Stroke or EC??

Hi all, not been around for a while but it appears that the forum is going strong as doing lots of good as usual which is fab to see. :wave:

I'm after some advice, my Charlie bun is poorly - I just want to make sure we're doing the right thing and see if anyone has any advice or ideas.

Charlie is 8, lives with his friend Lavender in my lounge, he's obviously getting on a bit but is (was) very active and healthy, even got praise and compliments on his health during his check up on Saturday. Then on Sunday afternoon we found him on the floor in the lounge all twisted up and rolling over. Rushed him off to the emergency vet, and he's now with my normal vet.

So our theories are - stroke, tumour, ear infection or EC, so he's on steroids for inflamation, antibiotics for infection and panacur for EC. He was less twisted when I visited him yesterday, and wanting fuss and food. He's stopped rolling around but is still flopped on one side for the majority of the time, occassionally he gets his back half sitting up straight but his head is to one side. He's cleaning himself and seems quite bright. I'm off to see him in an hour (I've taken the week off work!) to give him hugs.

So, I guess we need to wait and see if the drugs do anything, but my questions are:
- is there anything else we should be considering?
- if its a stroke can a bunny recover at all from a stroke?
- if its the infection or EC how long will it take for us to see if he'll regain some of his balance?
- how can we tell between the two is stroke and ec/infection? - would EC be that instant?
- if he's still happy but doesn't make any further physical improvement what would his quality of life be? (I know several people on here have diasbled buns)

For as long as my little man wants to fight then we will fight with him, I think the biggest priority for me is that he doesn't suffer. Its so completely heart breaking to see him like this .

Hi BevBunny,

When my Mr. Buns contracted E.C., he first displayed symptoms of an inner ear infection - loss of balance and head tilt. My vet treated him for an inner ear infection. It turned out to be E.C. and he began losing weight very rapidly. He also had GI Stasis from not eating properly because of the E.C. and went from 10 pounds to 4 pounds quickly. I ended up making that dreaded decision to PTS because he finally gave up and I couldn't stand to see him suffer any longer. He was scheduled for GI Stasis surgery the next morning. Anyways, sorry for rambling on - your vet is treating your bun for E.C. which is good and I'm sending vibes for a speedy recovery. It sounds like E.C. and not a stroke. Did they run blood tests yet?

Your bun will let you know when enough is enough - best of luck and let us know his progress.

Brigitte