LUNA - E. Cuniculi

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Saffy

Saffy

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9 Ladies Stone Circle - Derbyshire, , United King
Luna was fine until last Monday night when Hollie went to put her back in her cage and she just flopped over.

Tuesday .. vet confirmed she had EC and put her on Baytril for an eye infection and Lapizole which I collected the following day.

The stupid receptionist told me the wrong dose, so since last Wednesday till yesterday we were only giving her 0.2ml instead of 2.1ml ... I was fuming and immediately lodged an official complaint.

Anyway, back to Luna. She is weeing (though it's dark .. but there is LOTS of it) and pooping .. tiny poops though .. she is loving raspberry leaves, spinach, watercress and romaine lettuce but no pellet food. I will now start her on critical care this evening. She is nibbling on hay but can only lie on her side now and sleeps SO MUCH .. when she is awake, she is rolling badly and then going into spasm.

We hold her and cuddle her and tell her how much we love her ..

Ben, her mate, is fantastic with her. At night, he goes in the small carrier we have for her which is padded out with towels and a cuddly toy, and no matter how much she kicks and prods him as she tries to get comfortable, he just sits there and then grooms her when she is settled.

EC is horrific to see .. and extremely distressing for the owner.

The vet gave her a thorough heart check yesterday and said she didn't seem stressed but warned us it was a long journey. (Which we knew already from the god that is GOOGLE)

Prayers please ..

:sosad
 
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So sorry your bun is going through this. EC is a very difficult illness to deal with in our rabbits. That's really nice that her mate is being good with her. I'm sure she finds that comforting. I hope she continues to improve and is feeling better soon.

Did your vet mention anything about also giving metacam? It is commonly given with EC, to reduce inflammation, as long as the kindney's aren't compromised.
 
Thank you for your replies. Asked vet today and he is a little wary as her pee is dark and there is a LOT .. So going to carry on with the PROPER dose of meds for now. She is lay her on her side and keeps going into a spasm type hunch. I can still feed her this way though.

Doing all we can for her, she had a teaspoon of critical care tonight .. Is still pooping and peeing.
 
woahlookitsme said:
E. cuniculi is contagious to other rabbits. . . Are you treating both of them as a precaution?
Click to expand...

It's not necessary to treat multiple bunnies in contact with each other when one has an active EC case. Almost all bunnies have been exposed to EC and harbor it in their bodies at a sub-clinical level (meaning no active disease, no symptoms, no problems). They are usually exposed to it through the urine of their mother. It is possible to totally eliminate from a group of rabbits if extreme measures are taken but is not possible for a pet owner or even a hobbyist rabbit breeder. It won't be necessary to treat this bunny's mate unless he shows signs of EC. Latent EC cases are made active by a weakening of the immune system that allows the parasite to stop being suppressed. Stress is the most common cause, for instance an significant change in the environment, greatly advanced age. Other things that cause stress (which directly weakens the immune system) and also negatively effect the immune system directly because they are illnesses that commonly cause EC to become active include upper respiratory infection, head tilt caused by inner ear infection, GI stasis event, and others.
 
May not be necessary but I would still do it. I personally know how horrible and fatal it can be. I would be worried with an exposed rabbit that gets a possible latent infection then starts showing symptoms that could go unnoticed or spread so quickly that it is too late for treatment. From what we have experienced it affects different rabbits in different ways. Juliet (one of my EC cases) became paralyzed and was euthanized 2weeks after she showed signs and secondary infections compromised her quality of life. But with Dino (another of my EC cases) died 10hours after abnormal behavior was noticed.

Also just a question. A rabbit can never be ridden of the parasite only controlled right?
 
I thought it was only contagious during the first few weeks after infestation? After it makes it's way through the kidneys, it won't be shed through the urine.
 
Yes it can only be controlled .. That's what I was told. Luna is 3 .. Benji 9 .. He shows no signs but I am treating him too.

I believe too that it is not contagious once passed through the kidneys in the first weeks . The cage needs bleaching with a mild solution as the parasite can still live and then just re contaminate ..

Luna is rolled into a ball like a hedgehog but she is trying to groom herself and at times tries to stand and wash her face. She then rolls and goes I to spasm .. I will try and get video so that people can be aware of what it looks like.

Generally, after she has rolled and gone into spasm we hold her like a baby..but her head tilts and contorts till it's almost under her .. But she licks my hand and I generally like to think she is saying thank you.

Thank you so much for all your replies.
 
GO LUNA!!!!!!

I was so worried when I saw this thread! What a little fighter!!!!!! I hope she continues to improve!!!

Have the spasms stopped? Did they look like seizures at all? Just wanted to note that when Mushroom was diagnosed with EC he was having seizures every hour but metacam stopped them in about a day (but this might have been because the EC was probably in Mush's brain as he was showing only neurological symptoms, not sure if it would help other symptoms of EC or not but I do second that a lot of bunnies with EC are given metacam as well)
 
Go Luna!!

I hope she only continues to improve! :) I'm glad she's getting better. Reading your post made me go look into EC and it is scary!! I plan on getting a new rabbit in the next few months and now I'm terrified of getting a sick one. Silly, I know, but I guess its a gamble we all take.

So glad Luna is getting better, though! She's such a pretty little thing. :)
 
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