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Maisie is unwell

Fifibutton

Wise Old Thumper
When I went to feed her this morning she was hiding in the furthermost darkest corner of her run allowing her mate to hump her nonstop which she never lets him do. She is quite a feisty girl normally. I noticed she was eating little and I suspect she hadn't drunk all night as her water bowls are at the other end of the run. I observed her flopping out a couple of times and she did eat a small amount of food so I decided after feeling her tummy to let her out into the garden for a play. She stood up on her hinds to periscope and fell right backwards :( She seemed wobbly on her legs and fell over uncontrollably once more. So I know stasis is not the problem. I suspect something neurological like E.C. or even a stroke. Possibly even an injured limb as she has lots of things to jump on and off and maybe jumped or fell badly. She is only about 4 years old. She was grumpy at being put in the carrier and she pushed the door open to run out so I know she has strength. She is at the vet now. I am so glad they are open because today is a bank holiday. I am waiting for my brother to call with an update, they have been there for a while which seems worrying to me but hopefully its just because they are being very thorough.
 
Poor Maisie :cry: I hope that the Vet can identify the problem and get her on appropriate treatment. Sending lots of vibes for her xx
 
:cry:... Sending healing vibes for wee Maisie,,, hope she recovers soon xxxx
 
She is home at last and the diagnosis is not as bad as I thought but totally makes sense now.

Maisie has a huge build of ear gunk in both ears, the right in particular, so that is why she has been falling over and because she is a lop her ear canals are narrower, making her more prone. Although in the 4 years we have had her, it has never been a problem before. She has been prescribed ear cleaning fluid, we have to skoosh in a generous amount and massage the base of her ear and then scoop out any muck with bits of cotton wool. If we don't get too much muck out, we are not to worry because it will also dissolve within the ears. There are also medicated ear drops (Canaural) for potential infection risk. So it completely explains why she was off balance and falling over. One thing I noticed Maisie do but didn't really register was she kept trying to scratch her ears, in doing so she managed to give herself a superficial scratch on her eyeball so we have been given tiacil for that. She was tested for stroke, stasis and EC. Given emeprid just in case although there were healthy gut sounds and thankfully she is not dehydrated. She was also injected with Colvasone to cover EC just in case. She will still be wobbly for a few days with the cleaning fluid in her ears to contribute to that.

So now I am not sure whether to make her a house bunny for a few days in order to medicate here or to put her back in the garage and make her a cosy den with everything she needs close by. The house is warmer than the garage but the weather overall is warmer and we are not using the central heating as much, still I don't want to risk snuffles so maybe the garage is best.

Has anyone any advice?
 
She is home at last and the diagnosis is not as bad as I thought but totally makes sense now.

Maisie has a huge build of ear gunk in both ears, the right in particular, so that is why she has been falling over and because she is a lop her ear canals are narrower, making her more prone. Although in the 4 years we have had her, it has never been a problem before. She has been prescribed ear cleaning fluid, we have to skoosh in a generous amount and massage the base of her ear and then scoop out any muck with bits of cotton wool. If we don't get too much muck out, we are not to worry because it will also dissolve within the ears. There are also medicated ear drops (Canaural) for potential infection risk. So it completely explains why she was off balance and falling over. One thing I noticed Maisie do but didn't really register was she kept trying to scratch her ears, in doing so she managed to give herself a superficial scratch on her eyeball so we have been given tiacil for that. She was tested for stroke, stasis and EC. Given emeprid just in case although there were healthy gut sounds and thankfully she is not dehydrated. She was also injected with Colvasone to cover EC just in case. She will still be wobbly for a few days with the cleaning fluid in her ears to contribute to that.

So now I am not sure whether to make her a house bunny for a few days in order to medicate here or to put her back in the garage and make her a cosy den with everything she needs close by. The house is warmer than the garage but the weather overall is warmer and we are not using the central heating as much, still I don't want to risk snuffles so maybe the garage is best.

Has anyone any advice?

Yes the weather seems to be warming up, although it does get colder at night. I am still giving my (indoor) old wussies their heat pads :shock:
So I am leaning towards thinking of suggesting bringing her indoors?

I have never heard of a steroid (Colvasone) being given to cover E.C. ? Did the vet explain how that works for E.C.?

So glad she's home and you've got a good method of treatment :wave:
 
She is home at last and the diagnosis is not as bad as I thought but totally makes sense now.

Maisie has a huge build of ear gunk in both ears, the right in particular, so that is why she has been falling over and because she is a lop her ear canals are narrower, making her more prone. Although in the 4 years we have had her, it has never been a problem before. She has been prescribed ear cleaning fluid, we have to skoosh in a generous amount and massage the base of her ear and then scoop out any muck with bits of cotton wool. If we don't get too much muck out, we are not to worry because it will also dissolve within the ears. There are also medicated ear drops (Canaural) for potential infection risk. So it completely explains why she was off balance and falling over. One thing I noticed Maisie do but didn't really register was she kept trying to scratch her ears, in doing so she managed to give herself a superficial scratch on her eyeball so we have been given tiacil for that. She was tested for stroke, stasis and EC. Given emeprid just in case although there were healthy gut sounds and thankfully she is not dehydrated. She was also injected with Colvasone to cover EC just in case. She will still be wobbly for a few days with the cleaning fluid in her ears to contribute to that.

So now I am not sure whether to make her a house bunny for a few days in order to medicate here or to put her back in the garage and make her a cosy den with everything she needs close by. The house is warmer than the garage but the weather overall is warmer and we are not using the central heating as much, still I don't want to risk snuffles so maybe the garage is best.

Has anyone any advice?

Oh dear, lops and ear issues :cry: Did the Vet also prescribe a systemic abx ? I ask as with active infection suspected giving a corticosteroid (colvosone) without systemic abx cover might be a problem. Personally I'd want to give the Vet a call back to clarify the situation. Whilst corticosteroids have excellent anti-inflammatory properties (ie would address cellular inflammation caused by a bacterial infection or EC) they also have a negative impact on the immune system. Not ideal if active bacterial infection is already present.

Did the Vet say that the tympanic membranes are intact ? I guess he must have done if he has prescribed ear canal flushes and canaural

I hope Maisie feels better soon xx
 
Oh dear, lops and ear issues :cry: Did the Vet also prescribe a systemic abx ? I ask as with active infection suspected giving a corticosteroid (colvosone) without systemic abx cover might be a problem. Personally I'd want to give the Vet a call back to clarify the situation. Whilst corticosteroids have excellent anti-inflammatory properties (ie would address cellular inflammation caused by a bacterial infection or EC) they also have a negative impact on the immune system. Not ideal if active bacterial infection is already present.

Did the Vet say that the tympanic membranes are intact ? I guess he must have done if he has prescribed ear canal flushes and canaural

I hope Maisie feels better soon xx

My brother had to rush back to work so didn't explain things in a great detail but looking at the invoice, there is an entry for baytril but I definitely don't have any with the other meds. I will call my brother in case he left it in the car. I don't know about the membranes but will also ask. The vet is closed now for the bank holiday so I am not sure if I will get to speak to her as the emergency team take over but I can try.
 
Yes the weather seems to be warming up, although it does get colder at night. I am still giving my (indoor) old wussies their heat pads :shock:
So I am leaning towards thinking of suggesting bringing her indoors?

I have never heard of a steroid (Colvasone) being given to cover E.C. ? Did the vet explain how that works for E.C.?

So glad she's home and you've got a good method of treatment :wave:

Maisie wasn't happy in the house so I sectioned off part of her run and put her back in on some vet bed with all her food and drink close by. She was happy eating some dandelion leaves and grass.

From what I gather with the steriod injection, it is done to reduce any inflammatory reaction that is responsible for the clinical signs such as the rolling and flopping Maisie was doing. I think diazepam can be given too. Its mainly done because blood tests can take a few days to come back so its better to treat just in case rather than leave it. I don't think any harm can be caused even if she doesn't need it. Years ago one of my buns had a seizure, he was newly adopted and we rushed him to the vet who did the same thing and prescribed fenbendozole as well to treat just in case it was EC which it later did turn out to be. In humans if a blood clot is suspected they will inject blood thinning drugs as a just in case before results come back but it doesn't do any harm.
 
Maisie wasn't happy in the house so I sectioned off part of her run and put her back in on some vet bed with all her food and drink close by. She was happy eating some dandelion leaves and grass.

From what I gather with the steriod injection, it is done to reduce any inflammatory reaction that is responsible for the clinical signs such as the rolling and flopping Maisie was doing. I think diazepam can be given too. Its mainly done because blood tests can take a few days to come back so its better to treat just in case rather than leave it. I don't think any harm can be caused even if she doesn't need it. Years ago one of my buns had a seizure, he was newly adopted and we rushed him to the vet who did the same thing and prescribed fenbendozole as well to treat just in case it was EC which it later did turn out to be. In humans if a blood clot is suspected they will inject blood thinning drugs as a just in case before results come back but it doesn't do any harm.

Yes the steroid is definitely to reduce any inflammatory response. Is she on Panacur too? The steroid acts in a different way to diazepam, so as long as she is on antibiotics (as you say, Baytril) then she is covered for any eruption of bacterial infection :thumb:
 
My brother had to rush back to work so didn't explain things in a great detail but looking at the invoice, there is an entry for baytril but I definitely don't have any with the other meds. I will call my brother in case he left it in the car. I don't know about the membranes but will also ask. The vet is closed now for the bank holiday so I am not sure if I will get to speak to her as the emergency team take over but I can try.

Hopefully the Vet dispensed a full course of Baytril as well as that given by injection today and your Brother has indeed left it in the car :)
 
We keep panacur in stock at home all the time but we were advised to start a course today. Poor Maisie, she is on so many meds. The baytril was left on the counter at the vets so my poor brother had to drive back and get it then drive home to deliver it to me. I have to say though since she has seen the vet, Maisie is eating better and she jumped on top of her box which she was not meant to do! Her fur is a mess though with the canaural is leaking out a bit.
 
We keep panacur in stock at home all the time but we were advised to start a course today. Poor Maisie, she is on so many meds. The baytril was left on the counter at the vets so my poor brother had to drive back and get it then drive home to deliver it to me. I have to say though since she has seen the vet, Maisie is eating better and she jumped on top of her box which she was not meant to do! Her fur is a mess though with the canaural is leaking out a bit.

The steroid will increase her appetite (and thirst). With the Canaural it is important that you try to minimise leakage to stop her (or any Rabbit she lives with) from ingesting it. I usually wipe any excess from the top of the ear canal using a bit of 'non moulting' cotton wool pad. Cosmetic pads are good.
 
We keep panacur in stock at home all the time but we were advised to start a course today. Poor Maisie, she is on so many meds. The baytril was left on the counter at the vets so my poor brother had to drive back and get it then drive home to deliver it to me. I have to say though since she has seen the vet, Maisie is eating better and she jumped on top of her box which she was not meant to do! Her fur is a mess though with the canaural is leaking out a bit.

Yes I had thought the vet would advise beginning a new course of Panacur :thumb:

A steroid always makes a bunny eat more! Vets in the 'old days' used to use it as an appetite stimulant ...... Glad you've got the Baytril x
 
Thank you for asking MightyMax, I forgot to update this as I have been so busy but things are much more positive now. Maisie is back to being steady on here feet and trying to jump on things even though she is supposed to be on bedrest. She is eating like normal again, I knew the steroid would cause her to eat a bit more but tbh by the end of Monday she had been gorging a bit. I just let her as she hadn't eaten so well the day before. Her eye looks less red, only 2 more days of drops and it should be clear. She takes her panacur and baytril like an angel and she tolerates the ear bath very well. I use cotton wool balls torn into quarters to wipe out her ears. Up until tonight they came away looking yellow with clumps of wax occasionally but tonight there was dirt, brownish black like fine soil (not deep in the ear but on the skin of the outer ear) and a couple of tiny hay strands (in the ear) as well as the usual wax. I am not sure if that means Maisie is getting her ears dirty but she is a fastidious cleaner, more so since her ears became blocked. Or perhaps its part of the original blockage, maybe she got dirt trapped in her ears and that caused the blockage perhaps. So far it seems as though she is improving though. I do have to wash her fur and dry it off after each dose though, I think as she cleans her ears she manages to spread some of the canaural into her surrounding fur, its quite oily so makes her look matted at first. I am lucky she is quite docile, I have to administer 5 different treatments daily.
 
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