E.Cuniculi

[livcotterill]

6 days ago I came home to find my rabbit could not use his back legs, I was obviously extremely panicked. He was eating, but kept sloping to the side and still couldn’t walk, but was rolling around.

The next day I took him to the vets, they said they needed to wait a couple of days for symptoms to show as they wasn’t sure what it could be.

2 days later we returned to the vets, he now had a head tilt, wasn’t pooing much and it was clear it was EC.

We are not on panacur, anti inflammatory but stopped medicine for his gut as he started to get runny poos.

He is definitely improving in himself, seems more alert, eating, pooing, head isn’t tilted half as much. I feel confident he is recovering but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this and could give me an idea as to when he may be able to walk again ?

 

[Shimmer]

The standard treatment for EC is a 28 day course of oral Panacur, plus an anti-inflammatory. The Panacur reduces the parasitic loading in the body, and the anti-inflammatory (eg Metacam) reduces the neurological effects that the parasite causes (such as head tilt & leg paralysis). Sometimes it takes more than one round of treatment. Often it is a bit of a rollercoaster journey, with symptoms worsening before they get better again. Most cases will resolve noticeably within the 28 days, often within 2-3 weeks, but treatment should continue for the full 28 days due to the lifecycle of the parasite. Some rabbits are left with ongoing symptoms such as a head tilt, but it generally doesn't bother them. companion rabbits should also be treated with Panacur at the same time.

You may need to provide supportive care eg syringe feeding, making sure they can reach food & water, bum cleaning, etc. In severe case, they may be unable to walk and may roll around, so they need a safe, restricted space until the symptoms subside.

The parasite is shed in the urine, so it is very important to do a thorough clean of any surfaces which have been in contact with urine in order to prevent reinfection, particularly on days 21 and 28 of the treatment cycle. Steam cleaning, bleach or Virkon are all effective against EC.

I hope your rabbit starts to improve soon. There are other things that can cause similar symptoms to EC (such as an inner ear infection). Usually a vet would prescribe a broad based treatment to cover the more obvious causes (eg Panacur, metacam & an antibiotic), then reassess in a week or two, or sooner if symptoms get worse. Diarrhoea is definitely something that needs checking out urgently, though.

 

[Preitler]

Hm, I just got my 5yo Chantal treated for EC, first was a 5 day course of daily antibiotica injections (sorry, don't know which one it was) and fluids, which had immediate effects and was stopped once no improvement could be seen from one day to the next. I think i should have continued a few days longer since it came back, and she had an accident - got stuck and could not use her rear legs for days. Same treatment again and after that I did that Panacur treatmeant. My vet wasn't too enthusiastic or optimistic about it, but wth. Didn't see much improvement over this month, but it sure didn't hurt either.
There's some head tilt left, but Chantal learned to deal with it and is in good spirits again. She can use ramps and gets everywhere in the garden, but doesn't do any jumps anymore.

 

[InspectorMorse]

We are not on panacur, anti inflammatory

Do you mean ‘not’ or ‘NOW’ ?

If it is EC how long clinical symptoms take to resolve or improve can vary greatly, some Rabbits only partly recover, some do not improve at all. If EC has also resulted in renal damage then sadly this can result in chronic renal failure. So symptoms such as head tilt and hind leg paresis might improve, but renal damage cannot be reversed.

 

[bunny momma]

Sending positive vibes that your bunny will improve with yreatment.

Sent from my KFTRWI using Tapatalk