FAO Those of You Who Have/Have Had a Rabbit With EC

None of mine have ever been tested so I cannot say for certain it was EC but they were all sporadic, I cannot say there was any pattern in the timings.

(5 suspected EC buns in total, 4 didn't survive, the 1 that did has fought and recovered twice).

Jack's-Jane said:

Not thick at all.

Ideally I am asking about Rabbits who have been titre tested, but we know that this is not always a reliable indicator and not many people have a Rabbit tested but treat symptomatically.

I have absolutely no scientific basis for my question, I just seem to have noticed that over the years more cases of Rabbits presenting with Vestibular symptoms occurs in the Autumn/Winter months or very early in the Spring.

I probably shouldn't do too much 'random thinking', it seldom ends well [emoji38]

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I've been following this thread Jane.
It's interesting. I'd have expected symptoms to show during season changes as this is when the body goes into moult & has hormonal changes which I theory would trigger EC to show.

Maybe when I'm rich I will fund research into it.

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Jack's-Jane said:

Not thick at all.

Ideally I am asking about Rabbits who have been titre tested, but we know that this is not always a reliable indicator and not many people have a Rabbit tested but treat symptomatically.

I have absolutely no scientific basis for my question, I just seem to have noticed that over the years more cases of Rabbits presenting with Vestibular symptoms occurs in the Autumn/Winter months or very early in the Spring.

I probably shouldn't do too much 'random thinking', it seldom ends well :lol:

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I never got mine tested. I don't see EC as a threat, to be honest, and presume that mine are all positive. I don't see much evidence for Panacur, nor that EC is actually the main cause of head tilt.

I've had three with head tilt, and never given any Panacur to any of them, and all of them recovered to the best of their ability (the one who came with head tilt was more upright, but still 'tilty').

Dawn- March
Rosie- May
Tilly- Unknown, but she was treated after many months of not being treated, and was treated in October, so she must have tilted maybe June/July?

I'm sorry mine go against your hypothesis :lol:

Sky-O said:

I never got mine tested. I don't see EC as a threat, to be honest, and presume that mine are all positive. I don't see much evidence for Panacur, nor that EC is actually the main cause of head tilt.

I've had three with head tilt, and never given any Panacur to any of them, and all of them recovered to the best of their ability (the one who came with head tilt was more upright, but still 'tilty').

Dawn- March
Rosie- May
Tilly- Unknown, but she was treated after many months of not being treated, and was treated in October, so she must have tilted maybe June/July?

I'm sorry mine go against your hypothesis :lol:

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:lol:

Jack's-Jane said:

Were you in Alaska when little Mimzy developed the head tilt ? Was it confirmed as being EC related or could it have been related to his previous URT disease ?

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Yes, Mimzy got tilt in June of 2012 and we were in Alaska. My vet couldn't pull a definite titre, you know how unreliable they are, but felt fairly confident that he did have the parasite. Plus the two bunnies he was abandoned with developed illness as well before we could capture them, I'm sure one of them died under the building on my ex's property.

Jack's-Jane said:

Ideally I am asking about Rabbits who have been titre tested, but we know that this is not always a reliable indicator and not many people have a Rabbit tested but treat symptomatically.

I have absolutely no scientific basis for my question, I just seem to have noticed that over the years more cases of Rabbits presenting with Vestibular symptoms occurs in the Autumn/Winter months or very early in the Spring.

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I also noticed the seasonal uptick in threads on multiple forums where bunnies were tilting or showing other signs that are usually attributed to EC. Ideally we need to know more about this organism but I guess that it doesn't survive long enough to show enough evidence on PM, or bunny owners are too grief stricken to have they rabbits tested after death to see what kind of havoc this disease has wrought and thereby finding a possible cause for the surge in cases.

I like dp's theory as well, and I might add that feed changes significantly during the suspected seasons...could a mold bloom in hays or pellets be a trigger for the parasite, since no matter how well you prepare food for shipment and storage, there is always some kind of mold at different levels in the environment? Summer is usually a dry season, whereas the others are normally wet and it might be beneficial to track mold levels in the atmosphere during these times.

I have to say that neither were confirmed (which I regret now) but I strongly suspect both Willow and Maple died from EC as both had symptoms that fit and both times I asked vets and they thought it was strong possibility. Both had hind limb paralysis and no physical injury. Maple was also found to have a heart murmur the night before we lost her - don't know if that's something connected to EC or not? Neither had head tilt though.

Bearing in mind that both are unconfirmed:

Willow - October 2014
Maple - November 2016

MimzMum said:

I like dp's theory as well, and I might add that feed changes significantly during the suspected seasons...could a mold bloom in hays or pellets be a trigger for the parasite, since no matter how well you prepare food for shipment and storage, there is always some kind of mold at different levels in the environment? Summer is usually a dry season, whereas the others are normally wet and it might be beneficial to track mold levels in the atmosphere during these times.

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Yes, that is a very good point. You just might be on to something Jane, it's a pity it's a hard thing to look into conclusively. As MimzMum says I think most people are too hit by it to have their rabbits tested. I know it's selfish but I'm not sure I could stand the thought of a PM, stupid though that is really. At the same time I do regret it in a way as it could have helped others and I'd know how likely it was that our other rabbits could also have it.
Both Willow and Maple were indoors but as you say it could well be something in the food. Our house also frequently goes mouldy in the winter and we have gone most years with little or no heating, making the problem worse. The spores must be in the air.

First symptom (cataracts) appeared in November (2014), we didn't have him tested for EC until the second cataract appeared (we saw my own vet who consulted with the D1ck vet and decided it was very unlikely due to no other symptoms) which was 4 months later in March.

He's been treated with Panacur a number of times, and as of his most recent blood test results which we got today his IgG levels are still high.

Apart from the cataracts, he has one non functioning kidney (which may or may not be related to the EC) but is otherwise asymptomatic.