Bad Head Tilt...next step?

[Sam]

My poor little Bassie has a head tilt, been getting worse for about two weeks.  We started him right away on Baytril (.4 cc of 10mg/ml 2x daily) and Prednisone (.4cc of 1mg/ml 2x daily) after a shot of Dexamethasone. But it's still slowly getting worse.  I'm going to up the doseage of the meds slightly, but the poor little man's head is all the way sideways!!  he's still hungry and thristy but being that tilly makes it really hard to eat and drink.  I've got water on the floor for him and easily slurpable food.  What next?  Anyone have any ideas?

[groomfest]

Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Maybe you could combine the Baytril with doxycycline? Sometimes head tilt is part of an ear infection associated with myco, and doxy-Baytril are a good combo for treating that.

Some rats go all the rest of their lives with head tilts and don't seem to notice the difference! It's great that you're trying to make eating and drinking easier.

[DebW]

I've owned 2 rats with permanent head tilts.  Both led relatively normal lives. One lived well past 2 1/2 and the other is currently going on 2.  

Mine were treated like yours.  The ear infection went away, but the head tilt remained.  They both learned to adapt.  Their balance isn't as good as the other rats, but they climb stairs, sleep in hammocks, and eat like the others.  They don't do as well on shoulders and can become a bit confused if put down on their "wrong" side.

Good luck with your guy and I hope he begins to feel better.  It sounds like you're doing the right things.  Soft, easy to eat foods are really helpful right now.

[Rose]

When I had a tilted rat, I made sure to give frequent neck massages.  Their poor little tiny muscles must get so cramped.

[Nelly]

http://www.ratballs.com/JanesNotes/Jane195.html

My Mitts has a head tilt she's had for about 4 weeks.  She's fine apart from the compromised balance it causes - mischevious as ever, eating well, drinking, etc.  I've been doing some searching around to try and find things out that might help and found the info linked above.  She's so wiggly and lively that I'm struggling to do this, though, so good luck if you try it.  Responses I've had generally say that just because the tilt is still there, it doesn't mean anything else is wrong and they can adjust to it.