Willowsmum
Mama Doe
Has anyone had experience of this??:wave:
Bunnies with frequent bouts of bloat/ileus/stasis becuause of EC???
Bunnies with frequent bouts of bloat/ileus/stasis becuause of EC???
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Frequent ileus = EC??
- Thread starter Willowsmum
- Start date
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Some Vets believe that EC can cause GI tract motility problems. I believe SarahP on here had two Rabbits who's chronic gut motility issues were attributed to EC. I dont know if that was confirmed by any diagnostics though.
Willowsmum
Mama Doe
Willowsmum
Mama Doe
Bump :wave:
elmoandfern
Mama Doe
How scary! EC isn't a death sentence though and at least you'd have some answers if that was the cause x
Willowsmum
Mama Doe
I hope not Kelly
Is it being investigated?
I'm convinced that's what it is
I'm going to see the vet about it as soon as I can, when I asked before she said it doesn't show up when their well anyway so not point testing for it but I'm gonna ask again, well insist cause he's started drinking loads now and I'm worried Exactly! I need some answers, I can stand the thought of him just coping, there has to be a reason he keeps suffering this way, I hope it's something simple (ish)
MightyMax
Banned
I agree with this ^^
EC does not directly of itself cause gut motility problems. However the side effects caused by EC can produce pain which in turn causes a bunny not to want to eat. Kidney problems in themselves can also cause nausea and loss of appetite.
MichelleBee
Alpha Buck
When we lost one of ours, Phyllis, in April, the rabbit specialist was pretty sure that she had EC, due to her recurrent bouts of stasis and how it affected her kidneys ( she weed a lot and kept just sitting in it). However, we didn't get chance to have her tested for it.
Having said that, one of her sisters, Dyllis, had stasis in May. The vet tested her for EC but it was negative.
I'm not 100% convinced that Dyllis doesn't have it, as she has had about three bouts of stasis in the last three years. Their other sister, Mavis, has also had four bouts of stasis in three years. Yet our other bun, who is not related to the girls, Muchu, has never had stasis ( so far).
However, I'm certainly not a vet, so it's just based on my own observations, but I feel that there may well be a link.
Having said that, one of her sisters, Dyllis, had stasis in May. The vet tested her for EC but it was negative.
I'm not 100% convinced that Dyllis doesn't have it, as she has had about three bouts of stasis in the last three years. Their other sister, Mavis, has also had four bouts of stasis in three years. Yet our other bun, who is not related to the girls, Muchu, has never had stasis ( so far).
However, I'm certainly not a vet, so it's just based on my own observations, but I feel that there may well be a link.
Because its believed that lots of rabbits have been exposed to EC you need to have two blood tests so you can see if the count rises. If it does it would suggest active infection. If Willows well it may not tell you much more than that he's been exposed at some point.
If the new thinking is that the EC element of repeated stasis is kidney related, how about having a blood test to check his kidney function instead of the EC tests?
If the new thinking is that the EC element of repeated stasis is kidney related, how about having a blood test to check his kidney function instead of the EC tests?
SarahP
Wise Old Thumper
Right, I'll try to be concise!
First, bear in mind that this was all a good few years ago now. But, I took on a couple of bunnies that seemed in good health. I had them spayed and almost immediately they were back and forth in stasis. To cut a stressful and expensive story short, I had about 10 months of being backwards and forwards to the emergency vet, along with my regular practice, who kept shrugging their shoulders and saying that 'some rabbits are like this'.
So I went to a different vet, which I'd seen before with guinea pigs. I said 'it must be infectious, because "it" seems to get passed between them'. He immediately said he thought it could be EC, despite the lack of normal symptoms, given that EC can cause some quite nasty effects within the body, eg. kidneys etc. One rabbit was tested for it, and came back at a fairly high level of exposure. Although, as we all know, the test for EC isn't a great one.
Anyway, unfortunately, I was only ever able to manage their symptoms, which got progressively worse over time, but they consistently responded to Panacur (difficult to describe, so you may have to just trust me on that one!) I wrote about it all on here, and someone else (Fionabun) was going through something similar with all her rabbits going in and out of stasis with no apparent cause. Fionabun doesn't come on here anymore, but I'm still in contact with her via Facebook. Luckily, her story was a happier one - once they were treated for EC, the recurring stasis episodes were pretty much eradicated, and her bunnies didn't have the long term issues that mine did.
This was always something I wondered about with my bunnies. There was no way of knowing exactly what was causing the stasis.
Anyway, that's my story in a nutshell. Hope it helps.
First, bear in mind that this was all a good few years ago now. But, I took on a couple of bunnies that seemed in good health. I had them spayed and almost immediately they were back and forth in stasis. To cut a stressful and expensive story short, I had about 10 months of being backwards and forwards to the emergency vet, along with my regular practice, who kept shrugging their shoulders and saying that 'some rabbits are like this'.
So I went to a different vet, which I'd seen before with guinea pigs. I said 'it must be infectious, because "it" seems to get passed between them'. He immediately said he thought it could be EC, despite the lack of normal symptoms, given that EC can cause some quite nasty effects within the body, eg. kidneys etc. One rabbit was tested for it, and came back at a fairly high level of exposure. Although, as we all know, the test for EC isn't a great one.
Anyway, unfortunately, I was only ever able to manage their symptoms, which got progressively worse over time, but they consistently responded to Panacur (difficult to describe, so you may have to just trust me on that one!) I wrote about it all on here, and someone else (Fionabun) was going through something similar with all her rabbits going in and out of stasis with no apparent cause. Fionabun doesn't come on here anymore, but I'm still in contact with her via Facebook. Luckily, her story was a happier one - once they were treated for EC, the recurring stasis episodes were pretty much eradicated, and her bunnies didn't have the long term issues that mine did.
This was always something I wondered about with my bunnies. There was no way of knowing exactly what was causing the stasis.
Anyway, that's my story in a nutshell. Hope it helps.
RabbitBears
Warren Scout
Thanks for that SarahP, really interesting and I'm sorry about your rabbits.
I'm at the end of treating my two rabbits for EC, but still don't know if that's definitely the right thing to be treating them for, for all the usual reasons of the problems with the test etc.
Their symptoms started with recurrent stasis, I had maybe 6 months where i was back and forth to the vet with them and many emergency vet trips too. I had the same "some rabbits are just like this" stick from my vets. Looking back, Smudge had also since I got them that May had what now look to me like they might be very minor neurological symptoms, though at the time I thought they were "just him" and perhaps they were. They were already on a healthy diet, but I started giving them fewer greens and hardly any pellets, more forage, and getting their hay intake up as much as I could, which vastly improved the quantity of incidences of stasis but they continued to lose weight.
After changing vets, and Lambchop having a dental, he developed a head tilt and the new vet felt that the seeming infectiousness, stasis history, weightloss and the tilt pointed towards it possibly being EC. So that's what we've been treating for. I'm still aware that they could both have other things going on, they are lops so ear infections are a real possibility, so I'm not saying this as any kind of definitive anything. Lambchop still has his tilt, although I know that can sometimes not improve or only improve a bit after treatment even if it is EC so... They have been gaining small amounts of weight for the first time in about a year - so I guess we are doing something right. They were losing in patterns that appeared related to each other from November time last year, till this September when we started treatments with the new vet. The stasis first started in August 2013 for Lambchop and September 2013 for Smudge.
I'm really interested in whether there is a link. I think my experiences are fairly inconclusive so far, sorry about that but I'm adding them to the pot in case they add to the overall picture.
I'm at the end of treating my two rabbits for EC, but still don't know if that's definitely the right thing to be treating them for, for all the usual reasons of the problems with the test etc.
Their symptoms started with recurrent stasis, I had maybe 6 months where i was back and forth to the vet with them and many emergency vet trips too. I had the same "some rabbits are just like this" stick from my vets. Looking back, Smudge had also since I got them that May had what now look to me like they might be very minor neurological symptoms, though at the time I thought they were "just him" and perhaps they were. They were already on a healthy diet, but I started giving them fewer greens and hardly any pellets, more forage, and getting their hay intake up as much as I could, which vastly improved the quantity of incidences of stasis but they continued to lose weight.
After changing vets, and Lambchop having a dental, he developed a head tilt and the new vet felt that the seeming infectiousness, stasis history, weightloss and the tilt pointed towards it possibly being EC. So that's what we've been treating for. I'm still aware that they could both have other things going on, they are lops so ear infections are a real possibility, so I'm not saying this as any kind of definitive anything. Lambchop still has his tilt, although I know that can sometimes not improve or only improve a bit after treatment even if it is EC so... They have been gaining small amounts of weight for the first time in about a year - so I guess we are doing something right. They were losing in patterns that appeared related to each other from November time last year, till this September when we started treatments with the new vet. The stasis first started in August 2013 for Lambchop and September 2013 for Smudge.
I'm really interested in whether there is a link. I think my experiences are fairly inconclusive so far, sorry about that but I'm adding them to the pot in case they add to the overall picture.
RabbitBears
Warren Scout
Thanks SarahP, I don't think you sounded negative at all.
Good to hear it was of benefit to them. I feel it has been for mine as well, although it's a bit early to say for sure.
Good to hear it was of benefit to them. I feel it has been for mine as well, although it's a bit early to say for sure.
RabbitBears
Warren Scout
Good to hear there can be happy outcomes. Should probably add re the kidney thing, that Lambchop had a blood test at the same time as his dental and his kidney function came back normal.
From what I understand function needs to be pretty low to show up in tests, though, so there could still be issues. They have both lately been drinking / weeing a bit more than normal, Lambchop in particular.
