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Marbles very ill - possible EC Update #74 swab results back

K

katie88

Mama Doe
Hi all

I have been away for the weekend, my parents were looking after the rabbits. Came home this afternoon and marbles hasn't touched any food all day. I could tell just from looking at her that something wasn't right so I picked her up, her eyes were scanning really fast and she was shaking her head side to side.

Called the emergency vet out, thinks possible EC. She is being treated with panacur and antibiotics and had an anti inflammatory injection.

I've noticed on bringing her home that she also seems to be incontinent as she is covered in urine, as am I :cry: My poor marbles she is so poorly.

I would be really grateful for any advice I've never been through EC with a rabbit before and am very frightened :cry:
 
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I'm sorry I cant give you any advice with EC but if Marbles is urine soaked then try dusting her wet fur with corn flour as it helps to dry the fur and prevent urine scalding.
Fingers crossed she responds to treatment xx
 
It sounds as though the Vet has given appropriate treatment

You will need to have her indoors if she is an outdoor Rabbit. Her vestibular symptoms may worsen at first and she may start rolling. So you will need to set her up in a secure cage with lots of padding (rolled up towels for example) to prevent her from hurting herself if she rolls.

It is important that her GI tract keeps moving so if she is not eating she will need syringe feeding and you'll need to make sure she is pooing too
 
Thank you both.

Ok thank you jane I can definitely create a secure enclosure for her with plenty of towels and blankets. She seems to feel more secure being held as she settled quite nicely in my arms but I don't know whether it's best to just leave her be? She took a small amount of recovery by syringe but not a lot, but she has just had a little nibble on some hay which I'm really pleased about.

It is horrible to see, I presume this is a pretty unpleasant condition for them? She looks really distressed and I don't know what to do to help other than leave her be.

Is the urinary incontinence temporary, I.e. will she regain bladder control if and when she is fully recovered?
 
Did you get metacam to give her ongoing? As this helps with the inflammation around the lesions caused by the parasite. No other advice, just wanted to say that Martha is on treatment for a bout of wobbliness and she got back to normal in a couple of days after treatment began. It is heartbreaking watching them wobbling though *hugs*
 
FondueKid said:
Did you get metacam to give her ongoing? As this helps with the inflammation around the lesions caused by the parasite. No other advice, just wanted to say that Martha is on treatment for a bout of wobbliness and she got back to normal in a couple of days after treatment began. It is heartbreaking watching them wobbling though *hugs*
Click to expand...

Hmm no that's a point I wasn't given any metcam and don't think she had any injected but she did have (I think) a cortisol injection though I understand that is just anti-inflammatory rather than pain relieving? I have plenty of metacam in the cupboard, do you think I should give her some?

Glad to hear Martha has got better so quickly. I found this really frightening today I must admit as it looks really distressing for them
 
Just to add - make sure she can get to her food and water if she starts to get worse / rolls. You may need to help her if she is struggling eg soft food on a saucer or even top up syringe feeds. She may also appreciate a heat pad so she has the option of a warmer spot. I used thicker layers of newspaper when we had this over xmas and changed it a couple of times a day - just to keep the cage a bit drier. I also bedded mine down on thick, soft hay so she could reach and eat it, as well as having a soft dry surface to lie on. Just make sure that if she gets a head tilt, that the 'down' eye is not being damaged.

Mine was also incontinent and she got a lot worse before she got better, but she started recovering properly in week 3 and is no longer incontinent. She was awkward to handle as she couldn't get herself the right way round with a severe head tilt, so I had to leave her how she was most comfortable unless she was due her meds or cleaning up. She also had a one off injection of an anti-nausea drug (stemetil) to overcome the effects of the eye flicker. This was almost gone in 24hrs.

She's still not 100% (slight head tilt and weaker back legs) but is back to a decent weight and is able to be a bunny again - and is still improving. I hope to move her back outside in a couple of months.
 
katie88 said:
Hmm no that's a point I wasn't given any metcam and don't think she had any injected but she did have (I think) a cortisol injection though I understand that is just anti-inflammatory rather than pain relieving? I have plenty of metacam in the cupboard, do you think I should give her some?

Glad to hear Martha has got better so quickly. I found this really frightening today I must admit as it looks really distressing for them
Click to expand...

She cant have Metacam if she has had a steroid injection (Cortisol)
 
katie88 said:
Hmm no that's a point I wasn't given any metcam and don't think she had any injected but she did have (I think) a cortisol injection though I understand that is just anti-inflammatory rather than pain relieving? I have plenty of metacam in the cupboard, do you think I should give her some?

Glad to hear Martha has got better so quickly. I found this really frightening today I must admit as it looks really distressing for them
Click to expand...

Personally I would give metacam... but I would advise that you speak to a vet about it first. As I don't know how cortisol and meloloxicam interact and how long you might/would need to wait before giving it. The vet I originally spoke to wanted to wait and see for a few days and then give steroids if necessary, but what I gather from people on here and my savvy vet and my exotic vet friend is that the more up to date treatment is immediate meloxicam. So I would phone the vet to say that you would like to cover with meloxicam because of the inflammatory response associated with EC, and are there any contraindications you should be aware of or can you start immediately?
 
Thank you jane I did some searching on the forum and found some references to that. And also some suggestions that metacam may be a better choice than cortisol? Which is annoying if that's the case.

Thank you Shimmer. I have mashed up some pellets on a plate for her but will continue to syringe feed if necessary. I have put hay everywhere so she doesn't have to move much to get some food. I hope she doesn't get worse before better this is horrible.

What a horrible illness :-(
 
Thank you so much for all the messages. Marbles is much the same today. Her eyes are still scanning but thankfully her balance is still manageable, she's keeping upright and she only has a very minor head tilt (perhaps a cm to the left). She also looks a little bit more comfortable and was begging for nose rubs this morning :love: But she's still barely eating, she's only taking a teeny bit of veg and nothing else. She has taken some recovery though and lots of water, and has done quite a lot of poos overnight. She has completely lost her litter training though, poor thing

She is going back to the vet on Friday for a review. She was given baytril and cortisol and II'm gathering from other posts on here that other medication choices may have been better. I will see what he suggests on friday but I now have the name of a rabbit savvy vet who I will go to if needed.
 
That all sounds positive. Truffle had EC last year and received the same treatment - at that time I don't think I read anywhere that just Metacam might be better. Maybe this is new research?
I don't think it's the case that the steroid is inappropriate though, just that maybe now it's not the absolute best choice - these things are never clear cut.

I hope Marbles shows more improvement soon.
 
Aw bless her :love: I'm glad she is "eating" and pooing well though. One thing to be aware of with the cortisol is that to change to metacam you'd have to wait as they would cancel each other out (I don't know exactly how long). So your vet may want to keep her on the cortisol. If she's not improved you might want to swap regimes, but then it might get worse while she's not on anything (I'm assuming you're giving her cortisol rather than her just having the injection and then nothing...? If there's already been a gap then swapping might not be an issue).

ETA: My vet friend said that she'd give metacam and that using steroids was considered less appropriate now, but was the accepted treatment. I think it's partly to avoid suppressing the immune system, but that bit is my own assumption.
 
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Yes, my understanding is that cortisol might just be a more old fashioned way to go? My vet is very old and I just wonder if he might not keep up to date with his research. I'll stick with him for now as the other vet is a 40 min drive and marbles get quite stressed, but it's good to have the option of a highly recommended vet. I may look into changing once this episode is over anyway.

The cortisol was just a one off injection, the only things I'm giving her are baytril and panacur. Does anyone know how long you need to wait between an injection of cortisol and giving metacam?

She's just scoffed down some dandelions :love: I forget how stressful it is having a sick pet when you have a full time job! And this is my first time being single with a poorly bun so I don't have any help. I'm so grateful for RU.
 
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