(Solved) Paresis of the hind legs - mysterious cause

[dewlap]

Hey,
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post so please be kind with me.
Me and my brother have an amateur rabbit farm (we would love to take them home as pets, but some people have a problem with it ), but back to the point.
About 2 months ago, one of the females, about half a year old (from an unwanted incestuous relationship), started having problems with standing properly, i.e. her butt started to tilt to the right side and the right hind leg was tucked under her belly. As she was the fruit of incest and because of the above symptoms, we decided that she had to be euthanized.
Unfortunately, in mid-December, we noticed similar symptoms in the second female (one of our favorites), so we immediately took her to the vet who knows about small animals. She got vitamin B injections on her first visit, but they didn't help, so we went back the next day. The vet took her temperature, which was normal, and did blood tests that showed elevated glucose and a high leukocyte count (indicating inflammation despite the good temperature). The veterinarian decided that for 5 days she would receive strong antibiotics that overcome the blood-brain barrier. After 5 days of antibiotics, he did a poop test (without coccidiosis) and another blood test, which showed that the inflammation was still there. She also got two injections for syphilis and fenbendazole (2,5 g per day for a month) for internal parasites and in particular for E. cuniculi. The doctor also recommended exercises to stretch the hind legs and help with muscle wasting. For about a week and a half, we followed his instructions, but suddenly instead of hard and round boobs, there was a thin and very smelly poop. My brother and I washed her, dried her, and gave her activated charcoal. Despite these treatments, her hind legs showed no signs of improvement. The problem was also that she peed and pooped under herself, which made it necessary to wash her often. During this illness, she also did not want to eat much (especially fodder beets, which she always loved).
The whole situation and her condition made us decide to euthanize her.
However, despite searching the internet and visits to the vet, we are not sure what she was suffering from. In addition to E. cuniculi, we also thought about joint degeneration (but they were too young - half a year and two years), a serious infection for which even antibiotics did not help, or even cancer of the reproductive organs.
I would like to add that our rabbits are vaccinated against RHD and myxomatosis, we sometimes acidify the water against coccidiosis, they are externally dewormed, we clean the cages once a week using dry disinfection. Rabbits eat mainly hay, they get fodder beets, dry fodder, in spring and summer also green fodder and very rarely lettuce or cabbage and treats like fruits.
If anyone has had a similar experience or knows what it could be, please reply. This is very important for us because if the first female had similar symptoms and then the second one, we are afraid that it may be contagious.
Thank you in advance for your answer.

 

[JBun]

Did both rabbits have full paresis of both hind limbs, just one limb/one side, or was it just ataxia and loss of balance with neither limb losing full function?

E. Cuniculi is certainly possible if both hind limbs were affected, though usually you won't necessarily see another rabbit contracting it right after another, or in the same way. It's just not contagious in that way. It has more to do with lowered immunity and can attack misc organs, meaning it won't always result in hind limb paralysis or head tilt, but can cause other health issues. But even though it wouldn't be common to affect two rabbits in the same way, in the same time period, it is still a possibility.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Encephalitozoon_cuniculi
I wouldn't expect it to be caused by spinal deterioration either. That doesn't usually happen in young rabbits. Unless, the two females are related and could have some sort of genetic spinal defect. So if they are related, this is a possibility, though it would be pretty rare.

If your rabbits are exposed to cats and their feces at all, toxoplasmosis is a possibility. It can have similar symptoms to E. cuniculi.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Toxoplasm/Toxo_rab_en.pdf
If it wasn't paralysis affecting both hind limbs but was ataxia and loss of balance, an inner ear infection is a possibility, though it would be highly uncommon for two rabbits to both get an inner ear infection at around the same time. So again, not common but possible.

Medirabbit: ear infection clinical signs and treatment

Another possibility could be a toxin that's been ingested. Maybe a noxious weed that got into their hay or fodder. We did have a rabbit owner on here several years ago, that had multiple pet rabbits with outdoor access, that experienced temporary hind limb paralysis. The owner realized it was from some mushrooms in their yard that the rabbits had ingested. Once access to the mushrooms was stopped, the rabbits gradually regained full function.

There is also something called floppy rabbit syndrome, that is usually a temporary condition believed to be caused by a possible nutrient deficiency. Most often the rabbit will recover fully in a couple of weeks time, with the necessary supportive care. But this is usually a whole body condition including the front legs, and just leaves the rabbit with use of it's head as well as being fully alert with no accompanying lethargy(will eat just fine with help). And it would be uncommon for multiple rabbits to experience this at around the same time, but still a possibility.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Flop_rabbit/Floppy_rabbits.pdf
If any medications/dewormer was given just prior to the incidents, then overdose may also be a possible cause.

I would lean to a possible toxin in their environment or in their food, or toxoplasmosis as the cause, as these are the two most likely to affect multiple rabbits in a similar time period. E. cuniculi would be the next most likely possibility.

For future knowledge, the runny smelly poop that your second rabbit developed, was likely antibiotic induced enterotoxemia, which could have been caused by the first antibiotic not being a rabbit safe one, or by ingesting some of the penicillin injected for the syphilis treatment. This is usually from leakage at the injection site and the rabbit then grooms it off, ingesting it where it then disrupts the gut bacteria resulting in an overgrowth of the clostridium bacteria. Immediate treatment with the correct meds is needed to try and correct this, but even then it most often will prove fatal.

Medirabbit: bacterial and mucoid enteritis, enterotoxemia

Incest isn't really a thing in rabbits. It's common to breed related rabbits to each other if there is good genetics/conformation. The main reason you wouldn't want to do this is if the combination of two related rabbits breeding resulted in negative genetic traits in the offspring, or if either rabbit had a known negative genetic problem.

 

[dewlap]

Did both rabbits have full paresis of both hind limbs, just one limb/one side, or was it just ataxia and loss of balance with neither limb losing full function?

E. Cuniculi is certainly possible if both hind limbs were affected, though usually you won't necessarily see another rabbit contracting it right after another, or in the same way. It's just not contagious in that way. It has more to do with lowered immunity and can attack misc organs, meaning it won't always result in hind limb paralysis or head tilt, but can cause other health issues. But even though it wouldn't be common to affect two rabbits in the same way, in the same time period, it is still a possibility.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Encephalitozoon_cuniculi
I wouldn't expect it to be caused by spinal deterioration either. That doesn't usually happen in young rabbits. Unless, the two females are related and could have some sort of genetic spinal defect. So if they are related, this is a possibility, though it would be pretty rare.

If your rabbits are exposed to cats and their feces at all, toxoplasmosis is a possibility. It can have similar symptoms to E. cuniculi.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Toxoplasm/Toxo_rab_en.pdf
If it wasn't paralysis affecting both hind limbs but was ataxia and loss of balance, an inner ear infection is a possibility, though it would be highly uncommon for two rabbits to both get an inner ear infection at around the same time. So again, not common but possible.

Medirabbit: ear infection clinical signs and treatment

Another possibility could be a toxin that's been ingested. Maybe a noxious weed that got into their hay or fodder. We did have a rabbit owner on here several years ago, that had multiple pet rabbits with outdoor access, that experienced temporary hind limb paralysis. The owner realized it was from some mushrooms in their yard that the rabbits had ingested. Once access to the mushrooms was stopped, the rabbits gradually regained full function.

There is also something called floppy rabbit syndrome, that is usually a temporary condition believed to be caused by a possible nutrient deficiency. Most often the rabbit will recover fully in a couple of weeks time, with the necessary supportive care. But this is usually a whole body condition including the front legs, and just leaves the rabbit with use of it's head as well as being fully alert with no accompanying lethargy(will eat just fine with help). And it would be uncommon for multiple rabbits to experience this at around the same time, but still a possibility.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Flop_rabbit/Floppy_rabbits.pdf
If any medications/dewormer was given just prior to the incidents, then overdose may also be a possible cause.

I would lean to a possible toxin in their environment or in their food, or toxoplasmosis as the cause, as these are the two most likely to affect multiple rabbits in a similar time period. E. cuniculi would be the next most likely possibility.

For future knowledge, the runny smelly poop that your second rabbit developed, was likely antibiotic induced enterotoxemia, which could have been caused by the first antibiotic not being a rabbit safe one, or by ingesting some of the penicillin injected for the syphilis treatment. This is usually from leakage at the injection site and the rabbit then grooms it off, ingesting it where it then disrupts the gut bacteria resulting in an overgrowth of the clostridium bacteria. Immediate treatment with the correct meds is needed to try and correct this, but even then it most often will prove fatal.

Medirabbit: bacterial and mucoid enteritis, enterotoxemia

Incest isn't really a thing in rabbits. It's common to breed related rabbits to each other if there is good genetics/conformation. The main reason you wouldn't want to do this is if the combination of two related rabbits breeding resulted in negative genetic traits in the offspring, or if either rabbit had a known negative genetic problem.

JBun thank you very much for your extensive and detailed answer.
As for the paresis of the limbs, both cases started with the rabbit tucking the rear right paw under her, which caused an imbalance and the left one remained functional at this stage. The first female was immediately euthanized. In the second one, the right paw became inoperative at all and the left one was in a slightly better condition, but minimally (basically, it was also bad). There was also atrophy of the muscles of the hind legs through which the bones could be felt. Her personality hasn't changed. The head and neck twist characteristic of E cuniculi did not appear.
I will add that in the second female we noticed not serious pododermatitis during the summer, which we treated with bismuth subgallate powder and ammoni bituminosulfonatis unguentum ointment. But on the occasion of this paresis, we checked if there were pododermatitis again and it turned out that they were. So maybe the disease was caused by them?
As for toxoplasmosis, I read that it is rare in rabbits. But today I had an little enlightenment, i.e. my aunt once told me that the barn where we keep hay could have been entered by the neighbor's cat and cats are classic carriers of toxoplasmosis. Maybe they could have caught it from pigeons, ducks or chickens, which often like to enter the room where rabbits stay. I'm wondering, however, that during the 3 years of having rabbits, toxoplasmosis has only now appeared?

 

[dewlap]

For the knowledge of future generations, the mystery was solved a week ago. During the autopsy of one male, it was found that there were many small nodules (1-5 mm) on his organs, which indicated monstrous sepsis. At first glance, it looked like Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. But after taking samples to culture for several types of bacteria, it turned out that he had Pseudomonas aeruginosa in his lungs and Salmonella throughout his body. Then swabs were taken from a seemingly healthy rabbit and rooster, and Salmonella came out too. Antibiograms show neomycin is active on these bacteria.