Mo, my
1-year-old rabbit got a facial asymmetry
Sophia Chou
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Mo is very
precious to my family. He is very energetic now and eats a lot every day. Here are some
details about Mo's illness:
History: When Mo was
a little rabbit (about 1month-old, I found he had a rhinitis. At first the nasal
is yellow, and then it changed into transparent and colorless. Because he was
so young, the vet dared not use antibiotics. Instead, I gave him Echinacea
drops for children's use. When spring came and the day got warmer, his nose
was ok. In addition, he had no exposures to other rabbits, patient and wild
environment, also no trauma.
Physical exam: The vet did
a physical exam. And Mum and I check his body every day. He is active and
happy. No head hilt, no loss of balance, no weakness, no paralysis, no
blindness, no altered appetite, no tremors or no seizures. In addition to the
clinical sign of facial paralysis (like Horner's Syndrome mentioned in
articles: a drooping eyelid, sunken eye and relaxed third eyelid), but not as
serious as 3 weeks ago and his pupil is normal.
Tests: No CBC, Serum biochemistries and
X-rays so far. (They were done 3 months ago and the results were good.) As
for other exams mentioned in articles, such as serology for E. cuniculi,
blood testing for heavy metals, CT scan and MRI, they are not (yet) available
in my city and most veterinary places of China. Mo got a
facial asymmetry about 3 weeks ago, which the vet thought is caused by ear
infection. Mo's vet is majors in cat and dog and has little knowledge of
rabbit. This situation is not easy for us.
2012/12/06 Mum found
the dropping of Mo's right ear at night but she didn't know it was a sign of
Mo's illness. BTW, Mo's nose kept a little runny during this week, especially
in cold days.
2012/12/07 We observed
the appearance of the third eyelid on the right side of Mo's face and his right
eye looked like a little abnormal. This eye is runny. He ate and drank a lot
but was not as active as usual. Mo's face was like the bunny in the picture:
2012/12/08 The vet
confirmed Mo's facial asymmetry and he thought the cause was ear infection.
Before he told me this he checked Mo's ears with an otoscope and extracted a
bit of secretions for microscopic examination. The result showed "Malassezia++"
but there are no other bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pasteurella
sp. So the vet thought infection is located in the outer ear and not very serious.
When the nurse washing Mo's ear with Epi-otic, I could see some dark red
things like blood crust from right ear but the left ear is clean. Both ear
had no smell. The vet also believed that the ear infection was related to
Mo's runny nose.
2012/12/09 Mo looked better
than yesterday. He played with us happily and ate much hay and some
vegetables. It seemed that his dropped ear became a little stronger. His nose
was still runny but the right eye was not. Here is the
medication course:
2012/12/08: Baytril,
15mg, SC.
2012/12/09-2012/12/22: Baytril,
15mg/day, PO. At beginning of the treatment, it seemed that Baytril worked so
my vet recommended continued use of this drug for 2 weeks.
2012/12/16-2012/12/22: meloxicam,
first day 1mg, other days 0.5mg, PO for 7 days.
2012/12/23-NOW: Bicillin,
150000 IU once every 48 hours, SC. His right ear gets better and sometimes can keep
upright. But his right face still has the problem and sometimes his nose and
right eye is runny. My vet doesnt know how to deal with rabbit's facial
paralysis so he is pessimistic about prognosis. Mo's
treatment ended in January. His ears look normal now. And his face has
improved greatly although it still remains a little different. His appetite
is not influenced by antibiotic treatment. In a word, he's strong and
energetic now! Last weekend
Mo had a CBC exam and the vet checked his ear with an otoscope. He said Mo's
ear canal looked normal now. Here are two copies of result of CBC exam. One
is for this time and the other is for last year (at that time his ear canal
has no inflammation).
X-rays were not available because Mo did not
cooperate with us. The vet thought it required anesthesia. September
2013: One year
later, Mo has recovered well from his ear infection, his tilted ear and
facial paralysis. He will soon have an examination to confirm his good
health. |
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