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Bunny not eating due to suspected E. Cuniculi?

Zurkio14

New Kit
Hey everyone!

My almost 4 year old English Spot called Penny has stopped eating Wednesday the 4/5/2022. Brought her to our vet on the same day and they gave me Loxicom and Ranitidine including Critical Care to feed her and she started to fully go back to normal until Sunday morning, where she started to lose balance and her eyes were darting from left to right constantly. Brought her to an emergency vet, who started treatment from E Cuniculi. On the monday after that, we brought her to her regular exotic vet who booked us a CT Scan for Tuesday which we also did. It's confirmed that she does not have an Ear Infection BUT the E. Cuniculi is still waiting for confirmation but we are fully in the treatment plan now. She stayed two days in the hospital, where she has been doing better, according to the vets but she is still falling over and is very wobbly when walking. That being said, her head tilt is very mild and the symptoms are mild as well according to the hospital. Is this normal for the time frame where we have been treating her for E. Cuniculi? And as well, she has stopped eating completely during the day, she might be nibbling on some hay over night, which we cannot monitor. She does produce very limited amount of poops, compared to her small mount every 4-5 hours. We do give her Critical Care 3-4 times daily. She loved taking pellets out of our hands, now she is just hiding in the house and looks a bit "stressed" when walking around and wobbling. It is definitely better than sunday. Medication she gets 2x a day is:

-Loxicom
-Something to make her not nauseous
-Gut mover to get her to eat
-Eye drops

And in the morning she is getting Panacur. With, as menitioned 3-4 Critical Care feedings, around 15ml.

I guess my question is what we can do to make her eat by herself again and when we can expect her to be a bit better on her feet, as she does look stressed and doesn't look happy.

Thanks!
 
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It can take several weeks of ongoing treatment for a Rabbit to make a reasonable recovery from EC. Eating usually improves once the Rabbit feels less dizzy. The medications your Rabbit is on are all correct for the treatment of EC. She will require assisted feeding until her appetite returns. Sometimes a Vitamin B12 injection can stimulate the appetite.
 
It can take several weeks of ongoing treatment for a Rabbit to make a reasonable recovery from EC. Eating usually improves once the Rabbit feels less dizzy. The medications your Rabbit is on are all correct for the treatment of EC. She will require assisted feeding until her appetite returns. Sometimes a Vitamin B12 injection can stimulate the appetite.

This makes me feel a lot better about the situation. Thank you :)

Eating usually improves once the Rabbit feels less dizzy

Was hoping that the Prochlorperazine would help a bit but she is not very interested still.
 
Your vets sound very competent! With regard to eating I've found my bunnies with EC (& indeed poorly with other stuff) are most tempted by fresh foods & the safest options there are forage and herbs. Have you tried Penny on fresh grass, dandelions etc?

Lots of well wishes
 
Lots of well wishes

Thank you! <3

most tempted by fresh foods & the safest options there are forage and herbs. Have you tried Penny on fresh grass, dandelions etc?

They always have a bale of hay from a farm available to eat, so quite fresh, she doesn't want to eat that. We also give them a full head of Romaine Lettuce in the morning and the evening but she only sniffs it, nudges it and doesn't eat it. Sometimes even stumbles away. Might try with fresh grass and Dandelions, Thanks!!!
 
Thank you! <3



They always have a bale of hay from a farm available to eat, so quite fresh, she doesn't want to eat that. We also give them a full head of Romaine Lettuce in the morning and the evening but she only sniffs it, nudges it and doesn't eat it. Sometimes even stumbles away. Might try with fresh grass and Dandelions, Thanks!!!

I hope you try and she likes it. Its a great time of year for forage and there are many members here who could guide you. Herbs are so fragrant they are often enough to tempt them - favourites here are coriander and basil, dill, thyme and parsley too
 
Sounds like a fantastic vet!

Our bun Blossom is recovering from an EC bout about 6 weeks ago now.

She didn't eat hay at all for the first three weeks, and then slowly started eating bits and pieces and is now back to full munching.

She's got two weeks of pancur left as she had to have a 2nd course which her blood test let us know so it's useful even though it takes ages to get the result.

Dandelion, bramble, Rose trimmings and thyme all went down best on her bad days. Most days she would eat fresh food but some not when she was obviously more dizzy with rolling etc.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
 
Sounds like a fantastic vet!

Our bun Blossom is recovering from an EC bout about 6 weeks ago now.

She didn't eat hay at all for the first three weeks, and then slowly started eating bits and pieces and is now back to full munching.

She's got two weeks of pancur left as she had to have a 2nd course which her blood test let us know so it's useful even though it takes ages to get the result.

Dandelion, bramble, Rose trimmings and thyme all went down best on her bad days. Most days she would eat fresh food but some not when she was obviously more dizzy with rolling etc.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

Oh no, I hope she gets better soon!

Yeah we absolutely love our vet, they even called us back at midnight once to tell us what can be done.

This is all so reassuring that it can take a while! We have some Mint, Parsley and Basil for her now, she showed tiny bit of interest but not fully there yet. But hopefully its going up soon! :)
 
Head tilt bunnies generally do better when you only pick them up or move them around for meds and feeding. My bunnies got it from ear infection, yet symptoms the same.
You may need to hydrate you bunny if they ate not able to drink properly. Offer a bowl of water if you use water bottle.
Mine seemed to do better in limited space with rolled up towels for added support.
Sending vibes for a positive result.
 
How much does she weight? I have 1.3kg (2.8 lbs) bun who needs CC of 25 ml 3 times per day whenever not eating. Giving him less, he starts to loose weight. He eats first 10 ml by himslef. And then in gently lift front paws up and he eats nicely the rest of the meal.
 
If she's not eating by herself, I would suggest that she needs more CC as well.

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/vet.../critical_care
It says to give 3 tablespoons powder / kg body weight daily. 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 9g.

I would normally make up enough for 24 hours, so you know how much they should be eating. Baby food jars or a small jam jar are useful for this. Store in the fridge between feeds. It does tend to thicken over time, so add a bit of hot water & stir to warm up enough for each feed. Adding a bit of baby food puree may make it more appetising (eg. apple, pear, carrot)
 
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