kitten with head tilt and eye twitch

[JodyC71]

My 11 week old kitten has developed a head tilt and eye twitch. She had an eye infection that she was on cephalexin and antibiotic opthalmic ointment for. She has been off the oral antibiotics for over a week now but still has eye ointment applied 3 times daily. She started getting a slight head tilt which at first I thought was due to the lack of sight in her bad eye as it has severe scarring to the cornea. But after a few days she has also developed an eye twitch to both eyes. She still eats very well and plays with her littermates. She has not been shaking her head or scratching as if she had anything going on with her ears and I am stumped.

[zodiacqueen]

I'm confused by the symptoms, too!!  I've had cats for a very long time, too-and, I've never seen those symptoms before.  Were you a vet tech?  You haven't seen these symptoms before?

Could this be some weird form of epilepsy, head trauma, kidney issues(even though, she's very young)?  Just some things off the top of my head.

[JodyC71]

Cephalexin often is prescribed for inner ear infections. So I don't think that is the issue. Also, her symptoms started several days after the meds. were discontinued. And antibiotics don't normally linger in the body at levels that cause reactions for that long without having caused problems sooner. Especially when they are given for two full weeks.That is what baffles me. I worked for a vet for years and there were signs to look for such as dirty ears, or signs of scratching or discomfort. I see nothing. Not even looking with an otoscope. And with her activity and healthy appetite I don't know what to think. The vet that I worked for and took my animals to recently passed away and there is no replacement yet. So I'm kind of on my own with this unless I travel about an hour and fifteen minutes to go to the next closest one. I have noticed her eye twitch is almost non-existant when she has rested a bit but returns when she plays hard. This is so weird. Usually they either have visible signs of an ear problem or they at least act sick in some way.

[zodiacqueen]

Possibly a side effect of cephalexin, ear mites, or maybe the infection has spread to the ears.  That's my guess!