Advice for a rabbit who possibly has E.C.

I've been reading a few of the threads on E.C. and Inner ear infections but I just wanted to get some opinions and some more suggestions from people who have dealt with this.

Over the last four weeks my little mini lop Poko has developed a very severe head tilt, her head is horizontal at the moment. She currently 16 weeks old.

She showed no other signs or symptoms of distress or illness before, this seemed to literally occur overnight and I cannot figure out what may have caused it.
I took her to a Vet close to me twice a few weeks ago and she was on an antibiotic called Baytril. I had her on 15 ml once a day for a week with no signs of improvement so then she was on 15 ml twice a day for another week with no improvement.
That Vet thought she had a bacterial ear infection in one of her ears, and some bacteria was found when he took a sample. It looked like black dirt.

She was still eating and drinking and is very active and overall seems happy and still enjoys having a run around and getting cuddles (when she's not having a fit of rolling).

She also cannot urinate in her litter box anymore as its too difficult to jump into it, so she is urinating all over the place and sometimes rolls into her own urine. She also has trouble eating out of her food bowl and eating the dried pellets so I have been giving her more fresh greens (mint, parsley, baby spinach, alfalfa) and grass hay as its been easier for her to eat.

Seeing as she didn't improve I went looking for a rabbit savvy vet and found one really close to me so I decided to take her there as I felt like nothing was working and she had started flipping/rolling. (This Vet was really amazing!)

They checked her ears and said they couldn't see anything in either of them, so they took a blood test for E.C. (I still have to wait another week for the results) and she's on a stronger antibiotic, Bactrim twice a day and Panacur and Metacam once daily incase she does indeed have the parasite.

When I've been letting her run around inside she just ends up urinating on the carpet, is there anything that I can use to clean the carpet apart from bleach (as I heard that it is the only thing that will kill the spores) that might work? I can't really use bleach on the carpet.

Also what would be the best way to wash the urine from her fur? I have already given her a warm bath with some soap (a natural olive oil based soap) but not sure if just rinsing her fur will actually remove and kill the spores?

I have been using a dilution of bleach on her hutch and then washing the towels on a hot machine wash with tea tree oil plus the other laundry soap powder I use.

Today she doesn't seem too good, it's been about 6 days since starting the other three medications and she's basically just lying on her side and her head is still tilted, I haven't really seen her stand up at all and because of this she isn't eating or drinking as much so I've been trying to hand feed her.
I will be calling the Vet tomorrow to see what they think.

Does it seem like it is most likely the parasite? Just wondering what people think based on their experiences and her symptoms.

What more could I be doing to help her and make her seem more comfortable?

Thank you to anyone who can offer some advice

*Also if anyone is interested and lives in Sydney, Australia like myself and is looking for a good vet, the rabbit savvy vet that I found is David Vella and he is at a veterinary clinic in Crow's Nest. His website is here: http://www.davidvella.com.au

Hello

I am sorry to hear about Poko's problems

It appears that she is now on the correct treatment to cover for both bacterial infection and EC. Although I think my Vet would prescribe a different type of antibiotic, or possibly a combination of antibiotics eg Depocillin Injections and oral Metronidazole.

Some Rabbits benefit from an anti motion sickness medication eg Stemetil, to help counteract the 'dizzy' feeling they experience.

If Poko is not eating much she will require supportive feeds and possibly subcutaneous fluids.

What dose of Metacam is she receiving ? Many Vets are reluctant to prescribe a high enough dose. Here Rabbit savvy Vets are likely to prescribe up to 0.6mg/kg/day.

As you will have read from other threads recovery from headtilt is possbible but it can take many weeks of intensive nursing care. Sometimes the Rabbit is left with a permanent tilt but they can adapt to cope with it.

I hope Poko continues to fight to get as well as possible xx

I have had a bun with head tilt, Kermit.

The intitial stages can be very distressing. However many buns can recover well, as Jane said.

My advice would be to persevere with the bad stuff just now, your bun seems to be fighting through this, and although she is urinating outwith her litter tray, she may learn to use it again.
My Kermit was slightly incontinent when he first got head tilt, i used to lift him into his litter tray and massage his tummy until he done a pee.....he couldnt get himself into his litter tray to begin with, but he managed himself after a few weeks.

Allso, when my Inca had EC she couldnt get into the litter tray, so i changed it to an actual dinner tray, she managed that fine.

Good luck vibes for a speedy recovery xx

Hiya,
Sorry to hear your bun isnt well. My Mimi has had a head tilt for over a month now (you may have read my thread, if not please feel free to.)
Hers was diagnosed as an inner ear infection and she was treated with an antibiotic called Marbocyl, which we injected twice daily. You mention that she is very listless and Mimi was like this whilst the infection was still present, when it had cleared up she was back to her normal self, eating and drinking really well and full of feist, but still had a very bad head tilt and severe rolling. So maybe it is that there is still an infection present that is making her lethargic, or if this has been ruled out it could well EC.

Mimis balance went completely, she was literally rolling all the time so we had to confine her to a cage padded with rolled up towels as boulsters for her to lean on Also she has been on Meclizone (a human anti vertigo drug) throughout to help with the dizzyness. It is only after the past few days that she has finally got back on her feet, and sounds much the same as your bun does now, except that she is lively and eating well. Now that she is free in the lounge again I have boulstered every edge she could possibly roll into, and put a thin summer duvet on the floor to help prevent sore hocks and absorb some of the accidents. Fortunatly Mimi is now using her litter tray again, albeit VERY precariously, but for a day or so she was just peeing on the floor, and no matter what I clean it with it ALWAYS stains! so i'll be interested to see whta suggestions ppl have re. that aswell.

When Mimi couldnt stand I had to wash her everyday. While she couldnt clean herself atall I used slightly soapy warm water to clean off any urine, then when she started to clean herself abit I just used warm water. And always dried her as best I could. You may also want to check her feet once a day to make sure that sore hocks arent starting to occur due to her unusual gait. If you start to see a bald patch put some sudocrem on them to help stop them getting any worse. with mimi I aslo got some lubricating eye drops from the vets and cleaned her eyes with warm water and put this in both eyes twice a day to prevent soreness and infections. Erm.....trying to think what else! Oh yeh, if you're finding that she cant eat her caecotrophs (the squidgy, moist poos) then you will need to pick them up and offer her them yourself (gross I know!)

I really hope she doesnt get any worse, its absolutely auwful, I know. If you read through my thread (apologies its very long) its very detailed from day 1 up until now and includes piccys. Theres lots of advise I got off there from other people.

The only other thing I would say is watch her eating. Antibiotics and according to my vet Metacam can very easily disturb the bacteria in the guts, so it is IMPERATIVE that she keeps eating. If she completely refuses you will need to get her to the vets ASAP for some fluids and gut stimulant.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Unfortunatly i feel like abit of an expert on head tilt now

I'm too tired to really take this thread in today but I just want to say keep going! I know how tough it is to watch but they can recover without showing any lasting symptoms.

Thanks for all the information everyone! I truly appreciate it

Yesterday afternoon / Last night things took a turn for the worse. I had her in her outdoor hutch to get some sun and she wasn't able to stand up or walk around, she barely ate or drank anything all day. Her breathing was very shallow and slow and things were looking pretty grim this was the worst I had seen her.

Later in the evening she was VERY listless and her eyes were glazed over and I really thought she was about to go. She also became very cold.
I nursed her in a towel with a small wheat bag (heat pack) on top and gave her water via a syringe and kept hand feeding her. At around 11pm she perked back up again and was munching away on her food!
I've been keeping her in a smaller cat cage with towels to help with her rolling and have just been nursing her and hand feeding her.

Today she has been SO much better She's been running around and pooing all over the place and did a massive wizzle in the kitchen and has been drinking from a bowl of water I placed on the floor.
She's hardly rolled today and has been able to hop around and get some exercise. Although her head tilt is still really bad and she wobbles a little bit when she hops around.

I think perhaps yesterday she was just completely fed up and probably felt like giving up but she has pulled through and hopefully this is the start of her recovering.
I'm going to keep her in the cat cage for now until she improves and keep hand feeding her food and water and nursing her.

Hiya, how is she today??

It can take a very long time for a bun to recover from a head tilt so stick with it. Its great that shes eating and drinking by herself, means she's still fighting
Im sure with you looking after her so well she'll pull through, even if she has a slightly wonky head for the rest of her life

By the way, my Mimi has now relearnt to use her litter tray. Once she could hop in and out of it again she got back into it very quickly

xxx

Gemmapookie said:

Hiya, how is she today??

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She's been good, I've been keeping her inside and letting her run around most of the time that I am home which seems to be making her extremely happy she's is hopping around and running.
Her head tilt is still there but she isn't rolling as much.
She's still eating and I occasionally have to syringe her water as shes not really drinking as much as she usually does. She hopped in her litter tray once but didn't do any poo's or wee's in there, she just urinates all over the carpet! It's getting rather annoying but I have to let it go as I know letting her run around is helping with her recovery. I've tried putting her poo's and soiled tissues (with the urine) in her litter box but she's not really taking much notice of it lol.

Other than that she seems to be rather good at the moment. Still treating her with the three medications so hopefully this head tilt won't be a permanent one!

Keep following the advice and treatment prescribed by David Vella, but ask him about any of the recommendations you read here. My vet and I have used him as a consultant on a few occasions He is an excellent vet and will listen to you. I think without doubt the best bunny vet in this country.

It would be well worth your while to read Gemmapookie's thread on Mimi. It is very informative and full of hope.

Wishing you all the best to get Poko through this awful condition.

Hang in there with Poko. My little girl Buttercup had EC and head tilt in February this year but has come through it and is now a happy healthy bun again.

Don't give up hope.

Best wishes to you and Poko

xx :wave: xx