Rabbit can't move at all! Paralyzed!

[helppumpkin]

Hi there. This is my 9 week old rabbit Pumpkin
Yesterday morning he seemed a little lethargic and didn't really hop around when i let him out his cage. And he had trouble going in and out of his cage, he would just pretty much fall out and lay there hopelessly and he couldn't get himself up.Later that day he got worse and just stayed in one spot in his cage.

He cant move to feed himself. He'll try to move but he just can't support himself. He's pretty much paralyzed. Also he isn't pooping or peeing. He only peed this morning when I handed him to my boyfriend ( maybe because he was scared? )
So I took him to the vet and she took x-rays - no resluts. And tested his glucose, again nothing. I took him yesterday and gave him Fluid Therapy and this morning I took him again to receive fluid therapy.
The vets pretty much said they don't know whats wrong with him and gave me some SMZ/TMP and Panacur Suspension as well as some Recovery Plus to syringe feed him since he really wasn't eating.

Hoewever I fed him a tiny piece of a banana a couple minutes ago and he seemed to really enjoy it. Except I could see his heart pumping out of his tiny body, it was just racing , but stopped after 30 seconds.

I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem like this and what they did to help their bunny to recovery or if they found out what the cause was?
Maybe Flopping Rabbit Syndrome? I'm really not sure I just want my baby to be happy and healthy again ;( He's too young to die.
Thank u for ur responses.

 

[Aki]

It sounds an awful lot like e cuniculi to me. Where did you get the rabbit from and when? Your rabbit probably has been infected before you got it and if I were you I would be really mad because I'm not gonna lie, getting rid of this is going to be hell. You need blood works to check if the parasit is there (IgG IgM), also check the urine for spores. If you can, finding another vet might be a good idea because if yours knew the first thing about rabbit she would have thought of it immediately.
The good thing is that the treatment for e cuniculi is Panacur (about 28 days or more), which you are giving already. Often, vets also give toltrazuril, an antibiotic / anti-inflammatory and vitamine B to fight the consequences of the protozoan.
If it is e cuniculi, you have to desinfect everything your rabbit is in contact with with bleach (cuniculi produces spores, they go everywhere and nothing destroys them except for bleach) and to keep the rabbit in a controlled environment to prevent him from hurting himself.
Of course, you'll have to keep his stomach moving by feeding him water and critical care with a syringe. Massages can help too.

 

[JBun]

Xrays would usually rule out a spinal injury being the cause, but it's still a possibility and it either was missed or can't be seen on the xrays. It could also be e. cuniculi or floppy rabbit syndrome. It can be difficult to pinpoint a cause without having other testing done such as blood tests or a scan.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=490
http://www.gwexotics.com/wccms-resources/a/5/0/e/77554b90-a660-11e0-a685-0050568626ea.pdf
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Floppy_Rabbit_Syndrome.htm

Your vet is treating the possibility of e. cuniculi with the Panacur. The smz/tmp will cover the possibility of infection being involved. If it's floppy rabbit syndrome, it may be due to low potassium, and if so that seems to resolve itself in about a week. Syringe feeding and sub q fluids should help with that. The only other med I would want to be giving is meloxicam. It's an anti inflammatory and is really necessary for treating the possibility of e. cuniculi, and will also help if there is a spinal injury with inflammation causing the paralysis. So if it were me I would request some meloxicam from my vet, and make sure the correct dose for rabbits is given as many vets inexperienced with rabbits will underdose, in which case it won't be as effective.
http://vgr1.com/metacam/

If he is still not peeing on his own, you will need to have your vet show you how to safely express his bladder. If he is not pooping, it could be due to a gut slowdown from the stress, and if so a gut stimulant such as metoclopramide, from your vet will be needed. If the lack of pooping is due to a spinal injury, then it's not a good sign and there is a possibility there will be no improvement or recovery due to a severe spinal injury. But it's difficult to know at this stage.

As for his heart pounding, it's difficult to know. It may have just been a stress response or it could have been an underlying health problem connected to the paralysis. It's definitely something you want to mention to your vet.

If you are not currently seeing a rabbit specialist and feel like that is something you want to do, I certainly would recommend it. An experienced rabbit vet can make a big difference in the correct diagnosis and treatment being given. If you want to list your general location maybe someone will have a recommendation for you.

It's very possible your rabbit can fully recover, but sometimes the paralysis may be permanent. If this is the case, a rabbit can still have a good quality of life with this disability. But it does take a lot of dedication on the part of the owner. I just mention this as some vets will immediately recommend pts, and this doesn't necessarily need to be the only option if the rabbit is still doing well despite the disability. But this is something only you with your vet, can determine.
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/

 

[squidpop]

I had a 5 week old bunny that went completely floppy, littermates where all fine. I took to vets and they gave him an antiinflamatory, antibiotic, and a anti-protozoal medication for EC. Vet didn't expect it to live. I syringed electrolytes 6 ml every 4 hours or so and some mushy ground pellets, linseed, blackberry leaves, ground in a spice grinder to make mushy mixture that could go through a syringe. The bunny was floppy for 48 hours and then slowly started to recover and was better by the third day. So if you can keep some fluids and food going into bunny it might recover.

 

[helppumpkin]

Pumpkin can finally move and he can eat on his own. Thank you so much for everyone who replied. I still don't know what's wrong with him though. Thankfully he's much better and is a bit more cheerful

 

[ts786]

How have the poop pellets changed in things like size, consistency, smell, texture, etc.? Has he ever been treated with any anti-parasitic, such as Panacur?

Has the Vet done a poop analysis? Is he currently on any of the various gut stimulants? What is his weight and what is the Panacur dosing? Is the Panacur rX written for at least a month of continuous dosing?

 

[helppumpkin]

How have the poop pellets changed in things like size, consistency, smell, texture, etc.? Has he ever been treated with any anti-parasitic, such as Panacur?

Has the Vet done a poop analysis? Is he currently on any of the various gut stimulants? What is his weight and what is the Panacur dosing? Is the Panacur rX written for at least a month of continuous dosing?

When he started pooping again they were tiny and dark, and once he started getting healthier they changed back to normal.
Never been treated with any anti-parasitic before this incident
One vet took a poop sample but never told me about anything.
No stimulants.
Pancaur dosing is .15mls every 24 hours

Thankfully he has been better. He now runs around and seems overall healthy.
This is everything I could of wished for! He's a happy little bunny now

 

[helppumpkin]

I did give him bananas w vitamin e and selenium. I read online that his condition could be due to a deficiency, so that's what i gave him. I believe that's what helped him and was the cause of all of this. But also i dont really know for sure. Anyhow all that matters is that he's better!

 

[majorv]

Didn't really sound like EC to me, but then there is still a lot we don't know about it. If he's already made a full recovery I tend to think he had some kind of soft tissue injury. A vitamin deficiency would have to be pretty severe and chronic to cause paralysis. At any rate, I'm glad he's doing well!

 

[Happi Bun]

These little baby bunnies are delicate and can go downhill so fast for a variety of reasons.

It's great how diligent you're being! :bunny24

 

[ts786]

When he started pooping again they were tiny and dark, and once he started getting healthier they changed back to normal.
Never been treated with any anti-parasitic before this incident
One vet took a poop sample but never told me about anything.
No stimulants.
Pancaur dosing is .15mls every 24 hours

Thankfully he has been better. He now runs around and seems overall healthy.
This is everything I could of wished for! He's a happy little bunny now

The poop returning to normal is a very, very, very good sign given how much poop speaks to overall health.

Even though it does not sound like EC due to such rapid changes, and it is very possible that the cause was neither parasitic or bacterial, I would still advise to be sure to stay the course on both the antiparasitic and antibiotic (unless either of the two medications cause gastric distress, in which you should rapidly contact the Vet to consider the options to avoid this becoming a problem.)

I did give him bananas w vitamin e and selenium. I read online that his condition could be due to a deficiency, so that's what i gave him. I believe that's what helped him and was the cause of all of this. But also i dont really know for sure. Anyhow all that matters is that he's better!

(Forgive me if someone already asked this and I missed it...) Are you currently using a quality fortified food? (and have you changed the brand any time recently?) The differences between rabbit foods can be very pronounced, with some outstandingly great food products on the market alongside depressingly awful food.