilt but still had a great quality of life.

I hope you can get to the bottom of things for Minky
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It is rare but can happen, a dealt with a lady who's pig had it a few months ago.
 
Thanks for the above replies. Some but not all of the symptoms apply to Minky so I'm going to print off Helen's reply. When I was posting & searching on this in December, E-Cuniculi was mentioned but then the symptoms started to go. I did ask about a CT scan but vet didn't think it necessary.

Still open to any more info & I'll go to the vets with alternatives because I'm determined to get to the bottom of this.

Speaking of CT scan, does anybody know the price of this?
 
Amanda1801 said:
Is there a vets near you that you could get a CT scan done at? My Maggie was eating a bit funny, typical early teeth symptoms...but her teeth were fine. A quick zap through the CT scanner identified a middle ear infection. It'd be good to see if there was an ear component going on
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@Amanda1801 Can you define eating a bit funny? Was she slower or making exaggerated movements with her mouth?
 
Cost varies. At The vets I use, its about a fiver more than an X-ray but you get much more info hence why Maggie keeps getting CTd!
 
I know this sounds obvious but has she got a ear infection?,i lost my mr piggles to a very nasty ear infection that went into his skull!..it was due to the vets not picking up on it and to lower doses of antibiotics which never really cleared any infection they thought he had uri...
He would eat oddly, i only knew when he started to roll and pus coming out of his ear,and developed a head tilt! i was devistated especially after mths and mths of taking him to the vets where he would pick up but then go downhill again, he was only about 6mths old so i was gutted having to put him to sleep as he was just to far gone and by that point not responding to any medications,i syringed fed him around the clock, he was such a special lil piggy...
I dont mean to scare you,but head tilts can indicate ear,inner ear infections, even tho the vets have no doubt checked get them to check your piggy ears again just incase....
I really hope your piggy gets well soon.....
 
I know my vet's don't do their own scans so they have to farmed out to another practise but that's another question to ask when I take Minky in. When she first had the head tilt I asked about getting a CT scan done but the vet didn't think it was necessary.

Tonight she's just had her special little tea which I give her while she's out having her meds. This consisted tonight of 1/4 tomato, 2 slices cucumber, 1/2 large romaine leaf, 3 pieces of parsley & about 4 spinach leaves. She left half of the tomato & a little bit of romaine. While she was eating that I prepared the evening veggies for the others, then put Minky back in her run with her group. I then put the group veggies in & Minky was straight at it. The only reason I give her some first is that she's just a bit slower than the rest & she would otherwise miss out on some of the tastier bits.

It was original diagnosed as an ear infection & it came shortly after she was recovering from her 3rd abscess removal in 5 months. She was x-rayed & a small white mass showed up but the vet thought that this would clear with Baytril. There was no pus in her ear & no mites so I think the vet thought it was connected with her abscess which caused blindness in one eye for a few months too.

She did have teeth problems about 5 or 6 weeks after she first got the head tilt & this was put down to her jaw going out of line because of the tilt. The wasn't much needed in the teeth cut but she was having problems a few days later so I booked her for an appointment with Simon Maddock who said her teeth op was successful but she had a bad case of mouth ulcers due to antibiotics, similar to thrush in humans. She was eating well again after 36 hours on the Itrafungol prescribed by Simon.

As things stand, she's got a good quality of life & if she didn't get any worse I would be happy to give her the extra care for the rest of her natural life with hopefully could be another 3 or 4 years as she's not quite 3 yet.

Thanks again for all your replies, any little bits of info could be of help so if there's anyone else out there who knows anymore please let me know.
 
Such an on going worry for you Stewy, I really hope you can get some answers soon for poor Minky, it is so frustrating seeing them suffer and keep drawing a blank on possible causes. My heart goes out to you, I really wish you could get a resolve.
 
I really hope so, I've got an appointment for 5.15 tonight. I'll take the info from this thread & I've also posted on 2 fb groups I'm a member of.
 
I've had Minky to the vet's & she's been prescribed Lapizole (I think that's what it was) for a 28 day course. Dominika said it's easier to give smaller dozes than Panicur. I've got to pick it up tomorrow afternoon so if it is a different name I'll post tomorrow. She's also said to reduce the Baytril to just one 0.5ml dose a day but if she appears to have adverse affects to go back to twice a day. If there's no change after 28 days then she's going to prescribe a different antibiotic. It is possible that the damage done may be irreversible. If that's the case then she'll always get all the special care she needs.
 
Have just googled it and it is a rabbit wormer. Hope it helps, you may find that she ends up needing cattle Panacur though as rabbit wormer does not cover enough. Even rabbit Panacur is not as good as the sheep and cattle one.
 
helen105281 said:
Have just googled it and it is a rabbit wormer. Hope it helps, you may find that she ends up needing cattle Panacur though as rabbit wormer does not cover enough. Even rabbit Panacur is not as good as the sheep and cattle one.
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I was told that dog/cat Panacur was good but my vet said that this other stuff had a wider range too. All I can do is try it for 4 weeks & hope it does help her.
 
Yes definitely try it and see how it goes, it may be better than the small animal version of Panacur.
 
helen105281 said:
Yes definitely try it and see how it goes, it may be better than the small animal version of Panacur.
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It's the same thing. It comes in different concentrations for different animals. The bonus with the more concentrated ones is that you give less volume, which is good as panacur tastes like arse. There's a reason they don't like it!
 
I was told that the cattle one covers more. I will find out exactly why.
 
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I just picked up Minky's prescription this morning. It is Lapizole & she has been prescribed 1.3ml per day for 28 days. It must have a better taste than Panacur because Minky took it all without any fuss. I sniffed it and it has a pleasant smell. I'll keep a close watch on her to make certain there's no side effects but don't think there will be. She booked in to see her vet again on March 17th so fingers crossed something good happens.
 
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