Just when I thought things were looking up.. could this be an inner ear infection???

Hi, as some of you know, Sooty is being treated for EC with panacur and metacam.. Since saturday night/sunday morning hes been falling over alot more, i noticed last night it seems to be his right front leg which isnt very strong, you can feel it doesnt grip as tight as the left when you put your fingers on them, its also his back right that isnt as strong either, this seems to be the reason why he falls onto his right side.. This morning I was watching him for hours after keeping picking him back up and propping him up with towels, when hes eating he seems to tilt his head slightly to the right side too.. Im now wondering if it could be an inner ear infection of some sort with his front right now playing up too.. What are your thoughts? When I took him last tuesday she looked in his ears and couldnt see anything. does it show up if its an inner infection?
Do you think I could just pop in and get antibiotics or would he need to be seen again? The consultation is £25 thats all and I think its abit much just to tell her what I want personally.. Plus I dont want to keep stressing him by putting him in his travel box as its not a short journey for us. Any info appreciated xx

Sorry I can't help but I hope someone comes along who can x

anyone?

Personally with him having weakness in his legs I would say it is more likely to be EC. An inner ear infection would (I think) just show itself as dizziness and sometimes a head tilt resulting in a bunny falling over rather than actual weakness down one side. I would personally have him on antibiotics as well just in case. Also it will probably get worse before it gets better but monitor him closely and make sure he is eating/pooing/drinking/peeing and isn't looking too miserable or in pain. Has he been brought indoors if he is an outside bunny? It sounds like you have given him padding in the way of towels so as long as you make sure he can't hurt himself and is warm you are giving him every chance to recover. Some bunnies will always be left with a head tilt so don't be worried if it doesn't go completely.
Sending him lots of vibes.

Hi, thanks for your reply.
I know rome wasnt built in a day but I thought maybe I would see some improvement by now.. its 3 weeks this coming friday, He just seems to be getting worse and I feel so helpless.
I have to now prop him near his food/water dishes for him to eat and drink as he struggles to get around but once hes there he eats and drinks, hes pooping fine and peeing too.. Tonight I mixed him some of his pellets with a bit of water and syringed him that too, he seemed to enjoy it this way, whatever keeps him happy is fine by me :thumb:
Iv had him indoors since last weekend when he became worse, he went from being able to hop around to being stuck on his right side.
Just really really want him to get better, I just feel like im failing, just when I think hes improving he gets worse :roll:

Perhaps you could take him to the vets and see what they will say? It took about 3 weeks or so for one of the rescue bunnies I work with to show improvement from when she developed the head tilt, maybe even longer. It took her a few months to get over it but the EC had damaged her kidney beyond repair and unfortunately she had to be pts . How long is the panacur course for? Is he still on metacam? I am not overly experienced with EC so I'm hoping somebody more experienced can come along. Have you searched some of the threads on this forum? There are some useful ones that have been started regarding EC and recovery etc. You need to steralise their environment after so many weeks but like I said I've only dealt with the one bunny and I only saw her once a week at the rescue.
Are your vets rabbit savvy?

Ideally I tink it would be a good idea for the ear to be swabbed to see if there is any sign of infection and antibiotics prescribed on the basis of the results. I would go back to the vet.

Even with effective treatment head tilts can take a very long time to improve and for the bunny to learn how to live with them- I think my bun took about four months before she started to improve she had an ear infection which then weakened her and reactivated the E.c. that she had previously had problems with. She was very bad with rolling and falling over. Almost two years on she still has a tilt but is otherwise very well
Don't give up xx

The panacur course, I was firstly told by 1 vet to do it for 6 weeks, the 2nd vet who is a rabbit savvy says 4 weeks, but I think Ill stick with 6 weeks if i have enough panacur, Hes also still on metacam, 6 drops a day.
I Give him clean blankets every day and the soiled ones get washed through a cycle with dettol, Im going to get some napisan when I go to morrisons friday as this kills germs too..
The hutch where he sleeps has been getting sprayed out with a odourless dettol spray for now, What will I need to do to stealise it? I read somewhere last night to clean it out with bleach.. but im not sure? :?
Hes not got the actual head tilt, I just think it seems to tilt to the right when hes chewing his food. Its mainly his legs that are the problem, The last vet (rabbit savvy) told me to keep laying him on the side hes not comfortable with, so iv been doing it and building up to longer period, I put him there at 11pm last night on that side then when I came down to clean him this morning, hes got a really bad sore on that side now.. so maybe wasnt such a good idea to leave him all that long! So iv made him a donut out of towels and placed him in there with his hay and herbs, just so he cant topple over, but now hes decided he doesnt like it that way and now the ****** keeps nose diving out of it!!:evil:

I think you need to use diluted bleach to sterilise the hutch but maybe detol will be just as good? You will have to wait for someone to come along to tell you info you need.
6 weeks is the usual amount of time to treat a bunny for EC, I think.

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/ecuniculi.htm This is from the RWAF website, it's quite good and informative about EC.

I think a good chat with your rabbit savvy vet is needed, he can probably tell you more than any of us can as he can examine him. He can run some tests and get a definite diagnosis, but I know it can be difficult to detect EC.

I'm sorry I'm not much help!

Does sound like EC and bunnies can take much longer to get over it. My Kermit took a couple of months to be OK, and even then he still had head tilt. Inca probably took about 5weeks and she still has weak legs

Good luck x

hes gone

My last little boy had to be put to sleep this evening I am still in shock and devistated! He took a turn for the worse and looked like death. He became severly dehydrated and the vet said he looked like his organs were shutting down slowly.
I had the option of takin him to the main surgery to be put on an iv drip but my vet said she didn't think he had much chance and would probably die there so was better if he died with me.
He had gotten diarrhoea, she said this is due to the body shutting down and was probably the kidneys on there way out. He was very limp and basically lifeless.
I couldn't stop crying, I feel such a failure, I had my hopes built up on him getting better.
These last 3 weeks I have really bonded with him like he was my baby. Iv loved having him indoors and now I feel lost.
R.I.P my little sooty fluff ball, love you always, have fun with ur brother xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm really really sorry to hear this Sadly, when the major organs begin to shut down there's little you can do so don't blame yourself.
Binky free little bun xx

I'm so very sorry to read this. It sounds like it was probably EC, this is exactly what happened to the bun at the rescue. Unfortunately it seems that some bunnies simply can't deal with it as well as others.

Binky free little man.

*huge hugs to you Jess*

How sad

Sleep tight angel x

I am so sorry, binky free wee one.

Thanks everyone I feel so lost this morning not going down and greeting him.. The room looks so empty. Atleast hes up in bunny heaven with all his family now xxx