Causes of Acute Head Tilt?

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The vet thinks my chinny may have aspirated fluid into his lungs from all the medication and syringe-feeding him Critical Care; maybe I fed him too fast? She told me to continue feeding/medicating him according to his Rx but to stop subcu fluids for 24 hrs. If his breathing is still labored tomorrow she told me to bring him in for emergency care :\

When I asked about switching from trimethoprim sulfa to baytril, she told me the sulfa should work just as well as baytril but without making him nauseous since he probably already is from his ear infection. But if he is having trouble breathing tomorrow she will re-evaluate his condition.
 
Just wanted to share my experience with my hamster who had a head tilt problem & was running around in circles.
My vet, who is the local zoo's vet & is highly experienced with exotics & rodents, suspected 2 things: a cancer that has spread to her brain (my hamster had skin cancer on her stomach that was surgically removed before she had the head tilt problem) or it's a vertigo problem.
A blood test was out of the question because my hamster was a dwarf hamster & drawing blood out of her would do her more harm than good, so there's no way to find out whether it was cancer or a vertigo problem. The vet put her on Enrofloxacin (0.05 ml for twice a day); if she didn't get better after 3 days on the meds, then it meant that she had cancer.
Turned out that she didn't get better & her body gave in.
All the best with your chins & it's good to read that you're giving him a chance & looking after him well.
 
Did you ask about the anti-nausea drug? If the vet felt he is nauseous he should have them. Also, aspiration can turn into pneumonia in a split second-I am not sure why your vet is treating a URI, possible aspiration and ear infection so lightly-aspiration alone can be a medical emergency and you really need to get ahead of the curve using heavy duty antibiotics with respiratory issues on chins since they are very often fatal. Both chins of mine who had malo came down with a URI and even with agressive treatment and time in the hospital they both died. This chin already has a depressed immune system so IMO you need to keep on this vet for a better antibiotic and a anti-nausea drug.
 
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Taking him back to the vet today. He was still nose-wiping this morning but his breathing sounds worse :(
 
Do not leave the vets office without Baytril. It's an antibiotic, not a narcotic, and he's being stupid not to have given it to you before this. He's already sliding downhill if his breathing is worsening. You also need to ask the vet about a nebulizer for him to try and clear his lungs out. I'm not going to kid you, you stand a very good chance of losing him at this point. I agree 100% with Dawn - the vet treated this VERY casually considering how susceptible chins are to pneumonia once they are ill.
 
I agree, you need to be adamant with your vet because URI's go downhill so quickly.

I recently lost a chin to a URI. In a week's period of time he went from having a small amount of discharge on his nose but acting normally, to so much discharge his nose was raw and bloody and he could barely breath. The URI progressed to pneumonia within a day. Despite baytril, nebulizing, oxygen treatments, and other things, I still lost him. URI's are nasty and they can not be treated lightly.
 
It may be a good idea to inject the chin with the Baytril right at the vet, have the vet show you how to give an injection. This chin needs to get the baytril into the bloodstream right away.

The other thing that can help is some gentamycin drops in the nose. That gets antibiotic right to where the infection is and into the sinuses...it helps a great deal and works very well with the Baytril. The chinchilla probably had this infection before the ear infection. Sulfa drugs aren't all that great in treating respiratory problems or pneumonia. :( i hope the chin makes it.
 
AZChins said:
It may be a good idea to inject the chin with the Baytril right at the vet, have the vet show you how to give an injection. This chin needs to get the baytril into the bloodstream right away.

The other thing that can help is some gentamycin drops in the nose. That gets antibiotic right to where the infection is and into the sinuses...it helps a great deal and works very well with the Baytril. The chinchilla probably had this infection before the ear infection. Sulfa drugs aren't all that great in treating respiratory problems or pneumonia. :( i hope the chin makes it.
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Susan, you really need to stop giving medical advice since you are so often off the mark. Earlier in this thread you said sulfa was fine, and argued with others that said he needed to be on baytril NOW. And now you are coming back and contradicting yourself saying stronger antibiotics are needed which was pointed out by others in the first place. Your Pollyanna attitude, it will all be okay and a post full of emoticons may make people like you and may make the owners feel better, but it does NOTHING to help the chins.
 
If the chin survives the URI and the ear condition does not improve the vet should culture the pus, if it is present deep in the ear canal, if done the exact correct bacterial agent can be determined and the correct antibiotic RXed if the baytril does not work. The chin I dealt with was lucky there was pus and surgery to access it was not required, its how the vet determined the two antibiotics that chin got.
 
One of the problems with that is the pus can often come back as "sterile" (no bacterial pathogens found) because of the antibiotics currently in use - it can be a bit hit or miss.
The antibiotics may not be hitting the bacteria hard enough but have just enough effect for too little bacteria counts to show on a swab. :(

It is a real pity the vet did not swab the ear on initial examination before starting the antibiotics.
 
Claire D said:
One of the problems with that is the pus can often come back as "sterile" (no bacterial pathogens found) because of the antibiotics currently in use - it can be a bit hit or miss.
The antibiotics may not be hitting the bacteria hard enough but have just enough effect for too little bacteria counts to show on a swab. :(

It is a real pity the vet did not swab the ear on initial examination before starting the antibiotics.
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Good point, the chin I had got the culture prior to the antibiotic use.
 
menagerie said:
Susan, you really need to stop giving medical advice since you are so often off the mark. Earlier in this thread you said sulfa was fine, and argued with others that said he needed to be on baytril NOW. And now you are coming back and contradicting yourself saying stronger antibiotics are needed which was pointed out by others in the first place. Your Pollyanna attitude, it will all be okay and a post full of emoticons may make people like you and may make the owners feel better, but it does NOTHING to help the chins.
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I'm sorry...I didn't mean to offend you. The sulfa drugs can treat inner ear infections, that was the point. At that time it wasn't known that the chin actually had a respiratory issue as well. The Baytril is the best antibiotic for that. I don't think I am contradicting myself by saying to use it for that. I remember one of my vets gave Baytril for a URI and two weeks later gave Septra for the inner ear thing.

The gentamycin drops used with the Baytril have worked very well in the past for me. That's why I would recommend them...my vet started doing the same thing for other chins and it just helps to get right to the infection.

At any rate, thanks for checking up on me. :) I suppose it's good to be kept on my toes.
 
I had to put him down :'( he crashed so fast and by the time I got him to the vets he was unresponsive and they couldn't get oxygen through him.

He was seen by two different vets so the 2nd vet who saw him last couldn't say much about his initial condition without an autopsy. I know the first vet did see fluid in his ears but I didn't think to ask about getting a culture on it. But at least I got to say a final goodbye and tell him what a great chinchilla he was. Thank you everyone for your help, it meant a lot.
 
Oh Nimise, I'm so sorry for your loss :( You did a really great job with him, and I know you both tried your hardest to get him better. Are you going to have the vets do a necropsy, or are you going to bury him? I know that when my hamster died (A few weeks ago, waiting for the vet to arrive) she didn't do a necropsy but she did do an external exam on my Florence, and it made me feel better afterward because she was able to answer my questions and let me know that it wasn't my fault. We were also able to figure out what the cause was, which is a comfort, although it doesn't seem like it would be.
Don't be afraid to return to the vet and ask for a necropsy-you can call, too if you don't want to go in.
Again, I am so sorry for your loss. Thinking of you, :hearts: Brittany
 
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