unwell bunny?!?

[muffin]

okay so here comes a kinda long story/question/post.
We have a grey longish/medium haired mixed breed rabbit who has had some health problems in the past. soon after we bought her she started having major amounts of seizures and partial paralysis in her back half, she was also undernourished and hypoglycemic. we took her to the vet and she got sorted out, diagnosed with some kind of parasite and prescribed a sheep wormer type medication and some extra sugar in her food for a bit of energy to help.

since then she's been basically fine, just a little odd, slightly twitchy, a couple of times she had a seizure after she got a huge fright. but apart from that pretty much normal aside from a stubbornness to not eating hay.

the other day i just caught her at the end of what looked like a pretty big seizure, i watched her for a while after and she seemed okay. she had a big stretch and got back to her normal business.
however yesterday i had noticed that she seems to be a little more twichy than usual, she also seems to be having a bit of trouble with her legs, moving them to clean her back feet and moving backwards, this came later today after i had to bathe her.
I also noticed that she was holding one of her front feet off the ground like a cat would if they had a sore paw. i had a look and noticed her muscles seemed to be lightly twitching around in that leg and in her back. she had a bit of poop matted in her fur that i had to clean out which seemd to stress her out a bit so im not sure if maybe she just needs to calm down a little too.
she often has soft poos, we told the vet when we went back after she was well the first time and he said seeing as she seemed normal and healthy in all other ways and usually had normal poops we shouldn't worry too much

we always thought that she might have been partially affected in her brain by the parasite but it had never got worse or anything, she just stayed stable.

also this morning she had no food in her bowl and i wonder if maybe some birds or a mouse got into them and she's just acting a little funny because she hasn't eaten much.
she seems to be eating and drinking and pooping absolutely fine though.

okay so i guess my question is should i try to give her a little time to fill up her stomach again, maybe give her some honey or fruits or something and see how she goes over the next few days? should i just take her to the vet immediately?

does anyone think its related to the previous incidents??

(not one of those 'i have no money to go to the vet' things, we are running little low so would be happier if we didn't have to but we understand that it's important so we will.)

thanks guys!

 

[majorv]

What did they say exactly was wrong the first time...did she have EC? They usually prescribe Panacur or Safeguard as treatment. If it was EC, then it can become active again (usually from stress). You can get panacur/safeguard without going to the vet, but it would be better to have him confirm that what you're seeing might be that. You could watch her, but if it doesn't get better then you should go in.

 

[muffin]

he did tell us but i cant remember argh.
He did give us a sheep wormer which sounds about right with the stuff you mentioned??
We live in NZ so im not sure about medications and stuff here.
The coming back with stress does seem like a plausible option. If it's that do I have to take her back to the vet or do I just wait for her to calm down? She does usually get a bit funny when i have to bathe her or move her around too much.
I'll keep an eye on her and if she doesnt get better after the weekend we'll take her in. if she gets worse we'll take her in straight away too though.
Thanks for your input it actually was very useful! and it basically seems to fit with whats been happening.

She had a buddy living with her who recently escaped and got hit by a car, do you think she could also be stressed because he isnt there anymore?
we're planning on getter her a new buddy soon to keep her company, because she always did do better while he was there.

 

[JBun]

It sounds like the parasite she had and was treated for, was e. cuniculi. It is a very difficult disease to treat and often the parasite won't ever go away completely and the rabbit needs to be retreated when symptoms reoccur. Permanent damage from the parasite can also happen, and the rabbit is left with some lasting symptoms. The parasite causes inflammation in the cells which can sometimes result in the permanent damage. I would suspect with your bun having worsening symptoms, that the EC is reoccurring, which means your bun needs to be retreated right away. As majorv mentioned, fenbendazole(panacur or safeguard, use the liquid wormer, not the paste) is available otc, but if it's at all possible for you to go to the vet, that would be best, as it is also important to treat with an anti inflammatory as well, usually meloxicam, to help reduce the inflammation from the spores, and help reduce the possibility of permanent damage. Some less experienced rabbit vets don't know to prescribe an anti inflammatory along with the panacur, so you may need to ask for it.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html
http://www.woodward-vets.co.uk/information/Encephalitozoon%20cuniculi.pdf


The mushy poop problem may be due to your buns EC as your bun may be having a hard time reaching around to eat her cecotropes. It's also very common for an imbalanced diet to cause the mushy poop. It's caused by not enough fiber and/or too much carbs and sugars in a rabbits diet. This leads to an overgrowth of bad bacteria in a rabbits cecum, leading to cecal dysbiosis. So with your bun also not being good at eating hay, this is likely the cause. Though if this hasn't been going on very long, other parasites or pathogenic bacteria can be the cause, and in this case a fecal test would need to be done right away to determine this. To help clear up cecal dysbiosis, cutting out sugary starchy foods will help, as well as trying to find a way to get your bun eating more hay.

http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

Losing a bonded companion can definitely cause a rabbit to be depressed or experience more stress.

 

[majorv]

You mentioned having to give her a bath...this can be stressful on a rabbit. If possible, just give her a butt bath to keep her bottom clean and that will minimize it.

 

[muffin]

so to buy the medications would they be from a vet or just at a pet store?
I goggled and one said it was dog wormer, should i look at dog wormers for that specific medication??
i searched for some suppliers of panacur and i see one made for rabbits but it is the paste? is this okay or...
I'd rather do this than take her to the vet but i know that im not a vet so if it isnt simple ill definitely take her!
ill probably judt go to the vet anyway ergh
ive never seen any medication on the shelves specifically for rabbits, we kind of have a limited market here but it's getting better lately.
I'll try to get to a vet in the weekend.
i kinda feel like, if it keeps coming back is it kinda mean to keep her alive and let her suffer through it coming back? i mean i really don't want to put her down but is it a thing that's going to come back often and cause a lot of trouble???

Since the first incident she doesn't eat hay anymore, we grow her wheat grass though which she does eat. but she is a little picky. ive tried mixing the ay into her pellets and mixing it with grass and putting treats on it etc and she just picks everything out..:dunno
She's also pretty picky with other foods too so...?

She doesn't like being held or touched under or on the sides of her stomach so it's really hard to keep her still for just like, an isolated butt bath so i usually just put about an inch or two of warm water in the bottom of the bath and sit her in there for a while to loosen stuff up and then give everything a bit of a rub to clean off the poop. The only bits that ever get wet are the underside bits of her that touch the water and her nose and chin.. i tried wrapping her in a towel like people suggest but that really didn't work and seemed to cause a lot of stress.
I know the baths do stress her out so i try to brush her as much as i can so nothing builds up but it does happen every now and then.

she's looking a bit better today but still wobbly and having trouble lifting her back feet up to clean. she does get there but it seems like it takes a bit of effort.

oh also about the poop thing, im pretty sure they are just cecotropes that she isnt getting to, but there are a lot, i dont know how many are supposed to happen though. ive seen then happening and she seems to make no move to even try though, never has, it's been a thing i noticed from the start... however she does seem to be able to reach around there to clean or do whatever shes doing back there!??! she's a bit of a mess tbh

the first rabbit we've ever owned and shes been so much trouble. but we love her infinitely so we'll do what we have to to get her well!


man i have a problem with typing too much

 

[muffin]

also thank you guys so so so much for your help!!
I wasn't expecting as much help as you've given me!:clapping:

 

[majorv]

The Safeguard we use is actually a liquid goat wormer and is found at a livestock supply or feed store. I've never used Panacur so not sure how it comes. You might be able to order them online. The thing is, you need to know the correct dosage to give and the vet would need to confirm that for you. It's possible you could get the dosage by calling them.

 

[muffin]

My dad's being a big jerk about this and he keeps complaining and being grumpy but I managed to convince him to take her to the local vet. Who didn't seem very component last time we saw him but he did give is the same medication so hopefully he'll have a record and be able to just prescribe us some.

 

[muffin]

Yay thanks guys we managed to get some ppanacur from a very friendly vet after trying a few money grabbers! !!