Pasteurella or E-cuniculi

[rabb1tmad]

I'd like a little help/advice with this. I have experienced head tilt before with Lacey and thankfully she recovered perfectly but Starsky has been a little different;

- 2 weeks ago Starsky had a nasty wound on his back I assume caused by Lacey either by biting or with her nails (accidently).
- The wound was not infected but was quite deep and he kept pulling out his hair around as well as pulling his fur out behind the back of his legs. He also had wart like lumps on the very ends of his ears. Also loss of appetite.
- Vet said it didn't look infected and injected him with an anti-inflammatory and sent me home with a short course of Baytril and some Ivermectin spot on in case it was a parasite.
- A few days later he was losing his balance when turning around and no binkying either, noticed lots of head shaking too - loss of balance particularly bad when shaking head. His appetite was back. Still, I wasn't happy with the loss of balance so I took him back to the vets.He just isn't himself.
- The vet did a full physical and couldn't find anything wrong so he thought that he could have had a reaction to the Ivermectin. He gave an anti-inflammatory and told me to keep a close eye on him in case a head tilt developed.
- Few days later I noticed that one of his eyes was half closed so I took him back to the vets as I thought it could be an early sign of head tilt. The vetfound a little bit of puss in his left ear.When looking in his left eye the vet noticed what could be utevitis which can be a sign of e-cuniculi. Lacey had suffered head tilt last year and recovered with anti-biotics and a course of Panacur -suspected e-cuniculi or ear infection. Due to this the vet recommended some testing in case both carry e-cuniculi, etc.
- Test negative for parasites, awaiting e-cuniculi results. High blood sugar but could have been through stress. Advised to avoid giving carrots and apples anyway in case of Diabetes.
- Prescribed Panacur for both rabbits, 28 day course, strong course of Baytril, eye drops for bad eye, gel for wound. Cost me a fortune but well worth it.
- Starsky is still losing his balance and he isn't getting better. He has developed a very slight lean (not really a tilt yet) towards his left side when in a deep sleep. He also twitches a lot in his sleep which he hasn't done before. Apart from these symptoms he is able to get around (albeit slower than normal) without falling over and he is eating well. Although he seems happy enough he isn't his usual self.


Although the symptoms are all leaning towards e-cuniculi I just can't help thinking that this is all linked to the wound on his back. I read somewhere on the netthat Pasteurella can occur from a scratch or bite - has anyone else had a similar experience? Or does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be or what I can do to help my bun a little more?

 

[naturestee]

What is utevitis? I'm guessing it's misspelled because a Google search didn't find anything at all. If it's eye shaking, that could be from any of a number of neurological problems including E. cuniculi or stroke, or a bacterial ear infection.

There are a lot of different symptoms here, which is strange.What blood tests has your vet completed so far and what were the results? How are his white blood cell counts (indicative of infection) and his organ functions?

Since there was pus in the ear I would think that at least part of the problem could be a nasty ear infection. This is not necessarily Pasteurella, which is a specific genus of bacteria, but could be caused by other types as well. Did your vet do a culture of the pus? I wonder if it's possible that there's an abscess in or near the ear or the eye, especially since the issues were on the same side. I think it would be a good idea to have anxray done to check for an abscess or tooth problems there. A problem like that might require surgery and/or injected antibiotics such as penicillin.

I don't know what health articles you've read so far, but maybe there's something helpful that you haven't seen yet in our Rabbit Health References.
E. cuniculi
Head Tilt
Infections

And just in case... Abscesses


Please keep us updated on Starsky!ray:

 

[rabb1tmad]

Oh yes . Sorry I typed it wrong, it should be Uveitis.

Parasites - negative (although I had already used the Ivermectin spot on so that could have got rid of the little pests before the test)

Organ tests came back fine but I can't remember what they checked,certainly kidneys was one. He has a slightly high glucose level which could indicate diabetes or stress.

E-cuniculi - still awaiting results.

Teeth checked - he does have very slight spurs at the back as his teeth are not quite aligned correctly but the vet said that they were nowhere near big enough to cause problems. He did advise that we should get them checked out every6 months as he will have to have them removed at some point.

No cultures taken of puss, no x-rays, white blood cells not checked.Thanks for the info though - if he doesn't improve then I will ask for x-rays, etc. I will take a look at the sites you mentioned too.

He is starting to show some signs of recovery. Both last night and this morning after giving him his medecines he nipped me to tell me of his disgust and even tried running away from me! When I came home tonight I let him out of his cage onto the rug and he actually ran without falling over and even did a little binky. I know we're not out of the woods yet but he is certainly showing good signs. He had a check up at the vets tonight too and they are pleased with his progress. He still has the suspected Uveitis but it doesn't seem to be causing any pain.I'll keep you posted.

 

[rabb1tmad]

Well the results are in - they show that at some point he has been exposed to e-cuniculi so it is looking likely that was the cause but I guess we will never be sure. At least he is on the road to recovery now. His loss of balance has gone but he is still pulling his fur out from around where his wound was so he looks a bit of a mess!

Thanks for the help.

 

[naturestee]

It's great that his balance is better!Is he irritating the wound by pulling the fur? Maybe he should wear an e-collar to prevent it, as some rabbits will start tearing into their skin too.:?

 

[rabb1tmad]

Yes it's great, he is binkying loads again:bunnydance:. His wound is all healed up now and his skin looks fine. I think maybe it has become a habit for him to pull his fur? He also has bald patches on the inside of his hind legs - no sign of any wounds.The vet mentioned it could be hormonal. I don't think it's boredom -they have plenty of toys and come out of their cage to play for hours at night.