Bunny possibily unwell? EC??

When feeding Max this morning I noticed he hadn't touched hardly any food. Gave him some fresh food and some vegetables and herbs and he wasn't interested, usually he goes mad for the vegetables & herbs so thought it was a bit unusual. I went home at lunch time and he had ate a couple of bits of parsley and that was it. I gave him his favourite foods, a bit of carrot, apple and a red grape and he wasn’t interested at all. I then gave him some treats (he only has these occasionally but adores them usually), he sniffed them, picked one up as if he was going to eat it but put it down.

I noticed that he had been to the toilet but left 1/2 big squishy poos that they are supposed to eat. While reading up on the internet a read on a site that if your rabbit hasn’t been eating these they maybe unwell, I then remembered that this week I have had to clean a few of these up off his cage floor.

He also seems a bit scared, we had strong wind that blew down too fences yesterday and although he is a house bun I wondered if the noise may have scared him – he would have been able to seem it from where his cage is (out of the patio window).

The only other thing is his eyes I have noticed they have been getting what seems like sleep in both of them. I have been cleaning them and have a vets appointment for this evening. Do I need to ask for an x-ray of his back teeth? – he is a lop.

Thanks if anyone can give any help. I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or if he is actually ill. He has been having treatments for ear mites quite a lot over the last 7/8 months but these seem to have cleared up. He does seem to molt a lot also.

I would say if your bunny is not eating get him to the vets, as a gut starter and metacam may be required, it could also be teeth problems, they go down hill so very quickly, so don't wait untill after the weekend. Hope your bunny is better soon. XX

I agree with Tree, not eating/pooping right is a sign that your bunny is ill and bunnies can go down hill quite quickly.

As Tree says some of those symptoms can be associated with teeth problems so make sure your vet checks though. Bunnies teeth grow continously so if they don't wear down level they can cause sharp points that cause problems for eating.

Tam

His appointment for the vets is 5.50 tonight - I can't get any earlier one (due to work then no appointment until then). His front teeth seem fine -but I will ask the vet to check the back.

How is Max? Glad you could get him to the vet.

Haven't got internet access at home at the moment, so couln't post over the weekend but here goes:

Friday evening - vet examined him and said everything seemed normal - checked front teeth - fine. Gave a jab of antibiotics I think and 0.4ml of Baytril for me to give him for 3 days. Said to bring him back on Monday if hadn't picked up and would put him under to check his back teeth. Later on his seemed to get worse - really miserable and just lying down not eating or drinking.

Saturday - He started flopping to one side when on 2 feet (ok on all 4s). Wasn't drinking his water (which had his baytril in). Took him to the vet again - said he could have a parasite/ inflammation of brain/ neutological problems causing flopping/ pasterella. Gave him his baytril and also gave him worming syringe stuff (for 9 days). Also got science recover feed and probiotics. Went and bought him new feeding bowl and drink bottle as she said could pick it up from those if not disinfected properly. He started eating grapes and parsley and a bit of grass.

Sunday - Couldn't syringe feed him his baytril so back to the vets again for that and worming syringe. Not eating much just few bits of parsley. Miserable looking again. Finally drank some water out of a bowl with probiotics in. Less flopping over.

Today (Monday) - Still not eating much - only parsley (not interested in grapes or anything else). Just been to the vets got baytril syringe feed and the worming stuff. On baytril for 5 more days and back to the vets. This vet thought it was like a mengitinus is to humans. Apparantly can die from it but she is optmistic that he will pull through. Showed me a new way of syringe feeding so hopefully I will be able to do that at home.

Is it Panacur they are giving him? It sounds like it could be EC is that what yor vets suggested? Hope he feels better soon X

It says on it Baytril - I'm not sure if it says anything else - I will like tonight when I get home. What does EC stand for so I can read up on it?

EC is E. Cuniculi, you can find info on the RWF website. Baytril is an antibiotic, if they think its a parasitic infection then they should be treating it with an anti-parasitic drug like Panacur.

EC ie - Encephalitozoon Cuniculi

poor bun, hope he feels better again soon,

Nicola

TheGaffer said:

EC ie - Encephalitozoon Cuniculi

poor bun, hope he feels better again soon,

Nicola

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Cheers, can never spell the first part correctly!

:lol: I cheated, I googled it, and copyed and pasted :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks I will have a look. He looks so miserable its making me unhappy. Trying to get him to eat is just a nightmare, I'll have to practise syringe feeding or he will have to go back to the vets again tomorrow.

Wrap him in a towel so his head is poking out the top. Sit him upright on your lap against your stomach. There is a gap between the incisors and the molars which is perfect for sliding a syringe into, you can just slot it in from the side of his mouth. Make sure you depress it slowly so that he dosnt choke and it dosnt run out of his mouth.

Just reading up on EC and really worried now - do you think I should ask the vet to have him blood tested and maybe mention about panador?

If they are concerned that it may be a parastite then Panacur would either help it or help rule it out. Im surprised, given the symptoms that they havnt at least mentioned it. It wouldnt hurt to ask them what they think seen as they dont appear to be sure what the problem is.

Been reading up a bit more and the wormer that he got (which I can't remember the name of) sounds like panador - he has 1.5 graduations a day for 9 days - does that sound like panador to anyone else?

Just phoned up the vets - it is panacur he is also having - does anyone know how likely he is to recover from this?

Leesa said:

Just phoned up the vets - it is panacur he is also having - does anyone know how likely he is to recover from this?

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Difficult to say but a friends rabbit had EC quite bad and her head was tilted to one side... I expected her to stay like that but after the course of Panacur she made a full recovery... it does sound like you've acted quickly and caught it in time

I'm by no means a rabbit expert, I can only tell you what I went through with Mr. Buns. The vet believes he contracted Pasteurella and E.coli although the blood tests are not back yet. This is how it started and she thinks the neurological symptoms (head tilt, loss of balance, loss of appetite, blindness, weight loss and GI stasis) were caused from the Pasteurella and E.coli.

It sounds like you have caught this early and have a good rabbit savvy vet and your bun will recover. I will keep you in my prayers and wish the best for your bun. I don't want any bun (or bunny owner) to ever go through what Mr. Buns (and I) went through.

I will look for updates.

Brigitte