Harold is on the the way to the Vet...

[EEEM]

Harold had one I think was a seizure last night.I've seen seizures in people and in dogs, and it really struck me assomething very similar. He was happy and energetic all evening and hadfinally settled down under a chair for a rest with Judy when I heardsome scuffling. I looked over and he was on his side, mouth wide open,eyes rolled back in his head. His legs were stiff and his whole bodyseemed to be spasming. The whole ordeal lasted about 15 seconds. I wasafraid to touch him. He finally got up, looking very dazed, andpromptly took off running. He ran into a chair leg, turned, ran intothe side of his cage, turned, fell down three steps, and when I finallygot to him in the hall he was running into the wall repeatedly. Heseemed very disoriented and blind. I touched him and he jumped, butsettled down quickly and finally stopped running his head into thewall. I picked him up, which he usually doesn't tolerate, but he bodyfelt sort of limp. I held him for a few minutes until his heart rateslowed down, then I put him in his cage. He seemed calmer, but stillsort of blind and disoriented. He hopped a few steps and hit the sideof the cage again. I put a handful of pellets in his bowl and put hisface right up to them. He ate, and then finally seemed calm. I watchedhim for a while last night and he seemed to slowly come back to hisnormal self. This morning he was at the door of his cage waiting to belet out for a romp like always. There are no signs of abnormality todayat all. He's eating well, drinking well, energetic and happy. I'mtaking him to the vet anyway, of course. Hopefully we'll get someanswers, but I sort of doubt it.

Anyone know of epilepsy in rabbits? Or something that would cause aseizure? Nothing in our routine has changed at all, and there's nothinghe seems to have gotten into in the apartment. It was just a very scarysituation.

 

[babbitlover]

im not too sure.. but yea bring him to the vets,not to scare you, get him checked and make sure he doesnt have a braintumor. He may also have brain damage, or may have something severlywrong

 

[SLRabbits]

EEEM wrote:

Anyone know of epilepsy in rabbits? Or something that wouldcause a seizure? Nothing in our routine has changed at all, and there'snothing he seems to have gotten into in the apartment. It was just avery scary situation.

What kind is he? I have always heard that REW, BEW's, and any of theircarriers can be more prone to epilepsy. Too bad Pam's computer isbroke, I know she could help you out on that one.

~Nichole

 

[Cinnabun]

i've also heard of lion heads having this... butin your avatar they dont look like Lion heads. yeah too bad pam ainthere! but i know someone eles will be able to help you out

 

[lyndsy]

Gosh i'm so sorry to hear that.

I would take im to the vet just to be sure all is well.

I hope everything turns out ok. Keep us posted.

Take Care,

Lyndsy

 

[pamnock]

I'm checking in from the library

Information from the vet may help to determine what the problem is. What color are Harolds eyes?

You had mentioned in an earlier post that you thought he may bedeaf. It's possible that the lack of hearing and the seizuresmay be related.

It's extremely hard to narrow down exactly what the cause is.It could be anything from parasites to a genetic tendency. Inoticed that he has a lightly marked pattern with little color near hisface. Important cells migrate along with the pigment cellsduring fetal formation. If the pigment cells migration to hisfore-area were limited, it also may have effectedother cellmigration to his ears and nervous system.

Harold may have panicked in his cage, and injured himself resulting ina temporary condition, so it is really hard to guess at exactly whatthe problem is.

Animals with epilepsy can be put on medication to help control the seizures.

Please let us know what the vet has to say.

Pam

 

[EEEM]

As I, and many of you expected, the vet didn'treally have anyhting concrete to say. She asked the expected questionsabout consumption of any strange things, possibly lead paint. Butthere's not a chance of that. She said that rabbits often get earinfections, some of which are caused by a certain type of bacteria (thename escapes me) that causes neurological symptoms such as twitching ora crooked carrying of the head. But Harold's ears are clean andhealthy, so she ruled that out. She did mention epilepsy and that BEW(which Harold is, though with a splatter of black on his hind end) havebeen known to be slightly more prone, but it's still very rare and thatif we've never seen him seize before and he doesn't exhibit any othersigns of a neurological problem that she doesn't recommend tryingepilepsy meds. She also said seizures are sometimes seen in conjunctionwith kidney disease, but that he seems to healthy, spry, and happy tobe in an advanced stage of kidney disease. She did take a urine samplewhich will be analyzed for kidney function, as well as a blood sampleto test for any bacteria in the bloodstream, but those will most likelynot shed any light on the situation.

Her advice was just to keep a close eye on him, isolate him to asmaller running area than usual so we can moniter him better as well askeep him calm. He's a pretty happy bunny at the moment. He had a nicetreat when we got back and now he's eating hay as Judy grooms him. So,though it was a harrowing experience, I'm not too worried. He'll behappy for all the pampering and attention he'll get over the next fewdays. Judy even seems to be more loving towards him today.

If people do come up with more research, let me know. I'll read up as well.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=5394&forum_id=1&highlight=seizures

ALSO, could he have bitten an electrical cord? Could he have eaten something lightly poisonous?

He's in my prayers.

 

[EEEM]

He had another seizure last night at around thesame time. This time, he was in his cage and I only caught the end ofthe spasming, but again, he started running around and running into thesides of his cage. It was easier to catch and calm him down this time,so the confusion didn't seem to last as long. Again, this morning he'slooking perky and ready to get out of his cage. I plan to keep themcontained until I can give the apartment a really thorough cleaning tosee if I can find anything he could have gotten into. I looked throughyesterday and didn't see anything, but I'm going to turn the placeupside down today to see what I can find.

Bo B: I'm sure it wasn't a power cable. Where he seized last night nochords are accessible, and the night before he was near a lamp chord,but it was wrapped to prevent chewing and I don't see any signs ofteeth on there. I really can't thing of anything he could have gotteninto that would be poisonous to him. All of our toxic cleaning suppliesare in cabinets that he can't reach, our houseplants are also highenough where he can't get up to them, and other than that I feel wedon't have alot of toxic stuff sitting around. But it is possible, soI'll be double checking everything.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I'm keeping him in my prayers.

I figured you had checked all those things (power cords, plants, etc)but I believe it never hurts to ask or remind others when it's a healthor safety issue.

 

[Lynda]

We'll be on our knees praying while you're on yours getting a curious bunny's eye view of everything.

As much as we don't want them getting into things, here's hoping hejust got into something and it'll pass or have an "easy" fix!

 

[pamnock]

The vet may want to consider putting him on anti-seizure meds at this point, due to the frequency.

Pam

 

[EEEM]

I called the vet again today. She recommended notbrining Harold in again because stress wouldn't do him any good. Shesaid the seizure meds tend to have alot of side effects with rabbitsand that she still thinks it's best to keep him off of them for now.I'm going to make an appointment with, or at least call, a vet who hasmore of a specialty in rabbits tomorrow. Since his episodes happened ona weekend I had a limited choice of vets to take him to. Though the vetwho we took him to was fairly knowledgable she did admit to havinglittle experience with rabbits and had to check her books a couple oftimes. So hopefully I'll get more answers.

He was fairly cheerful this morning, but this afternoon he seemed verylethargic and disinterested in his surroundings. He spent most of theday chilling out in his litter box which is really unusual for him,especially when he's being allowed free run. He's still eating anddrinking well and there are no other outward signs of illness exceptlethargy. I'm just starting to get a little more worried.

 

[pamnock]

Here's a website with some info on seizures in rabbits:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm

 

[Carolyn]

Dear EEEM,

My heart goes out to you and Harold completely. God, I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't.

I just wanted you to know that you're in my thoughts and prayers. Your heart must be in your stomach with worry.

I will pray very hard. I feel so sorry for you and Harold.

-Carolyn

 

[bluebird]

I have a blue buck that had a seizure after getting medicine for coccidiosis it was scary but hes okay now.bluebird

 

[EEEM]

Bluebird,
Glad to hear he's ok. It's such a scary experience to see your bunny insuch a dire state and be completely helpless! I'm glad you were able todiscover the cause. Hopefully, soon I'll be in the same situation.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I hope you find an answer that is a simple solution to help Harold.

Although it seems so funny now, when we had only had Bo a couple ofdays, he flopped but I didn't understand what he was doing. Ithought he was seizing. When I saw it again I was sofrightened. My daughter and I saw the third time later thatsame day and she said "Oh mommy let's get him to the vet" ......

Of course he was stunned by our looks and running over to his cage.....

Like I said, we laugh at it now, but I remember the feeling I had when I thought something was wrong......

 

[EEEM]

It is definitely a terrible feeling. And I thinkseizures, or something similar, are even more frightening than otherillnesses because it's so sudden and dramatic. You feel helpless andscared when your bunny is a little off, feeling lethargic or looks alittle ragged, but when you see your friend spasming on the floor witha look of terror in his eye, it's almost unbearable!

I'm grateful for a seizure free night last night (at least while I wasup watching him). And he seems a little less lethargic today. He had anice time rearranging his paper bags this evening. He wasn't up to ityesterday so alot more arranging needed to be done tonight.

 

[*nepo*]

I'm glad he's doing a littlebetter. I can see why you're worried. I hope he recovers fast and thatyou can find the cause for those seizures