E.cuniculi - Please help

Hi all,

This is my first post and I'm after some help with 2 things

My absolutely gorgeous 9week old bit of fluff Shaylee (blue Nethie) had a seizure and died Friday night of what the vet thinks is E.cuniculi. There was no warning, she was fine at 6pm and by 7pm we where rushing her to the vets by 7:10pm she had died. We had only been lucky enough to have her for 6days.

I have spoken to my vet about this and also done a bit of research and it's indicating that E.cuniculi is in the system for 1-2weeks BEFORE symptoms. This means when we bought her (from an independent pet shop) she came to us with the virus.

I'm still absolutely heartbroken about losing my little bit (as we nicknamed her). I called the pet shop and was very disappointed in the response I got "Oh, I'm sorry. Well we've sold them all now" I wasn't asking for a refund, I wasn't asking for them to give me another rabbit all I wanted them to do was inform the other 5 people who bought the rest of Shaylee's brother's and sisters to be informed. When I asked if they were going to inform them all I got was ''I guess we should'', but they didn't sound that bothered or concerned. Is there any way for me to make sure these people are told??? I hate the thought that this could happen to another 5 families.

Also, we bought Shaylee as a companion to my other Nethie Tallie. After putting Tallie through the horrendous ordeal of being spayed, force feeding her for several days with critical care as she flat out refused to eat and an extra trip to the vets for pain jabs and gut stimulants, my fella and I felt it was unfair not to bond her with another rabbit after losing Shaylee (they hadnt bonded yet just been in cages close to each other) so bought Cadi, a mini lop. Now I'm worried about Cadi getting E Cuniculi but as she is only 8weeks old she doesnt weigh enough to have panacur. Does anyone know of anything on the market I can give to a small rabbit???

I just want to make sure both Tallie and Cadi are as safe as I can make them.

Thanks

Jo x

Im new here so am unable to offer any advice but just wanted to say how sorry I am about your loss. It is so sad to hear.

I am getting my girls next week and am already worrying about their welfare. Guess its only natural to worry if your an animal lover.

Hope the hurt heals for you xx

I've just had a call from my vets (who I have to say are amazing). If anyone else is worried about small rabbits who may have been exposed to e. cuniculi they can use panacur 10% (designed for puppies and kittens) you will need to visit your vets first as the amount required is specific to your rabbits weight (Cadi only needs 1.11mil) to be administered for 28days. So thats one question answered.

Pinkeia said:

Im new here so am unable to offer any advice but just wanted to say how sorry I am about your loss. It is so sad to hear.

I am getting my girls next week and am already worrying about their welfare. Guess its only natural to worry if your an animal lover.

Hope the hurt heals for you xx

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I will say I know that Shaylee is in the very very small numbers of kits of contract e.cuniculi and die from it.

I didn't want to worry you. I've also had the other side of it where Tallie is now 9mths old and Ive never had any problem with her (apart from the food strike after her spay but I'm sure she was doing it on purpose! As if to say you made me have this spay I'm going to be as troublesome as possible)

Best tip I can give you a about keeping rabbits....hide the telephone wires!!! £40 it cost us to replace the section Tallie ate through the first time we let her out while we left the house.

Have you cleaned down the accommodation with steam or bleach between Shaylee and any other bunny using it?

I think the recommendation is also to clean down at day 21 and 28 of treatment (to do with when EC spores are shed from the rabbits system). There are plenty of threads about it on here - have you checked the Rabbit Health section?

hey

what was your rabbits symptoms? It may not have been ec...

my rabbit Yuki has ec and she has a head tilt, poor back legs and flickering eyes etc...

my vet told me its rare for a rabbit to die of EC, its normally complications of other things triggered by it if they arent caught soon enough

Just want to make sure that I give my girls the best home possible so guess the worry is only natural hey!

Ouch £40 for a new telephone wire! I am yet to sort out all the wires but have to do it by next week so better get a move on this weekend.

KateB said:

Have you cleaned down the accommodation with steam or bleach between Shaylee and any other bunny using it?

I think the recommendation is also to clean down at day 21 and 28 of treatment (to do with when EC spores are shed from the rabbits system). There are plenty of threads about it on here - have you checked the Rabbit Health section?

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W'eve disinfected all the communal area and we couldn't bring ourselves to see another rabbit in Shaylee's cage so we bought a massive 6ft run we've just about managed to fit into our living room with a field hut in it and moved Tallie into that and the moved Cadi into Tallie's old cage...the aim is in a few weeks when Cadi is a bit bigger we can swap them between the cages to start them bonding (she manages to get half her body out of the run atm).

little-laura said:

hey

what was your rabbits symptoms? It may not have been ec...

my rabbit Yuki has ec and she has a head tilt, poor back legs and flickering eyes etc...

my vet told me its rare for a rabbit to die of EC, its normally complications of other things triggered by it if they arent caught soon enough

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The first and only symptom she had we noticed was was the seizure that killed her. The vet did also say she has lost weight between Monday morning and Friday night. EC was what he recorded the cause of being although their was no blood tests.

Having looked at other nethie kits over the weekend she was very very small (we think she may have been sold before 8 wks, she could fit in a hamster cage and was drinking out of an expresso cup...she really was a little bit of fluff) this may have been a symptom or something that contributed the virus. Another reason i'm worried about the other kits in the litter because they were all her size or smaller!

hi my bunny had that i had her on panaur not that this will happen but mine did not actually need it because she has always had it. It is not a very nice thing for your bunny to have but will be fine in the end. Good luck

jcmc2811 said:

The first and only symptom she had we noticed was was the seizure that killed her. The vet did also say she has lost weight between Monday morning and Friday night. EC was what he recorded the cause of being although their was no blood tests.

Having looked at other nethie kits over the weekend she was very very small (we think she may have been sold before 8 wks, she could fit in a hamster cage and was drinking out of an expresso cup...she really was a little bit of fluff) this may have been a symptom or something that contributed the virus. Another reason i'm worried about the other kits in the litter because they were all her size or smaller!

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hum... then they cant be sure its ec......it could be a number of neuroligical issues, infections etc...

I am sorry for your loss hun *hugs*

To be honest, I can't see why your vet has recorded EC as the cause of death.

The majority of rabbits carry EC anyway, without any side effects because the majority of mums pass it onto their kits at birth. It often stays dormant in the body until the immune system of the rabbit is stressed and then it can start to take over (it's similar to pastuerella in that respect).

I think what happened to your bunny is tragic, and I think that cleaning the area exceptionally thoroughly is very important in case it was something contagious. That, in my eyes is the most important thing. If you choose to Panacur your other bunny then that is unlikely to harm her.