E. Cuniculi in a 7month old rabbit?

[WonstanceCoo]

I posted a couple weeks ago about my rabbit squinting and having redness in one eye. I took her to the vet, and she gave me some antibiotic eye ointment, followed up, saw some bleeding in the iris of her eye... then was sent to a Veterinary Ophthalmologist who examined her and saw blood granula in her iris and thought it might be E. Cuniculi.

SOOOO I went straight to the vet to get a blood test for E. Cuniculi. I won't get the results back for 3-5 days but I wonder, how can my 7 month old rabbit, who is a single rabbit, showing no other signs of E. Cuniculi (no head tilt, no increased urination, no hind leg weakness etc)... she's so young how could she have it??

So now they have her on Bactrim and Baytril and two eye drops that are anti inflammatory while I await the blood test results.

Has anyone heard of this happening to such a young rabbit and only affecting one eye? How accurate is this blood test? How is treatment of E. Cuniculi after that? Is it completely cureable or will she have it for life? What can I be doing now to help her?

 

[HototMama]

some great info on it, https://www.vets-now.com/pet-owners/rabbit-care-advice/e-cuniculi-in-rabbits/

 

[JBun]

They can be born with it and it can stay dormant until something causes the disease to progress(trauma, stress, illness, etc). It's believed that with EC associated uveitis, the spores get into the eye in utero. How the disease manifests just really depends on where the spores end up migrating to. It can affect the CNS, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, eyes. It will be different for every rabbit. The blood test will show if your rabbit has EC antibodies and not necessarily if your bun has an active infection, if the more common blood titer test is done. Sometimes treatment does successfully clear it up completely and sometimes it is a recurring illness that may need to be treated again at some future point.

Did your vet start your bun on the EC treatment as well- panacur antiparasitic and metacam oral anti inflammatory(to bring down inflammation caused by the spores causing cell damage)? Treatment really should be started immediately, even before you have the test results back. It won't hurt for your bun to be on the medication and even a few days of not being treated can make a difference, so it's best to start treatment which can always be stopped if EC is not the cause.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.pro...9e50005056ad4736/file/PV1112_Pilny1_EE-CR.pdf

 

[majorv]

As Jenny said, the blood titer would need to be done, and then repeated, to know if there's an active infection. If they suspect EC, I'm kind of surprised they didn't go ahead and start the panacur/safeguard. It's safe and very easy on their digestive system. We had a 4 1/2 month old rabbit that was a promising show bunny and suddenly came down with hind limb paresis...diagnosis was EC.

 

[WonstanceCoo]

Well now I wish I had asked for the EC medication while I was there today

I went to the Ophthalmalogist first, who suspected EC, and she gave me two anti-inflammatory eye drops: Diclofenac andPrednisolone Acetate. Then, since I was paranoid, I drove straight to the vet to have the blood test for EC. But since I was a "walk-in" I only get a technician to draw the blood.... she didn't actually get to see the vet. So maybe that's why they didn't give me the meds, bc the tech didn't have the authority to prescribe them? They probably want me to pay for an actual vet visit to get those meds, but I was just there last week, and they sent me to the Ophthalmologist and now the Ophthalmologist is sending me back to the vet and geez I've already spent about $850 in the past week!!

She's already on both Bactrim AND Baytril, which was what the 20 day regimen that the vet prescribed for her last week. So now she's on those two antibiotics AND two different eye drops. My poor bun is so medicated!! She's still eating, drinking, pooping, playing fine.

I don't mind paying for my rabbit's health, I knew what I was signing up for and I love her she is so worth it... but I just hate being sent back and forth and feel like I'm being cheated! I just want my bunny to be WELL!

 

[JBun]

Try calling your vet and say you would like to go ahead and start the EC treatment before you get the test results, and that you would like to come in and pick up the meds. Considering your bun has already been seen for this illness, they should just prescribe the meds. It shouldn't be a problem, but you may have to be a bit insistent with them. If they need to, they can also consult with the eye vet.

 

[majorv]

You don't need a prescription to get Safeguard, but you should have the vet's okay to use it and also to get the correct dosage to give. It's given orally.

With the antibiotics you should probably get some probiotics, like Benebac or Probios, to help keep the bacteria in her gut levelled out. You can usually get it at a pet store or feed store and is also given orally.

 

[WonstanceCoo]

Well her test results came back positive anyway, so my poor bunny has e. cuniculi :'( I'm so upset.

they started her on Panacur and took her off the Baytrim and Bactril.

So since this is non-curable does this mean my bunny might get the head tilt or hind leg paralysis later???? Or since it manifested in her eye will it always be eye related flare ups?? this is horrible news

 

[majorv]

No way of knowing. EC is very individualized, but it's important to continue the med for the length of time they said, usually about 28 days. The thing is, most rabbits will test positive for EC, but that doesn't mean they have an active infection. The blood titers tell you that. Anyway, hopefully, this will work for you. Panacur/Safeguard is the standard treatment for EC.

 

[WonstanceCoo]

They only have her on the Panacur for 14 days... is that weird? She is a smaller bunny, only 2lbs.

The topical eye drops/antiinflammatories have done wonders. no more redness or bleeding in the iris, although there are a couple of teeny tiny barely visible white spots... ??

 

[valaria243]

Did they put you down for a refill after 14 days? That is what my vet did because they had to mix themselves and for some reason they thought it would be better that way.

Fuzzy was on it off and on for months. She also took Metacam for pain/inflammation daily.

 

[JBun]

I agree that you should ask for a refill. For cases of suspected or confirmed EC, I have never heard of doing less than the 28 day course as being a good idea. 28 days is the minimum for EC.

 

[bellaterra214]

EC is not specific to breed or age. Some rabbits can have EC and never show any symptoms. 14 days seems a little short. Lulu was on medication for almost 45 days. I had to wait 2 months after the meds for an a'ok for a spay.

 

[WonstanceCoo]

Well the tiny white spot has grown into a larger mass in her eye, like the size of a pin-head..... but the redness has gone away and she stopped squinting. should I be worried? She doesn't seem to be in pain. She's still on the panacur and eye drops and I've followed the directions to a tee. She is still eating and pooping. I told the ophthalmologist and she told me to come back to her in a month as originally scheduled.

I was planning on spaying her this summer, but I'm worried the stress from spaying will cause an EC breakout. Anyone have opinions/input on that?

help!!! how do I make sure my bunny is well??

 

[squidpop]

I think all you can do is do the treatment with the Panacur and then treat her like a normal bunny after that, so spay her as you have planned. If it ever comes back in the future, and this is just my opinion from research I have done, I would treat it with a different antiprotozoal medication called Marquis Ponazuril, just incase the protozoa are resistant the fenbendazole in Panacur. But hopefully after treating the first time with the Panacur it will never come back.
Also, you do need to treat for the full 28 days because the lifecycle of the protozoa is 28 days. Some people treat as long as 60 days. Also the spores are spread through urine early in the cycle of the reproduction of the e.cuniculi protozoa. The spores live for 30 days, so really important to totally disinfect everything.