Will suffered a slight stroke recently

I've not been able to write about it before. It was just over a week after his gut stasis episode. I was thinking he was back to normal and now this.

It started one Sunday evening. He and Nancy had been in the garden and he kept flopping. I thought he was relaxed but then I noticed his head and eyes were slowly moving from side to side. It was as if he was reading a book. I recalled reading about rabbits scanning and thought it was his eyes but it was constant. Also he was walking carefully and not always hopping.

I was in despair as both my father and my mother in law were in hospital and oh was having to wait in A and E and I couldn't get to vet. (Out of hours is 10 miles away).

He didn't appear in pain and he was trying to do all his rabbits things but was a little unsteady and had this constant slight head movement. Although at no point was his head tilted I was convinced of an ear infection or EC. He was syringed critical care and water wand he was still eating loads of hay.

In the morning he was still wobbly but eating hay and drinking. The head movement had stopped but he was a little unsteady. He stumbled when washing his face.

He saw the vet on Monday who gave him a thorough examination. We had to put him on the floor so the vet could see his movement. I was sort of pleased when he lost his balance periscoping as the vet said he was moving well and if it hadn't been for the symptoms he wouldn't have thought anything was obviously wrong.

I'm so upset for my boy. He's only 3. He is much better now and although he sometimes appears a little wobbly on his back legs, these instances are becoming much less frequent and he has been tearing about on the grass this evening. Oh said he did a Binky too.

I'm now convinced Poppy (his late sister ) had a stroke, but far more severe. I have an absolute hate for breeders striving for the perfect animal and interbreeding with no thoughts of the long term ill effects.(I realise this may not be the case but the vet who tried to treat Poppy mentioned that they were pure nethies and had possible congenital defects ).

I'm now petrified constantly that Will is going to have another stroke, possibly more severe.

Any advice for prevention or ongoing care would be much appreciated.

I'm sorry you're both going through this.

Did the vet test for EC & did they prescribe Panacur & anything else.

(The eye movements are nystagmus - this was my bunny's 1st symptom before she got head tilt (that was attributed to EC) although i don't know if other brain inflammatory conditions cause it too).

joey&boo said:

I'm sorry you're both going through this.

Did the vet test for EC & did they prescribe Panacur & anything else.

(The eye movements are nystagmus - this was my bunny's 1st symptom before she got head tilt (that was attributed to EC) although i don't know if other brain inflammatory conditions cause it too).

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No, nothing prescribed. They both have their vaccinations and general health checks soon so I will ask more questions.

I was so relieved that the vet didn't think it was EC that I didn't ask about testing. I'm seeing my usual vet for the vacs who I prefer. I think I will ask about treating them both with panacur as a precaution.

I would sooner rather than later, with a bunny savvy vet (I don't know if you were confident in who you saw?) I've no experience of bunny strokes & how a vet would confirm this without tests . Can I suggest you post this again in health ?- there are some brilliant people who will definitely chip in with better stuff than I, they might not see it so quickly under bunny chat

Will appears to have had a slight stroke

This was nearly 3 weeks ago and I've not been able to write about it before. It was just over a week after his gut stasis episode. I was thinking he was back to normal and now this.

It started one Sunday evening. He and Nancy had been in the garden and he kept flopping. I thought he was relaxed but then I noticed his head and eyes were slowly moving from side to side. It was as if he was reading a book. I recalled reading about rabbits scanning and thought it was his eyes but it was constant. Also he was walking carefully and not always hopping.

I was in despair as both my father and my mother in law were in hospital and oh was having to wait in A and E and I couldn't get to vet. (Out of hours is 10 miles away).

He didn't appear in pain and he was trying to do all his rabbits things but was a little unsteady and had this constant slight head movement. Although at no point was his head tilted I was convinced of an ear infection or EC. He was syringed critical care and water wand he was still eating loads of hay.*

In the morning he was still wobbly but eating hay and drinking. The head movement had stopped but he was a little unsteady. He stumbled when washing his face.

He saw the vet on Monday who gave him a thorough examination. We had to put him on the floor so the vet could see his movement. I was sort of pleased when he lost his balance periscoping as the vet said he was moving well and if it hadn't been for the symptoms he wouldn't have thought anything was obviously wrong.*

I'm so upset for my boy. He's only 3. He is much better now and although he sometimes appears a little wobbly on his back legs, these instances are becoming much less frequent and he has been tearing about on the grass this evening. Oh said he did a Binky too.

I'm now convinced Poppy (his late sister ) had a stroke, but far more severe. I have an absolute hate for breeders striving for the perfect animal and interbreeding with no thoughts of the long term ill effects.(I realise this may not be the case but the vet who tried to treat Poppy mentioned that they were pure nethies and had possible congenital defects ).

I'm now petrified constantly that Will is going to have another stroke, possibly more severe.*

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Any advice for prevention or ongoing care would be much appreciated. I am now thinking he should have been tested for EC and maybe given panacur as a precaution and Nancy too.

I'm so sorry to read all this, but I'm glad you've felt able to write about it at last.

You asked for advice and also suggested treating Will for E.C. This is what I would do - aided by a vet hopefully, but then I'm a 'belt and braces' sort of person. I would give a good long course of Panacur (6 weeks) and add Metacam to alleviate any inflammation and swelling in the brain from either E.C. or a stroke.

Did the vet give Will a steroid injection?

You are being vigilant, but I hope you don't let this worry take over your life, as it so easily can. He may never have another stroke and may remain fit and healthy till the end - he's very young at 3 years old ....

Hello, Sorry your Will has been poorly. My Ginny suffered a stroke two years ago, she's now 8 and a bit years old. The first I noticed was a limp and her standing still and doing the scanning thing. I thought she'd strained her leg. It never occurred to me it was a stroke. She's quite a large New Zealand Red bunny. She seemed to recover over that weekend but by Monday she was still limping. I took her to the vet. After examining her on the table and on the floor, where she was very disorientated, the vet said Ginny's right eye wasn't responding to the light from her torch and she was sure it was a stroke. She gave her a couple of injections and we came home with Panacur and Metacam to treat for possible EC. Now two years on Ginny still drags her right back leg and I check her all the time as she tends to get her soft poops stuck on it. She's very happy with her partner Widget and loves to play with him in the garden. He's only about 2. We rescued him after she lost her sister (to tumours in her lungs). I'm sure Will will improve with patience and time. Ginny will always have the limp but loves life and made a wonderful recovery. Good luck and lots of healing vibes.

Hello, Sorry your Will has been poorly. My Ginny suffered a stroke two years ago, she's now 8 and a bit years old. The first I noticed was a limp and her standing still and doing the scanning thing. I thought she'd strained her leg. It never occurred to me it was a stroke. She's quite a large New Zealand Red bunny. She seemed to recover over that weekend but by Monday she was still limping. I took her to the vet. After examining her on the table and on the floor, where she was very disorientated, the vet said Ginny's right eye wasn't responding to the light from her torch and she was sure it was a stroke. She gave her a couple of injections and we came home with Panacur and Metacam to treat for possible EC. Now two years on Ginny still drags her right back leg and I check her all the time as she tends to get her soft poops stuck on it. She's very happy with her partner Widget and loves to play with him in the garden. He's only about 2. We rescued him after she lost her sister (to tumours in her lungs). I'm sure Will will improve with patience and time. Ginny will always have the limp but loves life and made a wonderful recovery. Good luck and lots of healing vibes to Will.