Neurological Concern

[jennylouise08]

Hello

I am looking for some advice please. I have been lucky enough to own rabbits for 20 years but have never come across this situation.

I currently have two house rabbits who are continental giants. One aged 6 and one aged 1 year and 11 months.

On Monday morning I checked on them and they were absolutely fine and acting as usual. A few hours later my 1 year old rabbit was in the corner of the room his eyes darting left to right, unable to walk, head tilt, and rapid breathing. I took him to the vets urgently and he was given a medication to reduce brain swelling and an antibiotic. I was told he had brain swelling from likely falling. There is absolutely nothing to fall off within their bunny room and I did tell the vet this. I also asked for a gut stimulant as Snowman wasn't eating and was told this was not necessary.

I went back and saw another vet and got a gut stimulant and Snowman is being fed critical care. Over the last few days he has improved. His eyes have stopped darting, his can mobilse but does fall and is still leaning to the left side.

He had a review today and the vet has given him more gut stimulant as he is only eating very little veggies, no hay and having his syringe feeds, metacam, panacur for 28 days and treated with Xeno.

I have got a appointment with a specialist next week. Could this be a parasite even though my rabbit hasn't been outside since last Summer? Should I be treating his Mum who he lives with as well? The vet said I don't need to unless she shows symptoms? The vet said he should be treated until he is 100% back to his baseline but information I have read online says this isn't always possible?

I am scared it will happen again and we do not know the cause.

Thanks in advance

 

[Shimmer]

It could be the EC parasite. Symptoms are fairly typical. It is a very common parasite in rabbits, and often surfaces when the animal is stressed in some way (eg illness, some life change, new home, etc). It may have been there all their life with no ill effects. Treatment is a 28 day course of oral Panacur to reduce the parasitic load in the body, and an anti-inflammatory such as oral metacam to reduce the neurological symptoms. It's common to have to do multiple consecutive treatment cycles until the symptoms subside. All rabbits sharing the same space should be treated with Panacur daily, but only those showing symptoms need Metacam. Antibiotics are also useful if it could be an inner ear infection - it covers all bases.

There are treatments for the eye flicking (nystagmus), eg Stemetil.

You can't use anti-inflammatories such as metacam at the same time as corticosteroids.

The EC parasite is shed in urine. These spores can create a cycle of reinfection for any rabbit that comes into contact with them, mainly through ingestion via grooming. It is important to do a thorough clean of anything that may have come into contact with urine (floors, lower walls, bowls, bed areas, trays, etc), particularly on days 21 and 28 of the treatment cycle as this is when it can break the parasite's lifecycle. Suitable cleaning methods to kill the spores include steam, 10% bleach, Virkon S (which can be used in washing machines eg for fleece blankets and on carpet, but check for colour fastness first), and certain veterinary disinfectants. All surfaces, bowls, toys, etc should be cleaned, and any hay etc disposed of.

If it is EC, it's very treatable but can take some time. Some rabbits can have a bit of a rollercoaster ride - getting worse again after some improvement. Just keep going and support them if they need help with eating or bum cleaning, for instance.

Panacur is more accurate to dose and cheaper for multiple/ larger rabbits if you use the 10% liquid (for cats & dogs) rather than the paste in dial up syringes sold for rabbits.

There is quite a lot of information on here if you do a search for 'EC', and stories from people who have had experience with treating it.

 

[joey&boo]

Great advice from Shimmer. I'm pleased there has been some improvement with your bun & hope it continues. My bun, many years ago had a rollercoaster ride with EC but I'm so glad she got through it. My specialist vet at the time recommended future 10 day dosings with panacur at times i could predict bunny stress - bonding, house moves, illness . Many rabbits have dormant EC which becomes active if they are under physical or emotional stress

 

[jennylouise08]

Thank you both so much for the advice. That is really helpful. I have been having a good read on the forum as well about other EC cases. Snowman is still not eating much on his own at all. I am syringe feeding 4x daily and he does take at least some of it. What causes the lack of appetite? My vet seems to think it is caused by issues with his balance?

 

[Shimmer]

Not eating is a bit of a vicious circle with rabbits. As long as the vet has confirmed that there is no blockage, the more food you can get into them, the better the appetite will become. If he's not eating much on his own, try feeding every couple of hours if you can, and try to get the recommeded daily dose for his weight into him. It's also important to keep food going through the guts to avoid stasis.

Pain can also be an issue. Is he on any pain relief?

 

[jennylouise08]

Thanks so much. That makes sense. Thankfully I work from home so I am able to be here all day for feeds. I will try increasing them to every 2 hours.

He weighs 6.2kg and he is on 3ml of the dog metacam.

 

[jennylouise08]

Hello A little update. Snowman has been seen again at the vets by a specialist who agrees it is EC. He has been being seen by a Physiotherapist and is doing better than he was but still with a prominent head tilt and struggling with balance issues. The vet has suggested we do bloods to confirm the EC however I have read conflicting information about whether this blood test is helpful at all? My concern is that stress can worsen symptoms and if this blood test isn't going to be helpful and it could potentially cause a relapse of his symptoms is it worth doing? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[Shimmer]

There's no harm in doing bloods if you can easily do it. I've never done it just for EC - didn't see the need and just followed the treatment regieme until it cleared. If there are other concerns about eg other infections, or kidneys or liver affected, then that's a different matter.