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Its Not ALWAYS EC.......................

Jack's-Jane

Wise Old Thumper
I am getting a bit concerned. On reading various threads on here and elsewhere there seems to be an increassing assumption that Bunnies who display symptoms of weightloss and/or excessive drinking 'probably have EC'
People are being advised to 'Panacur the Rabbit'.
Personally I think the first advice I would give is to get the Rabbit thoroughly examined by a Vet. Whilst EC may be implicated and a 28 day course of Panacur may be appropriate there are numerous other conditions that can cause weighloss and/or excessive drinking.
I worry that newbies might assume that just doing a 28 day course of Panacur will address any potential problem and they may delay taking the Bun to be examined by a Vet. Thus a non EC related problem may get overlooked.
 
Good topic Jane.

On a slightly different (but relevent) note. Has EC always been this common? I mean, panacur only really became popular a few years ago (that i have been aware of) and now threads are cropping up everywhere. Is it getting more common, or have i just became aware of an exisiting issue?
 
I agree Jane. When Gregory was ill all the symptoms pointed to EC. I did Panacur him, but he also was thoroughly investigated by the vet and it turned out to be his teeth; a problem I would have missed without the vet.
 
Jane, you have typed what I have been thinking for months. I took a rabbit in from a vets (not my vets) last week who diagnosed EC because it had a sore eye and just gave it panacur and only a 9 day course:shock: (so glad they aren't my vets). I took it to my vets and didn't say anything and guess what the eye as an abcess and we have him on penicillin and Tiacil to see how it responds (the bun is only about 16wks old)
 
It seems to have completely turned around in the short space of time I've been on this forum (3 years), from EC hardly being mentioned as a cause of illness, to being mentioned all the time. The same goes for the way vets are treating rabbit illnesses, I think.

Maybe I'm one of the guilty ones who suggests EC a lot (hope not - I'm hardly in 'rabbit health' these days). My way of thinking is that Panacur seems to work quite quickly, and that seeing as some people routinely use 9 day courses of Panacur anyway, it's unlikely to do any harm. You get a good idea as to whether the bun is responding to it, as to whether to continue with a longer course. I totally agree though, it isn't always EC and a vet visit in the first instance is vital.

It's just a shame that the testing for EC isn't better.
 
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