Advice on spec needs bunny U/D I adopted her :-)

Hi all, there is a female bunny about 2 years old who I am looking at adopting.

She has been in rescue for about 6 months and came in extremely overweight and with a bad case of mites.

She then gave in to ear mites which took a fair amount of time to heal up and they dont know if it got to her brain as she also had a bout of head tilt.

To my knowledge she has been on a course of Ivermectin, Baytril and Panacur (they confirmed for 6 weeks).

She has now been given the all clear for her ear mites but she may have ongoing problems.

She has been known to have fits in the past, in which she pushes her head against the floor and screams. Her last fit was about 4 weeks ago and she has been happy since.

I asked them if their vet thought it may be E.C or Epilepsy and they do not know. Does anyone have any ideas that I can put forward should I adopt her.

Also any other signs I should look out for?

She hasn't been spayed and I'm guessing with a history of fitting it wouldn't be advised?

I have some pics of her, they dont know the breed, she was double the size when she came in (overweight). I think she may be English X with something but any idea's would be nice?

Oh and forgot to mention that incase you dont already know I have a little extra time on my hands and have looked after a spec needs bun before so am hoping to give a bunny who needs a bit more care a loving home

Will add piccies in a bit

Here she is:

She's lovely

Did the last seizure occur during or after her course of treatment ?
Has she had any diagnostics ?
Blood tests- FBP and EC Titres
Skull radiographs to check for middle ear infection

Without knowing the actual cause of her problems its hard to give any advice re what may happen in the future re her health. I have had Buns who have lived a happy life despite having repeated seizures. Sometimes bonding them can be tricky but its not impossible.

Jack's-Jane said:

She's lovely

Did the last seizure occur during or after her course of treatment ?
Has she had any diagnostics ?
Blood tests- FBP and EC Titres
Skull radiographs to check for middle ear infection

Without knowing the actual cause of her problems its hard to give any advice re what may happen in the future re her health. I have had Buns who have lived a happy life despite having repeated seizures. Sometimes bonding them can be tricky but its not impossible.

Click to expand...

Hi Jane, the last seizure occurred when she was in the middle of her treatment.

I have to call them tomorrow when the girl who knows her best will be working. They didn't know much about her but I was planning on asking if she has had blood tests done.

As far as the staff I spoke to knew, she hasn't been diagnosed with anything :roll:

I'll ask the girl tomorrow if she has had bloods and radiographs done, anything else?

If they are not prepared to pay out for her tests, generally how much would each B/T and scan cost?

I think I'll also call my vet tomorrow, so that I'm prepared for immediate costs :roll:

If nothing shows in her tests and she doesn't suffer another seizure would you risk spaying in the future?

Vicki

P.S I have just been having a look online and it said ear mites have been known to cause seizures, have you heard of this?

I have known seizures to occur as a result of a bacterial infection secondary to ear mites.

If she is in the adoption centre of P@H then I doubt very much that she will have had any diagnostcs at all. If she is now well and seizure free I think I'd wait and see before going ahead with any tests (should you adopt her)
If she remains seizure free for about 3 months I'd certainly consider getting her spayed. A pre op blood profile could be run then and you could put her back on Panacur for 9 days before the spay. She may well need some Dental work so that could be attended to at the time of her spay.

As for the cost of the tests all Vets prices vary. I'd certainly be putting £150 aside to start with.

I'm not Jane or Liz but wanted to say x-rays at my vets start at around £150 with GA and a FBP is around £40...so that's a ball park figure for you. :wave:

Thanks guys that certainly helps.

I've just sent an email to my vets to check on costs. However if I do adopt her I do hope she will remain well, not for my wallet but for her health.

She is such a sweety and really deserves a loving home, my OH made me come home and think about it before making a decision but I do feel I made my mind up there and then

It's great if she stays seizure free she can be considered for a spey

No doubt I'll be back on updating tomorrow, if anyone else has anything else to add please feel free.

Oh, what breed would you guess at?

Vicki

And I bought some panacur today to start Arnie and Kira on (they live upstairs) just incase she does have active E.C, I'm guessing that's the right thing to do?

Just to let you know I bought her home this afternoon. Will post some piccies once she is settled although that isn't taking her long :?

She didn't want to take things easy in her crate, has already had a run about and is loving her new home!

I bought her vet records back and it appears she has only had the one fit on 18/1/09 and *touch wood* nothing since. Vet suspected E.C and gave panacur.

I'm assuming though they lied about it being 6 weeks considering it's the 16th Feb today and she started Panacur on the 18th Jan? As she is currently showing no symptoms shall I just leave her be and Panacur for 9 days when she is next due?

I will most likely start a new topic on her later, one which doesn't go on about her health too much and everyone can see how lovely she is

She is lovely. Personally I would start her on a 6 week course of panacur now, I can't see it would do her any harm even if she has already been given some recently.

Congratulations on getting her.

Just wanted to add, I had a similar situation with Sienna, who Raine rescued from a pet shop. She had 4 fits while there and her brother had fits and died They gave her a short course of panacur but I gave her a 6 week course as soon as she arrived and has been fit free ever since She has had full health check ups and vaccinations and the vets could see no obvious evidence of any health problems so we didn't investigate further.

Hopefully she will have no more problems and will be a happy healthy bunny, we are getting her neutered when the weather is warmer

Hopefully your bunny will be happy and healthy from now on too

That's so good to hear

I'm calling the vets tomorrow so they can clarify on the Panacur situation, and if it wont hurt to do another 6 weeks, if she has just finished a 28 day course then I'll get her on that ASAP.

If she finished her 28 day course at the weekend, would I need to do a full 6 weeks because she's had a bread or would a few days break not make a difference and I could make up the rest.

I just dont want to end up giving her too much too soon :roll:

One of my bunnies is one panacur daily for the rest of his life. I'm not sure about how much good it will do him for his problems long term but thats what I agreed to on adoption. I did check with my vet and she said it definately wouldn't do him any harm if thats what the rescue required

As you really don't know what was given I would suggest starting the 6 weeks from the beginning, better safe than sorry

Okies, will do

ohh vicky!!! she is loverly. i would do the 28days i think jsut to be on safe side. then after that if remains fit free for a few months speak to your vet if no other cause of concern then i dont see wh yshe shouldnt be speyed? if has heart issues or other trouble tho i wouldnt. how old is she? and i would speak to your vets(who i know are rabbit savvy) about getting a course of antibiotics if she does have head tilt.
personally i would stil keep her quarrintined from arnie adn kira for a few weeks to make sure no other nasties. and definatly do them theri next course of pannacur now( i know you did it in the past) good luck hopefully she will not need any future treatment and will have no more fits. i hope (and i think she willl) be very happy with you. x

Personally I think I'd want a blood test for EC Titres before putting her on a long course of Panacur after she's just had one :?
Although relatively safe there is some evidence that prolonged use of Fenbendazole (the active ingredient in Panacur) can lead to supression of bone marrow production and thus could potentially adversely impact on the Rabbits immune system.

This is just my personal opinion though, I dont like using any medication longterm unless I am absolutely certain the benefits outweigh the risks. Without a blood test I would not feel happy with using Panacur for another 6 weeks.

Good luck with the beautiful girl !!

Jack's-Jane said:

Personally I think I'd want a blood test for EC Titres before putting her on a long course of Panacur after she's just had one :?
Although relatively safe there is some evidence that prolonged use of Fenbendazole (the active ingredient in Panacur) can lead to supression of bone marrow production and thus could potentially adversely impact on the Rabbits immune system.

This is just my personal opinion though, I dont like using any medication longterm unless I am absolutely certain the benefits outweigh the risks. Without a blood test I would not feel happy with using Panacur for another 6 weeks.

Good luck with the beautiful girl !!

Click to expand...

oh i didnt know that.. my conclusion was going on the basis that the bun had not ahd the full 28day course but if thats true tehre should be no need for a second one . best to find out x

The problem is if she came from a pet shop from my experience they haven't a clue what they are talking about normally so the chances of her already having a decent course is unlikely.

As Moses has now been on an 8 month course :roll::roll: and I have spoken to my vet about it I would have thought another 6 weeks wouldn't do any harm as a one off this time and then repeat the courses as normal from now on

Like I said this is just my opinion given my experiences with Moses and Sienna

Hiya, Bunlover, I started Arnie and Kira on their 9 day course on Sunday evening and dont fancy Arnie meeting his match in Jet just yet :lol:

She is 21 months old according to her records.

I just called the vets, they are only round the corner from me and as they know her will keep her there for the time being (the girl on reception said they all loved her) :shock: Other members on here use the same vets with high praise so I'm happy for now.

They confirmed that she received a 28 day course of panacur (as the instructions tell you to do so with treatment for E.C), so didn't get 6 weeks but I guess not many vets know about that. She finshed her dose on Friday.

Would there be any point in giving her another two weeks as of today (or would the 4 day break mean starting from scratch again)? I'm getting a little confused with the info now :lol:

The vets said they were happy with her when they last saw her.

She no longer has head tilt so I'm guessing the previous dose of Baytril rectified that.

Sorry I haven't updated pictures yet, haven't had a chance but she has certainly made herself at home!