ec question seizures

as many of you know dora has been diagnosed with ec and has been on metacam and pannacur at an off license dosage to try and combat it (28days) she has had 2 siezures and possibly others iv not seen i wondered what causes them is it the ec parasite/bacteria affecting the brain or is it a side affect of having the ec not a direct result? do they continue after the pannacur course is done she is lucky to not have head tilt, she has leg issues but not dragging more a limp, has incontinance and the siezures, ec has been confirmed via a tetra(?sorry if thats wrong name) test by a very rabbit savvy vet, i guess i just wondered how much permenant damage may have been done? x

Hi Bunlover
Sorry to hear Dora has EC - just keep in your head that many buns survive this and go on to have happy healthy lives - our beautiful girl bun Buttercup has had head tlt caused by EC and was very ill - now she's fine and very happy!

Apparantly the parasite causes lesions in the brain thus neurological damage is caused. Our vet who also treated Buttercup with a stronger than licensed dose of panacur and regular dose of metacam explained that the matacam would help with the inflamation in the brain so would hopefully reduce the impact of damage done.

I thought Buttercup was fitting but for her it seems she was simply struggling to contend with a wonky world view caused by the head tilt and nysturmus (spelling??) - the inability to focus as her eyes were moving constantly.

We had the titre test done too - that's what confirmed ec in relation too to her other symptoms.

If you have other buns don't forget to panacur them too for 28 days and remember that the ec spores can live up to 30 days outside of the bun's body so make sure you bleach (one part bleach / nine parts water) and leave the bleach in contact with the surface to be cleaned for at least 30 seconds. Make sure you rinse everything thoroughly after too in clean water. I used milton on the bottles and rinsed well and boiling water on the bottle ends.

Our vet said that unfortunately many ec rabbits are put to sleep because owners can't face caring for them as often they look so poorly and that they are suffering. We hung in there with Buttercup because I had the feeling she too was fighting and wanted to live... and she did!!

Best wishes to you and Dora and I'm pleased too to read you have a rabbit savvy vet - such a blessing at times like these!
Take care
Ruth xx :wave:

thanks ruth i think i read your previous thread when looking up ec and think we have the same vet!!! jason burgess in gloucester, dora is fine in herself in general and i dont mind the erxtra care adn work its just wanting her better. she is fine after a "fit" where she curls up almost and goes stiff but shaking and rolling then after a while comes out of it and goes still limp then gets up and hops as if nthing has happened. i hope that the neurological damage isnt o bad with her and she will at least not deteriate (shes now had 18 days of the higher dose pannacur on top of the 7days lower dose we were told to give her by rubbish vets, the others are all on pannacur too now for 28days and will bleach the huches for them before they go back into them, also as currently all bunnies indoors will do their indoor areas too. fingers crossed her incontinance clears up and she stops the fits after treatment as those are her biggest issues she deal well with her alternating limping and her husbun loves her very much giving her lots of licking. thankyou for your kind words about her im positive she can fight this, its just one of those frustrating things i suppose. x

Hi Bunlover

Just wondering how Dora and you have been today?

Sending positive thoughts and get well soon vibes :wave: :wave:

Ruth xx

Sorry to hear abour Dora's e.c.

As I understand it the damage is done when the parasite within the brain becomes activated and tries to replicate, causing inflammation and damage, that's why treatment for the inflammation is so important, as well as treatment to kill the parasite.

It sounds as though she is in excellent hands, with you looking after her and a great vet. with a bit of luck she should have a good chance of recovery xx

it is difficult to say if the fits will continue after treatment as it depends what permenant damage has been done . While panacur can halt the parasite it can not undo damage already done .

we have found steroid treatment helpful in treating EC ...but steroids can not be given at the same time as metacam and most vets prefer the metacam route as steroids can have side affects .

thankyou bunny mad house that makes sense. hopefully no permenant damage has been done.
thankyou lilbun, our vet is excellent just wish he was closer than he is still the main thing is she is on the right treatment

one of the family, actually i think that she is maybe putting on weight!!! she has been sooo very skinny and boardering on underweight for a while now and yet when i picked her up yesterday for her bath she felt she had a bit more than bones to her! and her appitite has definatly increased and her poops bigger! she is still wobbly when she trys to clean herself but leans on a cushion me or arthur now so manages ok. i bathed her yesterday (as have been doing every day) to help with the urine scald and she wasnt wet underneath and water ran clear!!! which is a huge improvement for her, she also has the beggining (in places) of fur returning to her legs(it all fell out during her wettest times ) so i think she may have finally turned a corner thankyou to everyone for their advice and well wishes, we still have some way to go as the incontinance is still happening(or at least she weeing everywhere now) and she still has her wobbles but fingers crossed!!!! x