Help Please! Sick Bunny :(

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

rustytherabbit

New Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
The Woodlands, TX
Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and joined because my rabbit has been having such awful health issues. He is an almost 4-year-old Hollands Lop named Rusty. He was neutered at 9 months old and has been a very healthy rabbit.

About 3 months ago he got an ear infection and had an extremely bad head tilt. After some antibiotics and a couple weeks of syringe feeding he was back to normal. Then a couple weeks after he was better his back leg seemed to stop working. He was just all flopped over on his side and he began urinating on himself. I took him to the vet immediately but we've spent the last month and a half trying to figure out what it wrong with him. We've settled on encephalitozoon cuniculi and he is being treated with anti-inflamitories, panacur (dewormer), and anti-biotics to be safe. However, he is still urinating all over himself. I blow dry his fur several times a day but it just won't stay dry. He's also pulling the hair out on his legs. One is completely bald and so he's started on the other. He also smells really bad. Of course this is to be expected since he is peeing on himself but its a horrible smell.

Does anyone have any experience with this? The vet was telling me to put him to sleep and then I found info about E. Cuniculi online and wanted to try the treatment for that because it described all of his symptoms. I just want him to get better. Has anyone had a situation like this before?

Thank you so much!
 
With EC progressing this far I am so sad to say that I haven't had good luck. BUT my rabbit who had progressed this far was not on treatment (because at the time i didnt know there was any). I do not know what his prognosis might be. . Im sorry you are having to deal with this disease. It is a horrible thing that I am all too familiar with. I wish tons of luck to you and Rusty
 
People with rabbits that have had similar symptoms, have had good results treating with panacur. Some permanent neurological damage can remain, depending on the severity of the EC when the treatment was started, but the panacur can halt the damage being done, and the condition of the rabbit can start to improve. The loss of bladder control can be a problem. You can try using puppy pee pads to hellp absorb the urine. You will also need to keep a protective ointment on your rabbits skin, where the urine is soaking the fur, and the fur is falling out, to prevent urine scald. You may be able to get something from the vet. There is also this recipe to make your own. The antibiotic in it is prescription though, so if you include that then you would need to get it from your vet.

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/cream/antibiotic_cream.htm


There is a member here that, not too long ago, was in a similar situation to you. Her rabbits condition wasn't improving and the vet suggested putting her rabbit down. She talked to her vet about the possibility of EC and started her rabbit on the panacur. Fuzzy didn't completely recover from the hind limb paralysis, but the deterioration was halted, and her condition did improve. The panacur treatment is for 4 weeks and it can take a few weeks to see marked improvement, there can also be downturns after a rabbit seems to be getting better, but don't give up, because after a downturn, the rabbit will start to improve again. I'm sorry this has happened to your rabbit, and I really hope the panacur helps and you start to see improvement soon. Here's Fuzzy's story if you want to read through it.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/what-up-fuzzy-72804/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/fuzzy-update-73348/
 
Last edited:
Fuzzy is still a spunky old lady!
As JBun mentioned she has not fully regained the use of her hind legs but she can pull herself around with her front legs.
We put puppy training pads under her because she is not able to get in and out of her litter box and at least the pads keep the majority of it away from her. We do have give her hind end baths periodically to keep her from getting urine scald. Since she had lost some weight we also give her some sunflower seeds, and cat formula (non flavored) nutri-cal (which she loves!). She gets Alfalfa hay, organic mixed baby greens and her salad from the produce department. She still loves her treat time too!

She also gets Metacam every night to help with her inflamation. The vet was hesistant to keep her on that after the initial week but seeing as she is 10 years old they said to keep her on it. It really makes a difference in her behavior.

The first vet I saw (in the practice-not my normal vet) said to put her down. Then I found this site and JBun said it sounded like the EC and gave me links. When I took them to my regular vet she said she hadn't even thought of that but the meds were cheap and she was willing to give it a go. There were a few times I thought Fuzzy was going to die but she made it through. Now she is back to being a pooping machine! LOL
 
Last edited:
Hey everyone,

Does anyone have any experience with this? The vet was telling me to put him to sleep and then I found info about E. Cuniculi online and wanted to try the treatment for that because it described all of his symptoms. I just want him to get better. Has anyone had a situation like this before?

Because of the neurological symptoms (hindquarters paralysis, loss of control over peeing and pooping), I am really surprised your vet didn't immediately suspect e. cuniculi. Does this vet commonly see wabbits? If not, try to find one who does. Often, the guys who also do livestock will be much better with wabbits than dog/cat vets.

It can be treated at this stage, but it's going to be difficult and it'd be useful to have something other than water to clean his butt. Your vet can get you chlorhexidine, which is often use for oral rinse, but is very good at neutralizing the "burn" of pee on the fur. Yeah, he's pulling fur because he essentially has diaper rash. That happens. It actually makes the skin easier to clean.
 
I don't have a lot to add to what others have said. I did want to add this recipe for skin balm that will help with the urine scald. It would be good to wash him daily if you can and apply something like this
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/cream/antibiotic_cream.htm

The chloramphenicol is an antibiotic that is prescription only. If you can't get it, the cream without the medicine should also be good. I would also look into a silver sulfadiazine cream, available from the vet.
 
Thank you for sharing about Fluffy! I'm glad she's doing better and I hope my rabbit can follow in her footsteps.

My vet does see rabbits but I'm not sure how regularly. I'm definitely not very happy with him but I've never had good experience with rabbit vets so I don't have the highest expectations and always expect to have to do my own research. I'll check with my vet and try to get some of the ingredients for the lotion and the chlorhexidine to clean him.

Thank you all so much for the tips!
 
Question from an novice bunny owner

Please excuse my ignorance as I have no knowledge of this condition. I just have rabbits I adore and was wondering ...........

Is this E Cuniculi illness a contagious illness? I mean if one bunny is sick with the head tilt problem, can his/her companion "catch it" from him/her?
 
What is the illness that affects the rabbit's internal organs called when they have head tilt?

Does this illness affect the bunny suddenly or slowly?
 
Last edited:
Rabbits seem to be a lot more delicate than people think. Sometimes easter bunny fans think there is very little involved in caring properly for the pet. Children love the cute, fluffy factor but I think a lot of people don't realise just how important hay is in a bunny's diet. This is something I have noticed with a neighbour who keeps rabbits. They throw in a carrot or two and a bit of lettuce and think that is all they have to do.
I have given them the tip to feed plenty of fresh, quality hay because I was a bit worried about their approach. They do love the rabbits but they are not informed about the diet needs which is very unfortunate.
 
Last edited:
Question from an novice bunny owner

Please excuse my ignorance as I have no knowledge of this condition. I just have rabbits I adore and was wondering ...........

Is this E Cuniculi illness a contagious illness? I mean if one bunny is sick with the head tilt problem, can his/her companion "catch it" from him/her?

What is the illness that affects the rabbit's internal organs called when they have head tilt?

Does this illness affect the bunny suddenly or slowly?


E. cuniculi is contagious and usually just within the first couple days of the illness, but studies suggest it is more often passed from mother to baby, and in some cases a rabbit sick with it didn't pass it on to its companion. But the reality is that a majority of rabbits have already been exposed to EC, and aren't sick from it. It is usually stressed, young, or debilitated rabbits that are most susceptible to getting sick from it.

I'm a little confused about what you are asking with the second question. Head tilt can be caused by EC, as well as an ear infection, tumors or an abscess, nematodiasis, trauma, toxic ingestion, nutritional deficiencies, or a virus. Though ear infections and EC seem to be the most common causes of head tilt. Both causes can affect a rabbit slowly or quickly, depending on a variety of factors.

Most people aren't very well informed about rabbits, especially since they haven't been a very common house pet over the years. I didn't know very much either when I got my first pet rabbit. But the longer I've had them, the more I've learned about what their needs are, and what things work best for them. But they are much more complex than most people think.
 
Thank you for all the information you have provided. Head tilt is certainly a nasty disease.
 
Last edited:
No, there is not, to my knowledge. Certainly there is not one that is at the market stage--there could be one in trials but it is unlikely. Although EC is debilitating, having antibodies to the disease doesn't seem to improve the prognosis. Maybe that has something to do with the relatively weaker immune systems of rabbits--that even though they have antibodies, their immune system doesn't destroy the parasite quickly enough.
 
No, there is not, to my knowledge. Certainly there is not one that is at the market stage--there could be one in trials but it is unlikely. Although EC is debilitating, having antibodies to the disease doesn't seem to improve the prognosis. Maybe that has something to do with the relatively weaker immune systems of rabbits--that even though they have antibodies, their immune system doesn't destroy the parasite quickly enough.


Thank you for this information. I appreciate it.
 
Last edited:
I just wanted to give everyone an update on Rusty. He is doing great! We had many ups and downs but he has regained use of his back legs and has control of his urine. He has also been officially off of all medication for 3 weeks and has been only improving. He's finally getting back to his happy self. Thank you all for your info and help with this!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top