head tilt

[liebe_jupee_rip]

my girl has a head tilit, she just finished 2 weeks of batryil, she's acting better,  jumps out of bed for treats and playtime. But her head is still incredibly tilted. Should i be worried? I dont have the money to see if she has a brain tumor.

[melissa79]

Oscar had a severe ear infection and was treated w/ bactrim almost a month ago. He still has a slight head tilt (it was very bad before) and he leans to the left when he walks. Sometimes the head tilt is permanent and it sounds like this may be the case w/ your ratty. I would say if she's healthy otherwise, over her infection then she's probably just like Oscar. It's kind of funny when I look at Oscar running full speed at a sideways angle lol.

[DebW]

I've had 2 rats who retained a permanent head tilt after an inner ear infection.  Both lived almost a year to a year and a half more to be  about 2 1/2 and were extremely happy rats. They did pretty much everything the others did and didn't know they were different. 

[Sugarfoxx]

Yep same here........Noel had head tilt last December and when she passed away 2 weeks ago, she still had it.  It was severe at first and slowly got better.  When she died, I would say it got a little worse again but before that it was just mild. 

I also suggest a round of steroids to help. alot of times inflammation is still there and that also helps too.   She should have been on the baytril at least 21 days.  Thats the usual dosing schedule that is recommended for treating myco, which is usually the culprit with ear infections in rats.   I would not put her on steroids unless she gets back on baytril though since it can compromise the immune system.

Now....telling the vet this (I mean suggesting ) is another story.  My vet usually agrees with me but I dont know how well  yours takes advice. 

Just my opinion through experience here btw.

[quellykin1]

head tilts need to be treated immediately and aggressively with antibiotics and steroids (usually prednisone). I would still try the steroids -- try to find more info (maybe on rat fan club website with the helpful info) for your vet. Eventually, if left untreated, the infection can start affecting the brain. And if so... you're back to prednisone! I would seriously try to get that prescribed. Maybe by telling the vet it hasn't gone away and giving him the info, he could prescribe it without you having to come in for another "office visit"??

[ruthiechan]

You need to make sure that he doesn't have an ear infection.
This sort of thing MUST be treated aggressively.

Maybe you can talk to your vet about a payment plan. Some vets will do that still, especially if you are a regular.

[Suzan]

Please, please see a vet that specializes in rats. I recently lost a rat to a chronic ear infection, I believe that it might have actually been a pituitary tumor, that was treated with baytryl. My rat had been suffering with the same ear infection on and off for about 4 to 5 months. My rat Boo's usual vet was not available the last two times I need to get my rat in, so I had to seek alternative vets who did not want to medicate my rat in the same way that his original vet would have. They did not give Boo steroid injections, the usual course of treatment. Baytryl works great in these cases when it is partnered with steroid injections. Eventually baytryl by itself seems to became really ineffective.
 Please, for your rat's sake, seek out a vet who specializes in rats. It seems that rats often get very sick at the worst possible time (like when your regular vet is not available), please also seek an emergency clinic (the kind that are opened 24 hours) that will treat rodents. I have actually found myself in need of emergency care in the wee hours of the morning only to be turned away from pet emergency clinic, because the vets did not see rats, or other rodents.
Some vets and their staff can actually become umpleasant when merely being asked if the will see a sick rat.