Amber PTS yesterday due to suspected EC

Hi :wave:

The background is that I had two French lops, Dexter and Ruby. Ruby developed an abscess by her ear she went in to have it lanced and drained but did not make it through the anaesthetic. This left dexter alone which I didn't want to with a lot of though I acquired a young frenchie, Amber, the bonded really really well and I was very chuffed with my self as find bonding very stressful.

On Saturday I had a party to celebrate my 30th birthday, the buns were given evening pellets before we went and all was good. Late sunday morning after clearing the hall etc my husband went to let the buns out and only dexter came running. My husband called me as Amber was laying in the litter tray, she didn't move her breathing was laboured but she had one eye on me her next was practically back on herself. I placed her in a carrier and she kind or contorted into a bent ball was horrible to see. We rushed her to vets where they said it was pasturella or EC and was she was taken out back to be PTS.

I lost my nethie a couple of years ago in a similar way, she was bonded to pip and one day I noticed he was holding her up but within 45-1 hour she was in similar state to Amber and was pts. I have been reading up on line and I have not come across anyone yet who has experienced a similar thing it always seem to be symptoms that have progressed over time and have received treatment.

I am now questioning whether I was right in agreeing to them being PTS and whether treatment was an option.

I am treating Dex with panacure as am so worried I will lose him too now.

Has anyone experienced anything similar to this??

Thanks in advance.

So sorry about your buns My most recent buns who have had EC didn't have sudden symptoms, they came on gradually. However about 10 years ago my bun Charlie developed what they thought was EC and within a few hours became severely ill, lost control of his legs and contorted into horrible positions there was nothing they could do for him and he was PTS.

Are you going to do the bleach clean? You can do it with steam too if I remember correctly, and these are the only ways to kill the EC. Done on days 10 and 21 (though I did it more frequently recently as she was weeing everywhere and wanted to make sure I got it all)

Sorry for your loss ((HUGS)) Ec is a horrible disease, I've lost 3 bunnies to it and have a living bunny who's battled it twice. Treatment is long, they can often get worse before better. There are lots of stories on here of survival but equally of loss so don't feel bad for option PTS to prevent further suffering. Personally if they have collapsed and are in a distressed state I also had the buns PTS as treatment would of been very stressful for them and probably cruel. Even my vets couldn't get one of them calm enough to medicate without risking damage to the spine. Comet was a little fighter and had head tilt, not full collapse so we have treated him. Its very much a personal thing and also depends on the buns personality.

I'm sure your remaining bun will be fine, but I'd do 28 days of panacur and a bleach clean on days 21 and 28 as a precaution.

I think that EC can present that fast. Regardless if my bun was as poorly as you describe I think I would probably pts too. At least then you know they are not suffering.

I am very sorry for your loss xxx

Pease excuse all the spelling errors, oops!

I removed the litter trays they both used and gave him a new one and cleaned the shed with an antibacterial spray and cleaned the run area as best I could, am at work today but will have another go tonight.

I do think that she was too far to treat, I heard her scream from the waiting room when she injected her, something I have never experienced before.

I just didn't seem to come across anyone with similar stories and thought surely I am not that unlucky to have 2 go so rapid.

Problem I have now is I am afraid of introducing another rabbit for dex not sure I can put myself through anymore, selfish I know!

Make sure you do the bleach cleans, the sprays don't kill the parasite only bleach/steam does :wave: make sure you do the food bowls and bottles and all surfaces that they have walked on as EC is spread through urine and they will spread it on their fluffy feet x

I am so sorry for your loss.
When you clean tonight use bleach rather than any other cleaning agents, I believe it's only bleach that kills it. Also I would wait a while before you get another bun just to make sure the disease is completely gone from their home. Good luck xx

silverrabbit said:

Make sure you do the bleach cleans, the sprays don't kill the parasite only bleach/steam does :wave: make sure you do the food bowls and bottles and all surfaces that they have walked on as EC is spread through urine and they will spread it on their fluffy feet x

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The flooring is vinyl in shed so I could use my steam mop on that if I sort an extension lead, and just a bleach/water solution for the slabs in run the??

A good steam clean of the lino should be fine - I normally use both to be extra sure.

I lost three as you describe so it can onset very quickly.

6pm clean out totally fine, but by the 10pm check they'd collapsed.

Amy104 said:

A good steam clean of the lino should be fine - I normally use both to be extra sure.

I lost three as you describe so it can onset very quickly.

6pm clean out totally fine, but by the 10pm check they'd collapsed.

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In a strange way that makes me feel better, because I don't know about anyone else but you tend to look at where you have gone wrong and could you have prevented it etc.

I know what you mean, I was glad to see the back of last year. I lost 4 buns, 2 piggies and 2 gerbils last year, all totally unrelated but some only days apart. I felt like the worse owner ever was convinced I was doing something wrong.

Amy104 said:

I know what you mean, I was glad to see the back of last year. I lost 4 buns, 2 piggies and 2 gerbils last year, all totally unrelated but some only days apart. I felt like the worse owner ever was convinced I was doing something wrong.

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Aww not a good year, poor you! Its so hard isn't it and not many people seem to understand how much of a big deal it is.

I lost my first boy last year we had got him the cold cold days he was sleeping in a dog kennel outside my backdoor so could come in for his tea and things (he was a free range bun after losing his partner primrose the nethie to EC) and unbeknown to me one of the plants in the garden was poisonous and for some reason after 2 years decided to eat it and I found him in the kennel, felt like my world had ended - getting the frenchies were supposed to help and now its going wrong!

No they don't. My family are good, but they really don't understand the pain like another pet owner does. Try to keep positive and concentrate on your remaining bun. Don't do what I did and keep imagining the worse, I didn't enjoy my bunnies for a long time after they were a constant worry, but now I'm back in a good place with them and realise how much time I wasted worrying instead of enjoying the time I have with them.

sorry for your loss, its a horrible time. We have lost Annie (bun) and Gary (gpig) this year, last year it was Fluffles (bun) and Biscuit (gpig) so I understand your feelings at the moment. Take care xx

You are right and hopefully with this course of panacur dex will be ok and lots of cuddles (well as much as he will allow :roll are in order! Will need to consider longterm plan for him though! :?

Thanks all for your advice though!! :thumb: