E.C?

Alicia said:

I really am quite worried about this limp, it doesn't seem to be getting any worse but she's not coping with it as well as she was. She was trying to walk around as normal (and the limp is so slight that I couldn't even work out exactly what was wrong with her walking, it just wasn't quite right) but now the limp's not any worse but she's lying down a lot more and resting more often. Do you think this is just pain? I can't work out what this could be, I don't know a lot about E.C but from what I've read its more to do with balance, and this seems to be a limp more than dizziness or anything like that. I know somethings not right I just can't figure it out. I'm really worried that her, I'll obviously get the painkillers in the morning and give her some, I'm really hoping this will help. Thank you for the information about metacam, I didn't know it was an anti-inflammatory too.

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With EC the clinical symptoms are caused by an inflammatory response to erupting EC spores. Once clinical symptoms present the actual EC protozoal parasite has long since been excreted from the Rabbit. But residual 'dormant' spores can remain within the blood stream. Should the Rabbit's immune system be challenged in some way-eg a concurrent illness, environmental stress, a GA etc...etc.... then the previously dormant EC spores can erupt as they enter various parts of the Rabbit's body, especially the Kidneys, the central nervous system and the lens of the eyes. The inflammatory response from this causes the symptoms we associate with EC-eg neurological symptoms such as loss of balance, headtilt, limping, signs of Kidney failure and if the lenses of the eyes are effected then cataracts and uveitis can occur. So this is why it is very important to try to minimise the inflammatory response to erupting EC spores by giving a non steroidal anti-inflammatory such as Metacam. But factored into this the Vet needs to consider appropriate dosing rates of Metacam should there be any renal impairment already established. The Vet may suggest running a blood test to check on renal function if he/she suspects EC.

I hope the Vet will agree to this for your Bunny xx

I picked up some metacam this morning for her, and not long after I got home she was off her food again, I didn't want to wait for it to get any worse because she's been on and off her food for a few days so I took her back to the vets, he's listened to her gut and said its a bit slower than normal and she's lost a bit of weight (but the vets not too worried about the weight loss because she's still at a healthy weight) and he said that sometimes pain can cause this. I'd already given her some metacam before I went to the vets this morning, and he gave her an injection of a gut stimulant and gave me some recovery food to help her get eating again if she completely goes off it. She's also still got some panacur.

Is she getting the metacam twice a day or just once? It might be worth splitting the dose, but see how she goes.

Fingers crossed she starts to respond to treatment soon. Have you been told when you disinfect her living area? I can't remember what days you need to do this on but I'm sure somebody will help. x

I haven't, I'll have a look online but if anyone here knows could you say, I'd rather go by someone's information on here than from something I found off google I've been giving Joey, my other rabbit, some panacur too, is this right?

Quick question about E.C, if Izzy does have it, does that mean she'll have it for life and it will just affect her worse sometimes? Or is it completely curable?

Alicia said:

Quick question about E.C, if Izzy does have it, does that mean she'll have it for life and it will just affect her worse sometimes? Or is it completely curable?

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It depends on the rabbit and the E.C itself. Some will recover with no long term side effects...others will always have a problems. It really does depend on the treatment as well and how soon it was treated. Really there is no way of knowing, unfortunately.

Cleaning with a 10% bleach solution needs to be done on days 21 and 28 of treatment. You also need to minimise the risk of her ingesting any urine contaminated hay/feed. So using hay racks and raised feed bowls can be a good idea. As well as removing any urine soaked bedding ASAP.

Thank you, I've cleaned their hutch out today because it needed a clean anyway, and I tried giving her some of the recovery food. The vet told me that normally they quite like it so it shouldn't be too difficult to give it to her but she won't take it. I didn't use a whole sachet because I've never done it before and I'm trying to just help her get her appetite back a bit, and apart from not wanting food she doesn't seem too bad with it, she's not particularly weak/lethargic or anything. I put a little bit in a small bowl and mixed it with some warm water to make a paste like the vet said, she wasn't interested in it so I tried syringe feeding it to her and she just spat it back out, am I doing it wrong? Does it need to be more watery? Is there anything else I can do? I'm going to pop to the shop later and get her some kale because I know she likes that, I can't really think of any other foods I can try that I know she likes that I haven't already tried.

I don't know what to do with her. I managed to syringe feed 1 packet of the recovery food to her last night, but she still won't eat on her own, or she'll pick at little bits. I offered them grass this morning she ate one bit of grass and then wouldn't go near it. I don't know whether to split her painkillers, should I do 0.4ml twice a day rather than 0.8ml once a day? She's still very alert and moving around but I can't get her to eat and I don't know what to do

Izzy's eating I put some grass in their hutch earlier and she wasn't really interested but I just went outside and saw her eating some and when I put some kale in the hutch she went for it straight away. I've given her 0.4ml of metacam and have ordered two more boxes of panacur online, and I was told they'll arrive on Tuesday, so that I can carry on and do the full 28 days. Feeling so much more positive about her right now

Keep up the good work. :thumb:

If she does have EC, she may suddenly get worse - some seem to go downhill again during the treatment. Just keep on going as you are and she should get through it.

I would give her partner a full 28 day course of panacur as well, just to be on the safe side and break the re-infection cycle.

Thank you for the advice everyone, these past few days she's seemed absolutely fine, no limping and a lot more interested in her food. I'm going to do the 28 day course of panacur, does she still need metacam as well or not? I was planning to just keep giving her metacam daily until it runs out but does she need any more or as long as she seems ok do I not need to?