Losing use of back leg - help!! New U/D - doing well

Hi :wave: We've had Daisy for a few months now after rescuing her. She always had a bit of balance issues, so we had her blood tested and they found she could have possibly had EC. She was treated initially and recently, we noticed she seemed to be dragging her behind and the vet said EC again, so she has been on a 6 week course of Panacur, of which is is nearly 5 weeks through.
We thought we noticed a bit of improvement, but have noticed her back left leg appears to have turned inward and under her. Watching her in the back garden today, it seems to have got alot worse. She uses both back legs now and again, but has started sort of sitting to her left side and just using her 3 other legs, dragging her butt and left leg along. As you can imagine, it's quite sore. She is always quite wet around her back end and we clean her and keep it Sudocremed to help with urine sores etc - this was put down to the EC by the vet and we didn't think much more of it.
She doesn't seem to be in pain, is eating ok, but we're starting to get a bit worried.
We're going to get her back to the vets asap, but I just wondered if this sounded familiar to anyone at all?
Also, when you do hold her, she keeps her left leg tucked up and if you try and pull it out, she either flicks it out quick or it twitches a lot.
Sorry for the long post, but just figureed I'd get in as much info as poss.
Thanks guys :thumb::shock::shock:

Has she been on an anti-inflammatory. This is an essential part in the management of EC.

Have other possible causes of her symptoms been investigated and ruled out ?

The vet never mentioned an anti inflammatory? Only Pancur. What med is the inflammatory?
To be honest, the last vet to rediagnose EC wasn't our favorite, but he was convinced and we were none the wiser. We're going to get her back to see our preferred vet as soon as possible and I'll mention the anti-inflammatory.

Thanks a alot

matjoliver said:

The vet never mentioned an anti inflammatory? Only Pancur. What med is the inflammatory?
To be honest, the last vet to rediagnose EC wasn't our favorite, but he was convinced and we were none the wiser. We're going to get her back to see our preferred vet as soon as possible and I'll mention the anti-inflammatory.

Thanks a alot

Click to expand...

Metacam is the usual anti-inflammatory prescribed. The reason it is important in the management of EC is to try to minimise the longterm cellular damage caused by the EC spores. It is the inflammatory response to erupting EC spores that causes the clinical symptoms (and cellular damage).

A non Rabbit savvy Vet may well say 'But your Rabbit is not in pain so does not need Metacam'. But the Metacam is needed for its anti-inflammatory properties.

So has the Vet ruled out other possibilities apart from EC ?

Well, Daisy went to the vets today - and to be honest, I don't really know what to do next

The vet has said that Daisy has blood on her urine, is incontinent (thus always wet) and recommended she no longer lives outside because of this as it is making her highly susceptible to fly strike - even though we clean her once a day. She also said that Daisy is clearly in pain from sores due to urine scalding and has lost a bit of weight. All this is due to the E.C as they checked for injuries etc.
Basically she recommended that we seriously consider PTS :shock:

We asked about Metacam, as Daisy was never put on this and they said it's not something they'd usually prescribe, but they will if we specifically ask for it. I'm not too happy really about the whole situation - I don't want to give up on her, but also don't want her to suffer.

I'd like to get a second opinion, but does anyone know of a decent rabbit specialist in West Sussex, specifically around the Horsham area?

Thanks a lot

That sounds awfull. I cannot offer any advice on this but i hope you can get through this without having to pts. all the best.

The way i look at it is that if i knew someone who had a rabbit like this, what would i think? Most of the time i go with a gut feeling - i know my animals better than my vet does, if i think i want to keep trying then i will, but if i think the animal has given up, then i make the decision to PTS.

In your heart of hearts what do you really want to do?

I have to say that i watched a telly program a few months ago and there was a rabbit on it that was incontinent, all i could think was that if the bunny was mine, i think the kindest thing would be to pts.

Sorry i can't be more help - you will make the correct decision - sending ((hugs)) to you - take care - Ali

I don't want to give up on her really - I rescued her from a neglected home and we've only had her a few months. I've read so many success stories for EC buns that I really want to get a second opinion, but from a decent rabbit vet that comes recommended - anyone?!?!

I'm really up the wall at the moment but if you look at my website - www.ebonyeyes.co.uk you will see a lot of information and pictures about disabled buns

How is Daisy in herself? Is she still bright and alert? Is she still eating and seems happy?

Will write more later but please don't give up on her - they can adapt easily and you just adapt with them

Emptying her bladder manually will help the incontinence - we've proved that time and time again

Daisy doesn't seem to bothered in herself. I read on another post about manually helping her to empty her bladder - what's the best way of doing this?

I just don't want to cause her to suffer, especially if the flies start coming. Is there anything that can help dry her out or remove the urine smell at all?

You could try David Vower at Park Vale clinic in Emsworth West Sussex he is an exotic specialist and has been treating my rabbit who has similar problems, or if you give the clinic a ring they might be able to recommend a vet who is closer. 01243 377141

You can use rear guard to help with fly strike! I am struggling with my rabbit at the moment, she can't use her legs at all now, I have to clean her at least twice a dayand have been covering her in cornflower to keep her dry, not sure if that is recommended but seems to work!

Jaypot said:

I'm really up the wall at the moment but if you look at my website - www.ebonyeyes.co.uk you will see a lot of information and pictures about disabled buns

How is Daisy in herself? Is she still bright and alert? Is she still eating and seems happy?

Will write more later but please don't give up on her - they can adapt easily and you just adapt with them

Emptying her bladder manually will help the incontinence - we've proved that time and time again

Click to expand...

I can't get your link to work at the moment, I am desperate for care advice on disabled bunnies too!

It's really a personal decision. It sounds like a full recovery is unlikely and she has permanent damage whether from EC or some other issue. There are certainly things you can do to manage the condition and keep her as comfortable as possible. Deciding when the line is between her being happy and comfortable and it's time to let go can be very difficult in these situations and different owners will pick different times.

The vet is right about flystrike, she's high risk and it can happen within hours so unless you can check her very often then inside is safer. You can also use rear guard which is available from a vet, this inhibets maggot growth so reduces the risk.

If she has painful sores then some sort of painkiller is a good idea, open wounds may also need ab's.

Soft bedding will help prevent pressure sores, towels or vet bed will also help adsorb the urine.

A wet wipe (like you use for babies) two or three times a day before applying the urine may help reduce the urine scold.

There are lots of other ideas to if you read back though the forum.

After a recommendation on this site - we took Daisy to see Karen Smith at David Clare in Crawley - I have to say, she was great. Much more positive than our usual vets, didn't see any problem with getting Daisy sorted.
She's now had an x-ray to rule out injury, inspect for arthritis and also any urine stones. Maybe a small onset of arthritis, but otherwise has been diagnosed as definite EC related.
She has been put on Metacam indefinitely, has Baytril for a small urine infection, a healing cream for her sore backside and will be on Panacur every other month. She has been clipped all around her rear end and we're going to keep it short - she's not fully incontinent, but does dribble now and again. This has definitely helped with cleaning, keeping her dry and treating sores.
Poor thing looks ever so funny :lol:
We've had her back a couple of days, but I'm pretty sure she's improving already :thumb:
Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread and my other threads regarding vet recommendation.

So pleased u've had some postive views on her condition. I hope she continues to improve. One of my buns Flopsy hasd EC she was on metacam and panacur for 28 days and made a brilliant recovery. She does have a bit of arthirits in her bck left leg and some days doesn't hop very well but other than that she leads a very happy life. Good luck with your buns improvement.