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Question on E cuniculi ?

M

Mel D

Warren Scout
Hi, My rabbit Fudge has had E cuniculi now for over 2mths showing a small improvement to Panchor.
My vet said that he had about 4 weeks to live the beginning of August, I took Fudge to see a different vet on Thursday to get a second opinion and she said that he is still losing weight even though he still eats and drinks and that he would never recover from it and he would probably pass away suddenly.
I asked her for a Ec blood test, but she didn't think there was any point and they don't do any Ec tests.
Can anyone tell me whether they know anybody thats rabbit has recovered fully from Ec or is this disease Fatal?
Thanks in advance
 
EC is not very well understood by a lot of vets, so that can lead to misdiagnoses. In true EC there is no recovery, it is a degenerative disorder which can go up and down and will finally over take the body, however, a mis diagnosis, or a diagnosis based on mistabken facts could potentially have a very different prognosis, hopefully a far happier one.
 
With EC unfortunately the damage done is usually irreversible. It can effect the Kidney aswell as the central nervous system.

How was the condition origionally diagnosed ? What were/are his symptoms

Apart from Panacur what other medication has Fudge had ?
 
Fudge was first diagnosed the beginning of August because both of his legs were weak and he was sometimes dragging one of them, I chose to put him on Panchor not the vet the vet said sorry there was nothing he could do.
After being on Panchor for about 2 weeks he wasn't dragging his leg anymore but they were still a little weak.
He has got bad kidneys that showed up on a blood test in July.
The second vet told me to keep him on Panchor for another 28 days but she really don't think there is any point.
He doesn't seem to be in any pain because he still eats and drinks.
 
An Ec test would probably not give reliable results now because your bun is already on panacur.
What might be useful is a repeat blood test to check wheher the kidneys have deteriorated and to check the potassium level as low blood potassium can cause weakness.

My bunny Tippex Porkychicken has had no relapses since being diagnosed with 'probable' Ec in Feb 2008, although she did recently have a bout of gut stasis, probably stress induced :)
 
That does sound like 'proper' EC from what I've learnt about it.

Panacur does not prevent EC from taking over the body because it can't penetrate the blood brain barrier to eradicate the spores. Some places in the US are now using a different drugs (one meant for horses) and it seems to be showing positive outcomes at the moment.

I would think the best thing to do is keep him boosted up as much as possible, which wil help his immune system launch attacks at the EC.
 
Oh I'm so sorry.

My vet told me if I gave a 28 course it rids the body of the parasite and is in theory no need to re-worm after that. Would this be correct?
 
Cornishlass said:
Oh I'm so sorry.

My vet told me if I gave a 28 course it rids the body of the parasite and is in theory no need to re-worm after that. Would this be correct?
Click to expand...

Yes, in that it is the current advice on the control of EC.
The parasite will be eradicated but not necessarily the spores it sheds whilst in the body.

When EC symptoms occur it is due to the eruption of spores (usually in the CNS and Kidneys). The parasite itself is likely to have been excreted weeks or months beforehand.

At least that's my understanding.... :?
But all the advice and information about EC and its treatment is constantly changing. Mainly due to the lack of much research. I believe that there is some 'work in progress' in that department at the moment though.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
But all the advice and information about EC and its treatment is constantly changing. Mainly due to the lack of much research. I believe that there is some 'work in progress' in that department at the moment though.
Click to expand...

This does seem to be the case. I would bet in about 10 years we'll all be scratching our heads and going 'we had to do this? why' type thing.

All we can do is find what we believe to be the best advice and follow that. It's really hard though. I'm often spouting different things from most people here (mainly due to previously being on a forum that had a many who had done extensive research and work wiht EC over in America, and none of that knowledge has, as yet, filtered through over here) and have been 'jumped on' for it and for saying 'inaccurate' information, but really, its just a case of each owner doing what they think is best for their own bunnies and working out from everything that is said what they think is best.
 
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