Possible seizure and E.Cuniculi treatment (need advice)

[Little Greylove]

Hello community,

I am new here and seeking advice. My rabbit is almost 10 years old and has been healthy for years, but a couple weeks ago I woke up to the sound of her digging really furiously in her paper bag. Then I heard a thump noise. I ran out of bed and found her on her back, with her legs flailing a little and her eyes rolling back and forth. I have no idea what happened. Whether she fell, or if she had a seizure or what. But within a few seconds she was fine and went back to normal and hopped away eating her food all relaxed, and has been fine since then.

I brought her to the vet and the vet said she couldn’t find anything, but did a blood test just in case. The blood test came back that she has very high proteins in her blood for the E.Cuniculi parasite. She wants to put her on Fenbendazole for a month. This vet is great but I am always wary of medicine, especially cause with this med there’s a chance of liver proteins becoming high, and possible bone marrow damage. I am wondering whether there’s a natural way to cure E. Cuniculi, or if any of you have had a good experience using Fenbendazole. Also, if I get that prescription, should I also get her blood tested in between, and should I use it in conjunction with anything else, to help protect her from possible bad side effects?

The other thing is, she’s kinda ruined the carpet with urine. She’s gotten worse at going to the bathroom in one spot as she’s gotten older. I need to get my carpet replaced, but for the moment, the spores are clearly still all over the carpet and it says they can live for a couple months. Does that mean she could just get re-infected again with the parasite? I am looking into getting new flooring but don’t know what kind of flooring to get to prevent urine from getting in it.

Please, I need all the advice I can get!! I wanna help and protect my bunny.

PS- I called the breeder I originally got her from and she never even heard of E. Cuniculi, although when I looked it up, apparently 80% of all rabbits have it (with or without symptoms). She seemed pretty clueless about it but she was saying I should use Baytril instead (an antibiotic) because of Grey’s age. An antibiotic wouldn’t get rid of it though, would it?

[Sarita]

If it were my rabbit (and I have 3 ten year olds) I would go ahead and give the fenzendazole – there is always a risk with any drug, but the benefit is going to outweigh the risk.

I don’t think there is anything you can do for the carpet to kill any spores – maybe steam clean but the treatment is for 30 days so if there are any spores that have been shed it shouldn’t be an issue.

I suspect that your rabbit has always had the protozoa but due to age and possible lower immunity (because of age) she is showing symptoms.

[Sarita]

This is probably one of the best articles on EC with different possible treatments – I recommend you read this and discuss it with your vet as well:

 http://www.3bunnies.org/e_cuniculi.htmhttp://

[Little Greylove]

Thank you soooo much Sarita!! I spent hours researching it and it does seem the drug my vet wants to put her on is the best one. I am just a worrier (can’t you tell? lol) But as far as the spores… If they stay in the environment for over a month and she keeps shedding them, wouldn’t they just stay in the environment and keep multiplying? I need to find a way to truly eradicate the problem. Am definitely going to purchase a steam cleaner.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would also use the Fenbendazole. EC is very difficult to diagnose. My lop came up suddenly tilty, nystagmus and wobbly after a bad stasis and my vet suspected EC brought on by stress. She put him on Fenbendazole for 30 days. The symptoms cleared up within a few days. I’ve never heard of any bad reactions from the drug.

[Little Greylove]

Thank you! I ended up finally going ahead and getting it today. I also got little bottles of carrot juice and strawberry/banana juice so that I can mix the medicine with that to give her so it won’t have an unpleasant taste. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

[BinkyBunny]

I just wanted to triple ditto the advice. Best to get the parasite under control asap. 1 in 4 bunnies are suspected to have been exposed to e.cuniculi, but many never show symptoms. Some will just show symptoms when their immune system is compromised and age can play a part in that. It’s something that is not cured (at least right now there is no cure) but treatment can help the bunny’s immune system fight the parasite enough to get the numbers under control. So your vet may recommend another titer to see if the levels have dropped.

I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that all works out well.

Love your Avatar by the way. What a cute face your bunny has. It’s almost as if she’s smirking at the camera with that little side smile thing she’s doing. LOL

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