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    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

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Has anyone else experienced this?

Liss

Young Bun
Hello, this is going to be quite a long post but I'd be really grateful for any help you can give me. Last Tuesday lunchtime I noticed my 2 1/2 yr old bun had poor balance. That evening when I got home from work I realised he was in stasis, and as I was making him move around to help treat this I saw his balance had deteriorated, he was losing balance even when sat down. We took him to the emergency vet who gave him an antibiotic, painkiller and emeprid to get his gut moving, giving us emeprid, baytril and panacur to treat him with at home. We took him back again and again over the next few days, for examinations and further injections, but he still didn't seem to be much improved, and had lost just over 12g in weight. On Monday he had an x-ray and blood tests which all came back clear, but he is still really floppy with very little interest in food. He is eating kale, greens and parsley mainly, very few pellets (about 15 per day) and drinking normally. He is interested in things around him, and if you hold something out to him he sniffs at it and shows interest, but then just flops down again. Also, he wants to chew everything, everything except his food! The vet suggested removing anything he could eat (cardboard etc) so he had no choice but to eat his food, but it doesn't seem to be working, he's starting on the walls!! All this behaviour is not making any sense to us or the vet, so we'd be really grateful for any advice you can offer, as we just don't know what else to do for him and we are really worried. Sorry for the epic post xxx
Just realised I should have said that his poo is now back to normal size, although nowhere near normal amount, and he is still at times unbalanced. Thanks. xx
 
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is your vet rabbit savvy? maybe you could get a second opinion? it sounds like EC to me but im sure more experienced memebers will say:wave:
 
I agree with the above comments re EC, but again I don't know enough to give any advice.

If he seems to want to eat paper and cardboard he might be craving fibre - do you have any bramble leaves you could try him with? They are fibrerous but much better for buns to eat. I give them to my bun when he is in stasis. Sending some vibes for your bunny xx
 
Is EC treated with Panacur? That was one of the possibles the vet suggested. She did admit she didn't know what it was but threw everything she could at it, treating him for a few possible reasons.
Also, what is TIA?
 
Is EC treated with Panacur? That was one of the possibles the vet suggested. She did admit she didn't know what it was but threw everything she could at it, treating him for a few possible reasons.
Also, what is TIA?

A TIA is a trans ischeamic accident which is basically a tiny stroke or bleed of the brain.
E.C is sorted with panacur over a certain amount of days and a very good clean of the hutch.....Im not sure of actual dealings with it.
 
I'm guessing there is no way of telling if he has had a stroke, not as if it would show up on an x-ray. We did give his hutch a good clean when we got back from the vet the first night we took him. Thanks for the tip about blackberry leaves, I'll get him some tomorrow.
 
Good luck with your bunny.

EC is usually treated with at least 28 days of Panacur with bleach cleaning on specific days (I can never remember which ones), also Metacam for its anti-inflammatory properties.

Lots of threads regarding treatment and prognosis of EC.
 
Sorry, I have nothing to add but I hope that your bun gets better soon. If you post on rabbit chat that you are looking for a rabbit savvy vet in your area then you would be able to get a second opinion which might help put your mind at rest.
 
The vet we take him to is (in our experience) the better of our local ones, the choice being of 2! We don't have a car so travelling much further afield is a bit of a problem. He seems to be eating a little more today, but he did fall over completely onto his side earlier when he turned his head slightly to sniff something. I am pretty sure the vet tested him for EC in his blood test, and as he is symptomatic and it came back negative, that means he doesn't have it (I think, if I read the article on this forum right). I will ring the vet and double check that though. Took some urine up to be tested, but those results won't be back until next week, think we are just going tonhave to continue close monitoring and of course lots of bunny hugs.
Thank you all for your help and vibes for Pig, and more advice is very welcome! xxx
 
I would think ear infection is VERY likely if his balance is shot. EC itself (if i remember rightly) does not cause balance problems, but lots of symptomatic problems, such as ear infections, other infections, inability to control gut/urine output etc.

Did the vet check his ears?
 
Yep, said they looked fine. Poor wee thing, looked so embarassed when he fell over, then just lay down to cover his mistake!
 
Hi,
sorry to hear he is struggling at the moment.
Did the Xrays include his head? Middle ear disease can often be seen on Xrays as the inflammation causes bone to appear thickened and irregular and fluid in the inner ear reduces Xray passage so it appears whiter on the film and your vets will be able to assess this.
If he has had a negative E.cuniculi blood test that is good support that it isn't the problem. There are many other causes and some cases can't be easily diagnosed (this isn't like on an episode of House where every patient has a brain biopsy :)) but there are more diagnostic tests and supportive treatments possible so get back in touch with your vet to update them and talk about what to do next. Supporting his intestinal function is crucial at the moment to stop him getting full blown stasis.
Don't lose hope as head tilt and wobbly bunnies can take weeks to show good improvement.
Marie
 
I don't think the x-ray included his head and it has occurred to me that there may be something wrong up there. He wasn't sedated for the x-ray (was a good boy and layed still) but that meant they could only do a quick body one from one angle. Will bring this up with the vet next time I ring. Seem to be ringing them every day at the moment, they must think I'm an over protective paranoid!!! Just want him to be better.
Thank you all for all your advice so far, you are all brilliant xxxx
 
I don't think the x-ray included his head and it has occurred to me that there may be something wrong up there. He wasn't sedated for the x-ray (was a good boy and layed still) but that meant they could only do a quick body one from one angle. Will bring this up with the vet next time I ring. Seem to be ringing them every day at the moment, they must think I'm an over protective paranoid!!! Just want him to be better.
Thank you all for all your advice so far, you are all brilliant xxxx

Youve had some really good replies.....your vet should be impressed that youve got access to such experienced bunny folk, not thinking your neurotic!!
Wishing bun a speedy recovery.Lots of really tasty noms..xxxx
 
So, we got Pigs urine test results back today, all clear, which is good and bad really. Bad because we still don't know why he's not well! He is eating a little more now, still no pellets though, and he is still not really interested in food. He'll eat if we hold it near his face, and occasionally spontaneously and he is eating hay. He's really not himself still and I'm wondering if he's strong enough for an x-ray under sedation to have a really good look at him. The vet said she's happy as long as he is eating something, but I still just don't know what to do for the best.
 
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