• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Meningitis, Head tilt & irregular Heart Beat

Hi there,

We bought a white Lop eared rabbit from the pet shop 3 months ago who was in a very bad state [all bone&torn ears&cuts all over]. [I reported the pet shop to the GSPCA] We took him to our local Vets in Galway, who gave him antibiotics and after a month of tlc, we took him back to the vets to get his vaccinations. The morning after receiving his vaccinations, he suffered a series of seizures and a stroke and lost all power on his right side, was very distressed, eyes flicking&involuntary movements.

We rushed him to the vets who had to sedate him as the seizures were so violent in nature. After two days of steriods, antibiotics and fluids, he started to slowly recover and he came home. The vets had never seen anything like this and were shocked.

Gandalf had a relapse a week later [head tilt&eyes flicking] and went on another week of antibiotics and steriods which I administrated to him daily by injection, as they thought here might be still some intracranial swelling.

He was doing great until last night when he had a series of seizures and extreme head tilt.

The other new problem in the last two weeks is that his hormones have really came into play [The vets think he is about a year old] and he is spraying and marking terrority all over the house, honking, circling, humping toys and is very hyper.

We brought him to the vets this morning to ask about neutering but they discovered he has a irregular heart beat and so they feel its too risky to do the traditional neutering methods on him. They have never done chemical castration on rabbits but they will look into it.

What would you recommend? Is there anything you would suggest either in regard to the heart beat or the neutering?

I love Gandalf dearly and just wish him to have as long and as happy a life as possible so any advice you might have would be greatly appreicated.
 
As previous post suggested, sounds like EC (Encephalitozoon cuniculi). It is a protozoa infection (like meningitis) that is very common and some articles suggest as many as 80% of rabbits carry it in their system. It lives in the bladder, kidneys first but can travel through the body and find its way to the brain or spine and cause extreme inflammation and damage which causes head tilt, and paralysis. The paralysis can effect just hand legs or whole body depending on which part of the body the protozoa travels to. So, your rabbit should get a full 28 day dose of Panacur to kill any protozoa in its system and also to keep it from getting reinfected by any protozoa spores that might be still in its environment.

The other thing that causes head tilt is ear infections. So, your vet should have also inspected the ears. If it is a deep inner ear infection it is hard to see the infection so many vets give Antibiotics and Panacur at the same time routinely for head tilt symptoms.

The use of steroids in rabbits is considered risky, and only for emergencies, but yours sounds like an emergency so it sounds ok that you're using them for the inflammation and pain. But if your rabbit seems better I would try not to give steroids and switch to another non-steroidal pain medication like metacam which should also help with inflammation.

Some bunnies that get head tilt and paralysis fully recover if the underlying cause is treated and the damage eventually heals over many months. Others sometimes have a tilted head but live for many years after.

If your vet doesn't routinely treat a lot of rabbits, and is mostly a dog and cat vet, then I strongly recommend looking for a expert rabbit savvy vet- they know how to administer more modern medications that regular vets don't have a clue about.
 
Thank you

Hello, Thank you for your reply. No my vets havn't mentioned that but I'm starting to come across it in my own personal research. There are no vets locally who have much experience of rabbits so feel like I'm hitting a brick wall. Will print off that info and bring it to the vets with me. Thank you again :)


Poor little guy.

Have your vets mentioned EC (Encephalitozoon cuniculi)? it is a parasite that can cause very similar symptoms which is treated by a 28 day course of a wormer (normally panacur) alongside supporting antibiotics and often an anti inflammatory such as metacam.

There is some information on it on this link.

http://www.vets-now.com/pet-owners/rabbit-care-advice/e-cuniculi-in-rabbits/
 
Thank you for your reply. Do you know can one get Panacur and metacalm in Ireland?

I've contacted all the local vets and the nearest rabbit specialist vet is in Bray which would be a terrible stressful journey for Gandalf.

I will ask my vet about those meds. Thank you.

As previous post suggested, sounds like EC (Encephalitozoon cuniculi). It is a protozoa infection (like meningitis) that is very common and some articles suggest as many as 80% of rabbits carry it in their system. It lives in the bladder, kidneys first but can travel through the body and find its way to the brain or spine and cause extreme inflammation and damage which causes head tilt, and paralysis. The paralysis can effect just hand legs or whole body depending on which part of the body the protozoa travels to. So, your rabbit should get a full 28 day dose of Panacur to kill any protozoa in its system and also to keep it from getting reinfected by any protozoa spores that might be still in its environment.

The other thing that causes head tilt is ear infections. So, your vet should have also inspected the ears. If it is a deep inner ear infection it is hard to see the infection so many vets give Antibiotics and Panacur at the same time routinely for head tilt symptoms.

The use of steroids in rabbits is considered risky, and only for emergencies, but yours sounds like an emergency so it sounds ok that you're using them for the inflammation and pain. But if your rabbit seems better I would try not to give steroids and switch to another non-steroidal pain medication like metacam which should also help with inflammation.

Some bunnies that get head tilt and paralysis fully recover if the underlying cause is treated and the damage eventually heals over many months. Others sometimes have a tilted head but live for many years after.

If your vet doesn't routinely treat a lot of rabbits, and is mostly a dog and cat vet, then I strongly recommend looking for a expert rabbit savvy vet- they know how to administer more modern medications that regular vets don't have a clue about.
 
Thank you for your reply. Do you know can one get Panacur and metacalm in Ireland?

I've contacted all the local vets and the nearest rabbit specialist vet is in Bray which would be a terrible stressful journey for Gandalf.

I will ask my vet about those meds. Thank you.

Metacam (generic name Meloxicam) is a prescription only medication and it can only be obtained from a Vet or bought online after obtaining a prescription from a Vet who must have examined the Rabbit.

Panacur can be obtained without a prescription. It is available in a Rabbit specific formulation:

http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/panacur-rabbit-oral-worming-paste-5g.html


Or it can be obtained in a liquid form, the active ingredient (Fenbendazole) being exactly the same as that in the Panacur Rabbit. I find the liquid to be more economical, especially if treating a lot of Rabbits, and easier to give a weight specific dose (0.2ml/kg/day).

http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/panacur-small-animal-oral-suspension-100ml-10.html
 
Thank you for that info and for the links. I've just the one rabbit, Gandalf, who's a house bunny. Poor Gandalf has been back and forth to the vet so many times, I'm on on first name terms with all the staff!

He only weighs 1.84kg so still very thin.
 
Thank you for that info and for the links. I've just the one rabbit, Gandalf, who's a house bunny. Poor Gandalf has been back and forth to the vet so many times, I'm on on first name terms with all the staff!

He only weighs 1.84kg so still very thin.

Well at least he has you advocating for him. What part of Ireland are you in ? We have a couple of people on here from the South I think. 'Luna' is from Dublin. Perhaps someone could recommend a Rabbit Savvy Vet to you if you give a rough idea of the area you are in.
 
As previous post suggested, sounds like EC (Encephalitozoon cuniculi). It is a protozoa infection (like meningitis) that is very common and some articles suggest as many as 80% of rabbits carry it in their system. It lives in the bladder, kidneys first but can travel through the body and find its way to the brain or spine and cause extreme inflammation and damage which causes head tilt, and paralysis. The paralysis can effect just hand legs or whole body depending on which part of the body the protozoa travels to. So, your rabbit should get a full 28 day dose of Panacur to kill any protozoa in its system and also to keep it from getting reinfected by any protozoa spores that might be still in its environment.

The other thing that causes head tilt is ear infections. So, your vet should have also inspected the ears. If it is a deep inner ear infection it is hard to see the infection so many vets give Antibiotics and Panacur at the same time routinely for head tilt symptoms.

The use of steroids in rabbits is considered risky, and only for emergencies, but yours sounds like an emergency so it sounds ok that you're using them for the inflammation and pain. But if your rabbit seems better I would try not to give steroids and switch to another non-steroidal pain medication like metacam which should also help with inflammation.

Some bunnies that get head tilt and paralysis fully recover if the underlying cause is treated and the damage eventually heals over many months. Others sometimes have a tilted head but live for many years after.

If your vet doesn't routinely treat a lot of rabbits, and is mostly a dog and cat vet, then I strongly recommend looking for a expert rabbit savvy vet- they know how to administer more modern medications that regular vets don't have a clue about.

This is a very good post from Max1 :thumb:

You cannot get Metacam without a vet's prescription, but if you search Panacur 10% you should be able to find the best price online, for your little one.

One thing to remember also is that when you begin giving the Panacur, you need to clean the environment so that Gandalf doesn't re-ingest spores which will re-infect him with E.C. For this you need to use a 10% bleach solution on days 21 and 28 of treatment, and if you have a steam cleaner use that on any carpets or soft furnishings he may have been on.

You could post another thread in Rabbit Chat with the title "Rabbit Savvy Vet needed in ....." and those who know of good vets will post.

Good luck and welcome to RU :wave:
 
My grief knows no bounds

Thank you everyone for your kind advice. My heart is breaking as I type this but little Gandalf, my brave soul has left this world.

Gandalf developed pneumoina and then asthma last wednesday and by friday evening had fallen into a coma. By saturday afternoon, he was a shadow of himself and it was only a matter of time, so we made the heart breaking decision to let him go and the vet helped him find eternal rest.

We will never ever forget him.
 
Thank you everyone for your kind advice. My heart is breaking as I type this but little Gandalf, my brave soul has left this world.

Gandalf developed pneumoina and then asthma last wednesday and by friday evening had fallen into a coma. By saturday afternoon, he was a shadow of himself and it was only a matter of time, so we made the heart breaking decision to let him go and the vet helped him find eternal rest.

We will never ever forget him.

I am very sorry to read this sad update :cry:

RIP Gandalf xx
 
Back
Top