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Noel more than likely has EC :-(

lja401

Warren Scout
Hi all
Our lovely Noel has suspected Ec :-( On Wednesday night he started fitting. It was just horrendous to watch and broke my heart. We rushed him straight to the emergency vet and he spent the night there. He didn't eat or go to the toilet all night. We then took him to our local vets and he spent the day there. They started giving him panacur and his appetite improved and he went to the toilet. That afternoon I picked him up and saw that he had head tilt. I took him to a rabbit savvy vet who wants to do blood tests for Ec and said that he is almost certain it is Ec. Noel has to have the panacur along with melody and flag. Does anyone know what these are for? He seems to be a bit better in himself. He does seem a bit wobbly every now and again and the poor thing can't jump like he used to :-( i do think he seems to be drinking a lot though :-( would the panacur make him drink more? I am sick with worry about him. Do you know if Ec effects can be reversed? He is also passing tiny poops. I don't know what to do. Can't cope seeing him ill.x x
 
I'm so sorry your Noel has EC. Panacur will kill the EC and you must treat the other buns at the same time to make sure they don't get it. Has his head tilted at all?

With aggressive treatment buns do recover well from EC. My Darcy had it with Head tilt years ago and he recovered after 3 months treatment. :D
 
Thank you for your reply. He has a slight head tilt yes. The vet said that he probably wasn't having fits but that he had probably lost his balance and was dizzy. We are treating Mill with panacur too. They are house rabbits so go everywhere in the house. Should we be bleaching. everything? I read somewhere that the spores live for 30 days. Would it be worth moving Noel and Mill into my mother in laws house? That way we could be certain that the Ec bug has gone. What should we be doing? Thank you.
 
Sorry I have no advice about cleaning etc for indoor bunnies, mine are all outdoors and I am being a clean as I can with them. I have at least 2 buns with EC at the moment (out of 11). One has a slight head tilt and the other has cataracts, glaucoma, iritis and kidney damage due to it. Unfortunately she will have all these for life. You can kill the EC but unfortunately the parasite can cause things called granulomas to form on the brain, kidneys, eye where ever it affects, as far as I understand these granulomas will never go away. So with my little bun she has lost sight completely in one eye, has to have pain relief and eye drops for the rest of her life and will be on a low calcium diet due to her kidneys, so unfortunately although you can "kill" the parasite the damage they do is irreverable.
I think a head tilt might be able to be fixed to a certain extent due to the inflammation, I am not sure though.

I know totally what you are going through, it is tough but just be there for your little one, the worst can be got through. Just use Panacur on all your buns for 28 days and it should help. I am not sure about the drinking side effect, I would possibly ask your vet as it might be a sign of kidneys. It might not be but I would ask your vet.
 
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Is he also receiving a non steroidal anti inflammatory such as Metacam ? It is very important to reduce the inflammation within the effected tissues eg within the central nervous system, as it is the inflammation that causes the clinical symptoms. My Vet usually gives antibiotic cover too.

Rabbits can recover from 'active' EC but it may take many weeks. They are sometimes left with a permanent headtilt and/or possible kidney damage.

I hope that Noel can recover xx
 
Is he also receiving a non steroidal anti inflammatory such as Metacam ? It is very important to reduce the inflammation within the effected tissues eg within the central nervous system, as it is the inflammation that causes the clinical symptoms. My Vet usually gives antibiotic cover too.

Totally forgot to ask about pain relief.

Hope he is ok x
 
Even if they have a permanent head tilt they can still lead a happy, if slightly wonky, life. Good luck!
 
Hi all
Thank you for your replies. Sorry my phone is using predictive script and when I said Noel was on panacur along with flag and melody I meant to type that he is on panacur along with flagyl and meloxidyl . Does anyone know what those medicines do? Noel seems brighter tonight but he is still off balance and he can't jump like he used to. He is much happier though. Bless him. His head is still slightly tilted :-( x
 
Poor little Noel

Our lovely girl Buttercup had head tilt / EC a couple of years ago but went on to make a full recovery.

I read and researched so much and in the end we followed a 28 day course (not 3 or 9) of panacur, metacam as others have said as an anti inflamatory - very important to help reduce inflamation in the brain etc, and a rigorous bleach regime - we bleached out once a week apart from the normal cleaning. Ours are indoor buns too so we threw away any soft bedding, blankies etc., used a one in ten bleach solution for all our hard floors and just shampoo'd our bedroom carpet etc where Buttercup would often run around. The shampooing probably didn't do any good but made us feel as if we had done all we could.

Apparantly spores can live for up to 28 days outside of the body but can be killed in a 30 second bleach solution - 9 parts water / 1 part bleach. Make sure everything is thoroughly rinsed after though.

We still bleach wash once every third or fourth week just in case.

I would agree too that Noel *probably* wasn't fitting but was rolling and that can easily be mistaken as a fit - Buttercup did this so very frequently. I used to lie with my arm in a cage where she was resting just to try to get some sleep - her worst time was between 2 and 5 in the morning.

Buttercup did appear to get worse before she got better and she was ill for weeks and weeks but has made a full recovery despite the fact we were told repeatedly to have her PTS by various non rabbit savvy vets. A rabbit savvy vet is a must - hope yours can help you and your bun.

Best wishes to you both, hang in there!!!

Ruth
She appeared to get worse before she got better and she was ill for weeks and weeks but she has definately made a full recovery :D:D:D
 
Thank you for all your replies. It is so nice to read about some success stories. I wanted to know about the cleaning process. I have been doing a lot of reading on EC but am still unsure about what we should be doing regarding bleaching etc. Both Noel and Milly are indoor rabbits and gave their own room along with access to pretty much anywhere in the house. There is a possibility that we could move them out into my boyfriend's parents' house. Should we buy them a new cage etc? What should we do with their litter trays and the carpet in their room? Also what should we do with the sofa and carpet in the lounge? They always jump on it.
I just want to do the best for them.
Thank you.
 
As far as I remember, during the Panacure treatment you bleach their litter tray (and if they live in cage/hutch then that too) on the 26th and 30th days. Check the instructions inside the Panacure box.

Your carpet should be fine. As long as you clean any wee on it. I would wash vetbeds and blankies in the washing machine again at the end of treatment. There is no need to move rooms or anything like that.
 
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