Freaking out!!!

[LoveElle]

My buns started acting lethargic about 3 hrs ago. Laying around, now he’s gotten worse, lethargic, shifting uncomfortably, sniffing himself, and peeing all over himself. He was eating 4 hrs ago, has pooped lots,(before the last cpl hrs)  and peed 3 times, once in his litter box when he was OK and now twice on himself. He has not eaten anything bad or fallen (recently lol). I had him neutered 4 weeks ago.

I called the only emergency vet around here and the after hours hot line guy didn’t know anything about rabbits and told me to give him met cam and wait. I called an emergency line in the nearest capital city and they said NO ME CA if he is passing a kidney stone it will make it worse, but they also don’t know anything about rabbits except that and a little more, and not enough to help me.

My vet opens at 9am, and Judy is experienced with rabbits but I cannot get a hold of her. 

[tobyluv]

Shifting uncomfortably can mean a rabbit has gas, and that can really be helped by infant simethicone drops, but the fact that your bunny is peeing on himself could mean that he has a UTI or it could be a kidney or bladder stone as the emergency line people told you. You may have already headed that way, but I think it would be good to be at the vet’s office as soon as it opens. I hope that your bunny will be okay.

[Roberta]

If he is having mobility issues with his hind legs it could be the onset of floppy bunny syndrome. Is he eating and pooping ? With floppy bunny they are hungry but lose mobility and can’t take water and food. Change out your litter pans so you can monitor poops and check the water level in bowls and bottles. If he isn’t eating try to syringe feed atleast 10 mls of cc mixed with vitamin e, the oil from capsules is best. Try some simethicone to ease gas as it does not interfere with other medications.

[LoveElle]

I did take my rabbit to the vet and they diagnosed a pulled leg or back muscle, Judy has had years and years of bunny experience and went to school specifically to focus on them. (Plus she’s the only bunny vet within 2 hrs of my location) and said that the pain caused Gi statis. She gave me a mixture of a motility drug and metcam in a bunch of pre  measured doses, and Winston started to do better, eating pooping playing. 

Earlier today however he got so happy to see one of his mums that he flung himself all over his cage, literally jumping 4 ft up off the ground to bounce off his X pen. We gave him his drugs a couple hours overlapping, which were assured it was fine, but he felt it anyways and is now lethargic, and not eating, drinking or pooping. I’m soaking strawberries in water, which worked last time but he won’t touch anything and runs away if I try to encourage him. 

I cannot pick up my rabbit, he is new and does not trust me. I was shown how to and physically can, scoop tummy and bum, folded slightly so his feet are under his chin and cannot kick. 

He still thrashes and wiggles and he has never been an aggressive bun he won’t bite but every time I pick him up, and try to put a syringe in his mouth he usually won’t let me touch or go near him for a week after, and then no playtime or one on one time for, well 3ish weeks. I am trying to avoid ruining our relationship, but I need to know how to feed him when he absolutely wont. 

We had him for about 2 weeks and got him fixed and he went into statis and then about a MO th later, (c Pl days ago) statis again but this time we knew him well enough that strawberries usually make him at least drink water, but now nothings working. 

All this so far, he likes me no better than the first week I got him I need some more reasonable ways then the vets, grab him firm, hold him down and just shove the syringe in method! 

OMG freaking rabbit litterally writing this 4 hrs Into complete lethargy and he starts sipping his strawberry water.

Still need advice for next time. Cuz this is the third time in two months. 

[Bam]

A bunny tummy can need quite some time to recover from stasis, so relapses are not uncommon. The best prevention is, as you probably know, a diet high in fiber and low in sugars/fat. Hay is the best bunny food there is and 80-90% of a bunny’s diet should be grass hay.
You can give a probiotic like benebac to help the gut establish a good microbiota.

As for syringe-feeding, it doesn’t really ruin your relationship. The bunny gets used to being handled and most seem to understand, at least after a while, that you are helping them. Bunnies as a rule really hate being force-fed, but then again, who wouldn’t?

When one of mine had a prolonged bout of inappetence I was really afraid of stressing him out by catching and force-feeding him 3 times/day, he’d bite me and kick, and he even screamed once -but my vet was very firm, she said it’s more dangerous for a bun to go without food than to be stressed out by syringe-feeding. They don’t survive fasting very long, their intestines shut down. They’re very different from humans and dogs in that respect.

I’m sorry that your bun isn’t well. Strawberries is a great idea!

[LoveElle]

I adopted my rabbit from my sister so I can’t in good conscious speak ill of Winstons previous owner but Winston had never had hay or veggies before I adopted him, only the mixed museli foods from Walmart and a couple of strawberries every other day.

Now I tried to fix it, he has unlimited access and as a needed incentive I make a great big deal every night when I clean his toilet (I managed to litter box train him, but only if I clean his toilet every night) I take down my great big bag of Timothy oxbow and open and shake it and make the fresh smell take over and drop massive heaps and he usually goes bonkers and digs and plays in it and gorges himself for a half hour atleast. I tried to switch him to Timothy pellets instead of his museli but he refused to eat it and Judy my vet said the very next day to go home and give him his mixed food, because his previous diet and his refusal means he is probably addicted, and the best thing by him would be to give it in smaller quantities or mixed, but not take it away as a stubborn bunny might make himself sick holding out. 

Anyways its been weeks since his first and second episode and he has been off met cam for 3 days ish and he has seemed a little off. I assumed he was stiff or sore from whatever back or leg injury almost killed him and thought nothing of his slower movements or cautiousness. A couple days ago he stumbled and I ignored it as clumisiness. Yesterday he shook his head and stumbled a bit and tonight he completely slipped, one side under the other and fell onto his side and back and skittered and flailed on my hardwood floors and I’m hoping that’s why he fell but why couldn’t he right himself? I was luckily what he was investigating, because he fell, and started to thrash and I immediately scooped his side and righted him. Normally he would have run the hell away from me but tonight he froze in half run position and I used my soothing voice and instead he turned so I could pet him, I’m hoping that means he was saying “I don’t blame you” because usually this butt blames me. For everything. 

Sorry for another long post. 

If your skipping to the question;

my rabbit seems off, and fell over? No head tilting, eating and pooping and playing normal. Even broke into a run just fine earliwe. 

[Bam]

It does sound a bit odd. For neuro stuff like this the first suspicion is e cuniculi, a parasite that an affect the brain and other organs with a high blood supply. For e cuniculi you treat with Panacur (fenbendazole) for 28 days. It’s a dewormer.
Another reason for balance issues in a rabbit is an ear-infection inside of the ear-drum (you can’t see it).
Your vet sounds very bunny-savvy. I think you should give her a call. Ask about e cuniculi. Panacur is OTC in most countries and it’s bunny safe.

[LoveElle]

My vet is only available week days and there is no way go gef ahold of her. I messaged their Facebook page and one of the nurses who owns a bunch of bunnies  (six actually) gave me some metcam to last until Monday but that’s all she could do. Wouldn’t there be more symptoms of e cuniculi? How would my indoor rabbit contract a parasite? I am really nervous about the idea of getting some of these over the counter meds and administering them without my vets say so. Winston has had a hard enough go without mom overstepping herself. 

Could Winston have gotten it from my dogs? They don’t leave the confines of my gated yard, but I’ll admit I’m late on their regular deworming and shots.  He was playing fine just before he fell and he’s been fine since. Sometimes he just seems… off or a little disoriented. I’m hoping the fact most his area is carpeted will make him more stable until monday. I’m afraid to leave him alone!

[Bam]

It’s of course best to speak to your vet, but the med can be bought OTC so you don’t need a prescription – I was thinking that if your vet gave the all-clear, you could just go pick up some panacur and start your bun on it. I’m sorry you can’t get hold of her until Monday, but you have the metacam and that’s good. (Your vet does sound bunny savvy, many vets just say get rid of muesli food and only give healthy pellets or hay to the bun – never considering what your vet said, that a bunny can simply refuse to eat the healthy food for so long that it becomes sick from the GI system shutting down.)

e cuniculi is a parasite that many rabbits carry all their lives, without ever getting sick from it. So a bun can pick it up from his mother, it can even happen when the baby is still in the womb. Then some bunnies get sick from the parasite at som later time in their lives, and it’s not known why. Stress is suspected to be a factor, but that’s just guesswork. I don’t think your bun got it from your dogs.

I hope this all just has to do with his original pulled leg/back muscle, because if it is, metacam is the best thing and more or less the only thing you’d do. Try to keep him comfy and happy and call your vet on Monday first thing if he still seems like he has a balance-problem.

[LoveElle]

We took him in and she checked and swabbed his ears and she said it definitely sounds like he’s slightly off but we have caught it very early. Too early if it is an ear infection, because she cannot diagnose it with no pus  present or irritation visible yet. So she thinks it must be a parasite that is sitting on his brain. She started us on a 28 day regiment of something called safeguard but she told us while it can sometimes kill the parasite, it doesn’t always, and there itshould body won’t go away and Winston will still be subject to sudden flare ups. She tried to say we caught it early enough he might only have episodes, but also said that’s if it isn’t still progessive, and in which case his quality of life might go completely down and we have to put him down.

Have you had any experience with the parasite? Have you heard of someone who did and their rabbit went on happily?

She also said because she’s just guessing based off her experince, to watch him to make sure it isn’t his ears. And told us to watch for a head tilt, but by the time it gets there, it’s irreversible and told us to prepare to live with a permanent tilt if this happens.

If it does, how greatly does his abilities change? How quickly does his head start to tilt? I’m with him almost every moment he’s awake during the day, and operate my other daily tasks during the hours he sleeps. Is there a chance I can catch it in time it doesn’t ruin his balance? Will I have to take away his Climbing toys? His two level hutch? 

And all of that secondary to this question; she said if it’s an ear infection brought on by his surgery and stress than its likely due to a type of bacteria that they always have on them, and thus is incurable to completely fix, and he is likely to relapse. Judy said it might be throwing bad money after good to treat an ear infection, because if it is this bacteria then it might just be a matter of time before it just makes sense to euthanize him, and stop wasting the money, especially on a rabbit it will get progressively harder to say goodbye to. 

That being said I should mention that Judy is actually rather compassionate, and is saying it from a place knowing with my history that I would do anything for my pets. In her clinic in the last 6 years alone my mother and I have spent shy of 12k on our dogs because it made sense, (we also had pet insurance and got 80% back, don’t worry) because our dogs were young and the surgeries preventative or completely problem solving. She advised us to do a surgery on my dogs teeth in the next couple of months, because he is actually completely healthy otherwise, and will live for years still otherwise, for example. Whereas I guess, she strongly believes otherwise of Winston, if he has that strain of ear infection, where we can’t eradicate it.

[Bam]

Safeguard is fenbendazole and you give it when you suspect e cuniculi. Panacur is another brand. 28 days is the recommended length of treatment.
You often give Baytril too, it is an antibiotic that is believed to have some effect on the parasite. Baytril is also what you’d get to treat an ear-infection.
It’s not possible to say how your bunny will respond to the treatment, but it seems you caught it early. All you can do is give the safeguard, possibly Baytril and if he seems like he has vertigo there are some meds that can help him not feel nauseous (bunnies can’t vomit, but you must assume that they feel like they need to when their balance is off). We have bunnies here that have been successfully treated with fenbendazole for e cuniculi.

We have many members here whose buns have been through ear-infections, and they can be stubborn and need long courses of anti-biotics, but I don’t think you need to assume that it’s incurable in this stage. Again, you’ll have to treat him and see how he responds.

Did you get Baytril for him? The British rabbit vet Molly Varga says it’s good to give in addition to fenbendazole (safeguard).
Head tilt can become permanent, but it doesn’t always. A rabbit can live with a tilted head if you adapt it’s environment.

[ergodic]

Bam is correct the other meds my vet gave my rabbit for vertigo was Meclizine. You can give this concurrently with safeguard and Baytril.

[LoveElle]

No we didn’t get Baytril, but Winston has only had two dizzy spells and can still stretch all the way up on his hind legs and run around, if he gets worse I will ask. We had him on Metcam right before this, and a day and a half off and he started getting dizzy, and fell, and stumbled, and so I immediately put him back on some because I read irritation could have been masked by the metcam, and that’s why he didn’t show symptoms earlier. Right after that he stopped stumbling again. Judy prescribed Safeguard and said to take him off the Metcam again, because he’s been on it for almost 3 weeks, and said his body should have a break, but said if he gets tripped again we can put him back on it because it means it was actually helping. 

What are some suggestions for a house for a head tilt bunny? He has an X pen but cannot be only on the floor because he eats carpets and throws his toilet, and his cage can’t extend past 4×6 because we also have 2 dogs. Will a tilted bunny still be able to run and hop? His hutch is two story and because his ramp was too hard on him, we made him hopping stairs.

[Bam]

There’s a very good website for owners of disabled bunnies, diasabled rabbits.com disabled rabbits

It has lots of tips on how to make a disabled bunny comfy. There’s educational info about head-tilt and its causes. 

Metacam is an anti-inflammatory as well as a pain-killer, so it could’ve helped with the inflammation that comes from the body trying to fight off a parasite or an infection. (The body often tries a little too hard and the inflammation becomes a problem). You will of course just have to watch him and keep up the Safeguard. It can take some time before you see improvement. Some buns even need a longer course than 28 days. 

[Author]

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