Worming

Does everyone worm their rabbits 2-4 times a year and is it necessary?

Whenever Doughnut is ill I get given Panacur. I've discovered she likes the taste so I just put it in a dish for her, so I'm thinking I may worm her about three times a year.

I'm lucky she likes the taste of everything, fibreplex, septrin!

No I never worm my rabbits unless they have symptoms of EC. From recent information it is not necessary.

tonibun said:

No I never worm my rabbits unless they have symptoms of EC. From recent information it is not necessary.

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Agree with this :thumb:

tonibun said:

No I never worm my rabbits unless they have symptoms of EC. From recent information it is not necessary.

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My vet does not recommend routine worming.

One of my buns recently had EC. My vet said that as Panacur is the only thing to treat EC, the danger is that if buns are routinely wormed with it, they can get immune to it. Routinely worming hasn’t been proven to prevent EC anyway.

Michelleox said:

One of my buns recently had EC. My vet said that as Panacur is the only thing to treat EC, the danger is that if buns are routinely wormed with it, they can get immune to it. Routinely worming hasn’t been proven to prevent EC anyway.

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:thumb:

I refuse to place chemicals/drugs into my rabbits bodies without proven reason to do so

I worm at least once a year. If you wait for symptoms to show the damage is already done and you will be stuck with a rabbit with head tilt for the rest of their lives (for example)

Stator said:

I worm at least once a year. If you wait for symptoms to show the damage is already done and you will be stuck with a rabbit with head tilt for the rest of their lives (for example)

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My rabbit vet is an exotics specialist and posts on his website that routine worming is not necessary/recommended.

Babsie said:

My rabbit vet is an exotics specialist and posts on his website that routine worming is not necessary/recommended.

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:thumb:And my rabbit vet also is more concerned about over-use than under-use. She has told me that she believes it's likely that they benefit from having a course at some time in their lives, such as before bonding, when newly acquired etc but not to repeat several times a year.

There is a strong reason I've read not to give frequently but I can't remember the reason, maybe that it has a detrimental effect to immune system/bone marrow? Sadly I can't remember but it wasn't just a 'not necessary' but a 'it could do harm'.

Babsie said:

My rabbit vet is an exotics specialist and posts on his website that routine worming is not necessary/recommended.

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Has he found a way to reverse damage caused by E.C. ?

Stator said:

Has he found a way to reverse damage caused by E.C. ?

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Why give treatment on a 'just in case' basis?

Where is the evidence to say that routine worming prevents EC?

Surely it would be like us taking antibiotics just in case we got an infection?- in which case if we did get an infection we would no longer react to the antibiotics.

Babsie said:

Why give treatment on a 'just in case' basis?

Where is the evidence to say that routine worming prevents EC?

Surely it would be like us taking antibiotics just in case we got an infection?- in which case if we did get an infection we would no longer react to the antibiotics.

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It has been proven that Panacur does kill the parasite and something like 50% of rabbits have been exposed to E.C.
Given how easy it is to reaquire the parasite routine treatment would keep it in check rather than letting it carry on doing damage until the first signs show.

All that the research paper on fenbendazole use in the treatment of EC shows is that infection can be prevented if the parasite is introduced during the days that the fenbendazole is being given. IMO giving panacur just in case is like giving chemotherapy just in case we are one of the unlucky one in three to suffer from cancer at some point in our lives.

Given that it only proves to prevent infection if it's introduced during those 9 days, I'm not planning on giving it for 365 days a year to prevent this, and there is no evidence to suggest that giving it to a rabbit who has already been exposed to EC (over 50% of the bunny population) will prevent it from flaring up - again I'm not going to give it 365 days a year just in case. A couple of years back I heard Sharon Redrobe talk about it and she expressed concerns that we are just randomly giving strong drugs to our animals a few times a year without any evidence to suggest that it's of value to do so, while it may indeed be causing resistance and in some animals, bone marrow problems.

I take the view that if they do come down with symptoms, I will treat them accordingly (and yes, it may not be fully reversible but if the correct treatment is given when symptoms arise, it may well be - and there's nothing to suggest that having given 9 days panacur in advance will make any difference to that), but I'm not going to routinely give them a chemical which has been proven on a test of about 8 rabbits to prevent them from contracting EC during the 9 days it is given...and nothing else...

I also don't think they need 'worming' 2-4 times a year. Unlike cats etc, they don't roam as much or eat wildlife so it's highly unlikely that they are going to pick up the right stage of a worm lifecycle to give them worms. Again, I would treat if there were symptoms, but not as routine.

ETA I think there is potential benefit in rescues/sanctuaries doing routine treatment as there is perhaps a higher likelihood of transfer between bunnies, but for domestic households with a pair or two who never go near other bunnies I personally don't think it's necessary and risks doing more harm than good.

Stator said:

It has been proven that Panacur does kill the parasite and something like 50% of rabbits have been exposed to E.C.
Given how easy it is to reaquire the parasite routine treatment would keep it in check rather than letting it carry on doing damage until the first signs show.

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Guess we just have different views!
I agree with Santa.

Santa said:

I take the view that if they do come down with symptoms, I will treat them accordingly (and yes, it may not be fully reversible but if the correct treatment is given when symptoms arise, it may well be - and there's nothing to suggest that having given 9 days panacur in advance will make any difference to that), but I'm not going to routinely give them a chemical which has been proven on a test of about 8 rabbits to prevent them from contracting EC during the 9 days it is given...and nothing else...

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This.

I have in the past given 2 x 9 day courses of panacur a year (it seemed to be the thing to do in 2008, it's the only time I routinely did it). Artie still lost a kidney to EC despite having done this in the past. It's difficult to know if it benefited the others, or even Artie but I certainly don't have any evidence that it did.

Thanks everyone. I don't want to give her unnecessary medication. It seems some vets have different views but if you're only covered for the 9 days she's taking it then I won't bother. Especially if they get immune to it. She's just finished her panacur but still got another 10 days of septrin to have, she's certainly had enough meds for this year!

I agree that if its not needed then don't do it. If you think about it you could worm a rabbit then a week later it could get E.C. Worming will kill the parasite if they are in the rabbit but it doesn't protect against future infections so I really don't see the point. E.C is everywhere its in the soil and environment there really is no way to completely prevent bunnies from coming into contact with it.

The point of routine treatment is not to prevent them getting the disease altogether but to kill it off if it is in their system. If they get infected and you don't treat routinely you won't know until the damage shows. If you treat say once per year and they become infected at worst the disease will be in them for a year after which time it will be killed off, even if not permanently. This could be good enough to stop any permanent damage being done.