Suspected E.C and Dental Surgery

I have a 5 year old dwarf lop who I have owned for 4 years now! He stopped eating on Saturday morning and went downhill by the evening, I took him to the emergency vet who gave him an injection to stimulate his gut and I then began syringe feeding him. He is drinking water and eating soft greens and herbs!
He went back to my usual vet on sunday and said that he needs a dental as there’s a spur on one of his teeth making the side of his mouth very sore and irritable which is why he probably stopped eating. So he got another gut stimulant injection, Loxicam and emeprid.
That night he had what I thought was a seizure so I rang my vet straight away and as he recovered well she prescribed him with Panacur, with suspected E.C
He improved and by Tuesday he was back to his usual self, still a little bit wobbly on his legs though.
Today he had his dental surgery as the vet was keen to sort his teeth out to get him eating on his own again. The surgery went well and I picked him up this evening.
He is now very lethargic which I expected after his dental but he also now has a slight headtilt and is keeping his right eye closed. This is the same side where he had his tooth sorted today. I’m resuming his Panacur tomorrow as directed by my vet and his loxicam and emeprid. Has anyone got any experience to share with me for caring with a bunny like this?

You and your vet have done a good job in responding to a poorly bunny.

You now need to keep food going in - so syringe feeding if he isn't eating for himself. Hopefully tomorrow he will be eating a little better by himself, but it is really important to keep his guts going - so maintaining input, and monitoring output. Gut stimulants may be needed for a while longer - at least until he is definitely eating and pooing normally. Stopping too early can be counter productive, in my experience. Try offering him his favourites to eat. Mine always go for dandelion leaves. Strong smelling herbs may also go down well.

Pain relief can make a huge difference to appetite. Anti-inflammatory meds are also important in the treatment of EC, as it reduces the damage done by the parasite.

Standard treatment for EC is 28 days of oral Panacur and an anti-inflammatory (eg oral Loxicam). All rabbits living with the one showing symptoms should be treated with Panacur at the same time. The parasite is shed in urine. In order to prevent reinfection, everything that may have had contact with urine should be disinfected on days 21 and 28 of the treatment cycle. Hard surfaces can be treated with a bleach solution or other suitable disinfectant (eg Virkon S). Bowls etc can be soaked in this as well. Steam cleaning can also be used, and fabrics should be washed. Hay, litter etc should be disposed of. If he is on carpet, puppy pads with a towel on top may be worth considering for the duration of treatment.

Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

I agree with all Shimmer has posted and to add that with EC it can be that symptoms get a lot worse in the initial few weeks and then some improvement can occur. If you are on Facebook you will find a lot of help and support from this Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelpforHeadTiltHoppers/

Thank you both! Little update today! We’ve made some progress and he’s back to eating his pellets and hay which I’m so happy about! Still a little head tilt but started back in the Panacur today so hopefully I see more progress

Thank you I’ve requested to join the group

Bojangles said:

Thank you I’ve requested to join the group

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See you there !!

I hope that your Bunny continues to improve x

Sending vibes for your bunny.

Sending lots of vibes xx

Sending lots of vibes for your bunny, hope he progresses well xxx

Thank you everyone! He’s making really good improvements! I’ve stopped syringe feeding him as he can’t get enough of his hay at the moment! So I’ve been out and bought loads of different hays for him! He’s sat in his pen with a big buffet of hay going on His head tilt has also improved slightly (still a tiny bit to one side but it’s not that noticeable) he’s been running round the kitchen causing mischief! I’m going to continue with his Panacur and hope that he carry’s on making progress

Bojangles said:

Thank you everyone! He’s making really good improvements! I’ve stopped syringe feeding him as he can’t get enough of his hay at the moment! So I’ve been out and bought loads of different hays for him! He’s sat in his pen with a big buffet of hay going on ���� His head tilt has also improved slightly (still a tiny bit to one side but it’s not that noticeable) he’s been running round the kitchen causing mischief! I’m going to continue with his Panacur and hope that he carry’s on making progress

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Fantastic !!

Glad he's improving, topping up the vibes.

I’m glad he’s doing well, topping up the vibes xx

Sorry for another E.C related question out of the 10 rabbits I’ve owned, this is a first time I have come across, so I have don’t know a lot about it! Bojangles has come on fantastic over the last 3 weeks, he’s back to eating (he’s got so heavy ) and he’s been going outside on the grass for a few hours a day! His head tilt has gone and his eyes are back to normal! He has also done a few binkies!!! However sometimes when he hops abit to fast he falls on his side, but does jump back up again and carry on! Is this normal? Or should I take him back to the vets??

It sounds fairly normal - just keep up with the daily treatment and weekly cleaning routine. He may need more than one round of treatment, if this is his third week. The anti-inflammatory is important to prevent neurological damage, which gives the typical EC symptoms (head tilt, hind leg weakness, etc). Panacur will treat the parasite, but not the damage that it does. It can be a roller coaster ride, with some backwards steps when you think you are making good progress. I find that they are also more prone to relapse in the future, so it is important to watch out for the signs and treat it promptly (with another 28 days of Panacur, etc).

Just keep going. You are doing a good job and he is getting there.

Shimmer said:

It sounds fairly normal - just keep up with the daily treatment and weekly cleaning routine. He may need more than one round of treatment, if this is his third week. The anti-inflammatory is important to prevent neurological damage, which gives the typical EC symptoms (head tilt, hind leg weakness, etc). Panacur will treat the parasite, but not the damage that it does. It can be a roller coaster ride, with some backwards steps when you think you are making good progress. I find that they are also more prone to relapse in the future, so it is important to watch out for the signs and treat it promptly (with another 28 days of Panacur, etc).

Just keep going. You are doing a good job and he is getting there.

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I agree with Shimmer's advice. Just to add that if you have any other Rabbits then I would not allow them on to any grassed area that Bojangles has been on as it's impossible to decontaminate grass from any EC spores (the spores being shed in an infected Rabbit's urine) . All Rabbits living with a Rabbit exhibiting clinical symptoms of EC should be treated with Panacur too.

These links give a lot of information about EC, you may want to take a look at them

https://www.dechra.co.uk/therapy-ar...cs-antifungals/disease-information/e-cuniculi

https://www.dovepress.com/encephali...-manageme-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-VMRR

http://www.greendale.co.uk/cuniculi_disease.html

I am so pleased to read that Bojangles is doing well