Information from Bunnyhugga readers on E Cuniculi in their own rabbits, the symptoms, causes and treatment...
Bio:
Zuri, a 16 month old Netherland Dwarf.
Medical condition:
E-Cuniculi - no clinical signs until she collapsed one afternoon, fit and healthy in the morning. Drove 140 mile round trip to specialist after gaining no joy with local vet. Zuri was admitted on the Friday night. We were due to collect her on Monday such was her improvement however, sadly she passed away early Monday morning following a seizure.
Treatment:
She had been treated with Panacur when first acquired but for the instructed 9 days only. Consensus now is to administer a 28 day course.
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Bio:
Whisky, a 6.5 lb (3 kg) English Spot male. Whisky died at the age of 7 due to a tumour but was diagnosed with E Cuniculi in 2002, when he was 1 year old.
Medical condition:
Whisky was a very fit and healthy house rabbit, we came downstairs one morning and he was barely able to stand, his head was twisted right round on his back and he was turning in circles and falling over. We wrapped him up in a towel and drove straight to the emergency vet.
Treatment:
We were lucky to get a vet that had heard of E Cuniculi as it was relatively unknown at the time. Panacur (rabbit wormer) did not exist then so she treated him with a dog wormer which we administered orally. The vet didn't rate his chances highly but he was not in pain so we took him home and nursed him for several days while he fought the disease. He could not stand or move around at all so we syringe fed him liquid food and cleaned his bottom etc. After about a week he was starting to hop around and eat by himself but he was left with a permanent head tilt.
Personal experience:
We wish we had been aware of E Cuniculi and are glad that vets are now recommending Panacur as a preventative. The head tilt did not greatly affect Whisky, he still had a wonderful life but we are sad that it slowed him down a bit and he wasn't as adventurous and playful as he once was.
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Bio:
Bailey, a Lionhead cross
Medical condition:
I got him in December 2011, acquired through a free to good home ad. I am unsure wether he was born with E Cuniculi or he aquired it but his living conditions when I picked him up consisted of a cat carrier at the front door to a house with three mad yorkies trying to get in to him on all sides. I personally blame the stress of that for the first 6 months of his life. I went straight to my vet when I picked him up, who said he was underweight, with lice/mites (he had no fur on his back legs) and ringworm on his face above his nose, we put his balance issues down to poor muscle mass and living in such awful conditions intially. My intention was always to integrate him with my two (neutered) boys, but this will never happen now as my older bunnies (Bramble and Bracken) are now 9 years old and don't have EC. After numerous blood test, titier count, he was off the scale with EC which goes to 1080/1090, he never registered even after treatment. After months of 28 day treatment we decided to extend his dosage from 28 days to 42, this gave him relief and he maintained his balance for weeks/months after this that he never had before, I still treat him with a 42 day course when I see his balance deteriorate.
Treatment:
The recommended dose of Panacur for 28 days is just not long enough for him, his symptoms are he falls over while walking and has a permanent head tilt/tremor. After a two week course he seems to get better, by week 3 he is going downhill and deteriorates until finish of week 4, we had a decision to break up the cycle for a week and carry out again for a month, but again this didnt work. I now treat recurring symptoms with a 6 week course without obvious side affects. He gets 0.35ml of Panacur every evening.
