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Please Note - Medical Advice
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Martha has EC UD 1st Feb
- Thread starter FondueKid
- Start date
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Initial treatment I would expect in sudden onset vestibular symptoms would be Metacam, Baytril and Panacur
If Martha is anorexic then syringe feeds, prokinetics and fluid therapy
Sending vibes for her xx
If Martha is anorexic then syringe feeds, prokinetics and fluid therapy
Sending vibes for her xx
FondueKid
Alpha Buck
Hi, sorry. I agree about starting straight away. What actually happened was the vet who was there (William awesome rabbit vet is on hols til Tuesday) gave me Panacur and took the bloods. I made her let me carry Martha through because she was trying to lift her from her middle instead of from her shoulders and it was upsetting Martha. Anyway I have metacam and baytril at home so I just took the Panacur and called my vet friend to confirm she would give all three and get the dosages. So yes she's had everything and she booked back in for a check up with William on Tuesday. Poor Martha 
Vet was also saying about maybe giving steroids, do people have experience of that? Because obviously you can't give metacam and steroids together.
Vet was also saying about maybe giving steroids, do people have experience of that? Because obviously you can't give metacam and steroids together.My recent head tilt bunny was recommended to go on steroids (as well as baytril and panacur and a one-off anti-nausea for the nystagmus), but she was already on metacam and would have had to be off it for 2 days before the steroid could be used, so we just carried on with metacam.
Bionic Bunny
Alpha Buck
Steroids cannot be used alongside Metacam and I personally would not use them if she has started on Metacam already. They is a lot of debate on steroid use for neurological problems but the new way of thinking is that a Non-steroidal Anti Inflammatory such as Metacam is more beneficial than steroids. I have now changed my policy and would use Metacam over steroids.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
My Vet says the same. Also, if the vestibular symptoms are due to a middle ear infection a steroid has the potential to make things a lot worse.
How is Martha today ?
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FondueKid
Alpha Buck
Thanks Yeah I was thinking that too as an immunosuppressant is not really what you want, especially when there is a possibility of infection being present. My vet friend has just said the same, and to give the others panacur for 28 days too. She's still wobbly this morning but eating well and seeming quite cheery considering, though she's obviously frustrated about her body not working right which is really upsetting to see
X-posted with Jane: Thank you, and thank you for asking how she is *hugs*
Yeah I was thinking that too as an immunosuppressant is not really what you want, especially when there is a possibility of infection being present. My vet friend has just said the same, and to give the others panacur for 28 days too. She's still wobbly this morning but eating well and seeming quite cheery considering, though she's obviously frustrated about her body not working right which is really upsetting to see X-posted with Jane: Thank you, and thank you for asking how she is *hugs*
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Thanks
X-posted with Jane: Thank you, and thank you for asking how she is *hugs*
It is good that she is eating and relatively bright within herself. Hopeful once the inflammation settles then her symptoms will become less pronounced. I dont know what dose of Metacam your Vet prescribed, but the recent thinking is that 12 hourly dosing may give a better 24 hour anti-inflammatory cover than one daily dose. Rabbits excrete meloxicam, the active ingredient in Metacam, a lot faster than cats or dogs. So a dose once a day may not provide a full 24 hour cover. Richard Saunders told my Vet that in certain circumstances he would give a dose as high as 0.6mg/kg/12 hours. With the Dog Metacam this would equate to a dose of 0.4ml/kg/12 hours.
My bunny is recovering, thank you. She is able to walk without falling over and has regained use of the back leg that she totally lost over xmas. It may be a while before she gets to the running and jumping stage, but there are improvements all the time, and the head tilt has almost gone.
As for your other bunnies, I think it is standard practice to treat all contacts (or those sharing the same space, in this case) with panacur (28 days) at the same time. You would also need to do a full clean and disinfect on days 21 and 28. That way it breaks the lifecycle of the parasite.
I got a bottle of 10% dog panacur to do all mine as it was a lot cheaper and easier for me. They all need to be weighed to give an accurate dose using a 1ml syringe. I used a different syringe for each rabbit and drew them all up at once, then gave it to them. The syringes were rinsed and dried ready for the next day.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Thanks everyone. Yeah Jane we're doing 12 hourly 0.4ml. Thank you for the informations
I'll look into the dog panacur - what is the dosage for that? Or is it the same concentration as the rabbit one?
The 10% Panacur Liquid is a dose Rate of 0.2ml/kg/day
FondueKid
Alpha Buck
Happy update
Hi all, just thought I would update this. Martha has made a full recovery, it took a couple of days for the wobbliness to pass but she is now fully mobile. She is still on metacam and baytril until tomorrow, and panacur for the rest of the 28 days (as are the other two panacur-wise).
Her bloods came back the other day and of the two anti-bodies (tm which indicates an acute infection and tg which indicates a chronic infection) her tm was negative but tg was over 1000. So it's been lurking and just tipped over into clinical symptoms. Not sure what that means for ongoing plans - would people move to a preventative regime with the panacur (eg every 6 months)? And if so, would it be just Martha who needed that or all of them (as they share space)? I'm thinking I would start routine treating everyone, but wanted to know people's thoughts. I'm aware of my own horsey background and thus indoctrination into the normalcy of worming, but also that a protozoan parasite like EC is not strictly comparable to a worm (which are far better understood, at least at a clinical level).
Something interesting the vet said was that he thinks there can be a relationship between EC and dental problems, as there can be a level of facial paralysis without obvious vestibular symptoms that causes non symetrical chewing, which causes spurs. He said he's seen a few times where people have several healthy rabbits who suddenly all need a dental, and when tested they are positive for EC.
Hi all, just thought I would update this. Martha has made a full recovery, it took a couple of days for the wobbliness to pass but she is now fully mobile. She is still on metacam and baytril until tomorrow, and panacur for the rest of the 28 days (as are the other two panacur-wise).
Her bloods came back the other day and of the two anti-bodies (tm which indicates an acute infection and tg which indicates a chronic infection) her tm was negative but tg was over 1000. So it's been lurking and just tipped over into clinical symptoms. Not sure what that means for ongoing plans - would people move to a preventative regime with the panacur (eg every 6 months)? And if so, would it be just Martha who needed that or all of them (as they share space)? I'm thinking I would start routine treating everyone, but wanted to know people's thoughts. I'm aware of my own horsey background and thus indoctrination into the normalcy of worming, but also that a protozoan parasite like EC is not strictly comparable to a worm (which are far better understood, at least at a clinical level).
Something interesting the vet said was that he thinks there can be a relationship between EC and dental problems, as there can be a level of facial paralysis without obvious vestibular symptoms that causes non symetrical chewing, which causes spurs. He said he's seen a few times where people have several healthy rabbits who suddenly all need a dental, and when tested they are positive for EC.
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