English Lop - falling over really worried

Hoping one or two of you can help.
Dylan my English Lop has never been the most coordinated of bunnies and always had a funny habit of tripping on his ears but Im really worried.

Ive noticed he increasingly falls over. He seems to get his feet in the wrong place and when he hops quickly he ends up flat on his side scrabbling in the air. Today I took him to the local park and he wouldnt move. He just lay munching grass. Two hops and he fell on his side.

He is eating and drinking ok but I am worried about him now. At first I thought he had just got lazy and forgotton how to hop about. Hes so big even his 2m by 2m run doesnt seem that big for him.

Any ideas. I will go to the vet tomorrow but am concerned he has either hurt his back or has e cunuli (cant spell) or something.

I must admit, my first thought was E Cuniculi. Hopefully your vet will be able to help get to the bottom of it.

It sounds neurological to me :?
Has he ever been treated for EC ? ie a course of Panacur

Is he drinking more than normal?
Is he scratching his ears/shaking his head?
Is his head slightly tilted to one side?
Have you noticed any loss of power in his hind limbs?

Sorry for all the questions but it may help us to get a better picture of what is going on for him.
Dylan is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I really hope he gets on well at the Vets.
Your Vet may want to prescribe a course of Panacur plus anti-inflammatories and maybe antibiotics if Vet suspects EC.
There is a blood test available for EC and your Vet may also suggest this.

Janex

Middle ear infection maybe? Or blocked ear with wax?

I think middle ear infection too.

Hopefully the vet will be able to sort it

I hope he gets better soon xx

You said his run doesn't seem big enough for him so is he getting enough exercise?

lucycat said:

Hoping one or two of you can help.
Dylan my English Lop has never been the most coordinated of bunnies and always had a funny habit of tripping on his ears but Im really worried.

Ive noticed he increasingly falls over. He seems to get his feet in the wrong place and when he hops quickly he ends up flat on his side scrabbling in the air. Today I took him to the local park and he wouldnt move. He just lay munching grass. Two hops and he fell on his side.

He is eating and drinking ok but I am worried about him now. At first I thought he had just got lazy and forgotton how to hop about. Hes so big even his 2m by 2m run doesnt seem that big for him.

Any ideas. I will go to the vet tomorrow but am concerned he has either hurt his back or has e cunuli (cant spell) or something.

Click to expand...

Another thing that has sprung to mind is osteoarthritis. Is he not hopping because its uncomfortable to do so :? Although the lack of co-ordination still sounds more like a problem within the CNS :?
Anyway, please let us know what your Vet diagnoses

Janex

Is he drinking more than normal? Not that Ive noticed but he shares with Silky so its difficult. Hes always drunk a fair amount
Is he scratching his ears/shaking his head? No but massive ears means difficult. He has had a build up of wax in his ears. He has had infections in the past but these have been evident by his ears being hot and swollen. Ive always had to clean his ears out although more recently so this may be a link.
Is his head slightly tilted to one side? No thank god!!!!
Have you noticed any loss of power in his hind limbs? He has started to walk more than hop. He can hop but is more the lack of coordination thats worrying. He gets his feet in the wrong place somehow and falls over. He prefers to lay on his side as a result. He doesnt want to hop around at all - no impetus to explore the garden or the park I took him to this afternoon. Floppy when I picked him up as opposed to fighting to be put down and hes big so it was a fight to control him. Hes always been clumsy but now its two fast hops and he falls over.

Hes never had e cuniculi but has had plenty of other things! Two ear infections, chronic type skin myxamatosis despite vaccination, mites several times, overreaction to hutch spray caused nervous problems but he got over it quickly, pasteurella (snuffles). He is a worry but has been healthy for over a year now. Hes three - almost to the day. 5kg of fluff and garden munching thug normally.

Vet says take him in tomorrow as hes still eating fine. Troffed a whole banana (I was worried about potassium) then followed it up with hay and a stick of celery. Hes always liked his food!

Love him to bits. Hate him to be ill Thanks for your help. Keep your fingers crossed.

With his history of ear infections there may now be a middle ear problem. But my experience of this in Buns is that they actually 'feel poorly' and do not want to eat:? Whereas with EC a Bun may well continue to eat.
Sending get well vibes for Dylan and I hope his Vet can get him sorted out.

Janex

He is beautiful, good luck at the vets and I hope you get to the bottom of his problems

Kathryn x

Well cant says its great news. They dont know whats wrong but are treating for e cuniculi and ear infection. Seemed to say possible e cuniculi, possible ear infection, possible stroke possible tumour possible abscess on brain. Im hoping its an infection as she thought his ears were discharging and sore but hes on a concoction of medication to try and capture as much as possible.

Today I realised that hes not using his litter trays and he weed on the kitchen table and the car seat which is not a good sign as he doesnt usually. Hes still eating ok and getting spoilt rotten.

Anyone got experience of e cuniculi? Id like to know what the long term prognosis is

How rabbit savvy is your vet? Is it worth trying to find a rabbit expert to help him?

Sending vibes for him, he does sound poorly

What you describe does sound very much like EC. You need to treat Silky with the Panacur too as the EC spores are excreted in a Buns wee so its likely she has been in contact with it

Here is some info on EC

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/ecuniculi.htm

I dont know if your Vet prescribed a full 28 day course of Panacur for Dylon ?
It is ESSENTIAL that a Rabbit with a suspected active EC has a minimum of 28 days treatment. Unfortunately some Vets are only prescribing a 9 day course of the Panacur Rabbit. This is only sufficient as a preventative routine treatment, not for dealing with active infection.

Please keep us updated as to how your lovely big Bun is doing.

Janex

Hes only got a short course of panacur but they said he would need 28 days treatment. I just said yes to everything they could do/give. Im hoping its an ear infection as his ears were discharging and sore within the ear and hoping of course it responds to baytril, I think they were unsure but thought it was more likely due to the slow onset. Hes back to the vet Friday and Im praying he starts to pick up in the meantime. I asked about treating Silky but they were of the opinion that she wouldnt necessarily get it - she is far more robust than Dylan. Ill ask on Friday

I'd PM Bunnymadhouse (Angie) - Her french Lop Hope was like this

Well heres an update.

Dylan is now at another vet who specialises more in rabbits after I decided Id havetaken him to the Royal Vet College or Cambridge if thats what it took. I wasnt confident in them as they didnt seem to know what was wrong.

They initially thought it might be spinal but have now decided EC is most likely although he doesnt have a head tilt at all.

He is still very floppy and doesnt know where his legs are but is still interested in life and food, the latter if its in front of his nose.

I am just hoping and praying for an improvement as they have said the prognosis is poor.

Here we are today.