Can rabbits have seizures

[bugsthebun]

My 3 month old dutch rabbit Bugs was happily running around and then she suddenly stopped and moved into the corner of the room. She looked as though her whole body was twitching and then after 15 seconds she fell on her side with legs out and continued to twitch, with her eyes partially open. It only lasted about 20 seconds once she was on the ground and then she sat back up and started cleaning herself, but she is still sitting in the corner. I’m wondering if anyone has ever experienced this or heard about it? I’m going to take her to the vet tomorrow, but im curious is anyone knows any possible causes or any information really!! She was also really scared today for the first time (I had a friend over and she was terrified and hid until she left) and I’m wondering if that might have anything to do with it.   This is her

[LittlePuffyTail]

Rabbits can def have seizures. I’ve never experienced it so I can’t tell you if that sounds accurate or not. Any chance it could have been hiccups? Maybe you can youtube bunny with hiccups and see if that looks like what happened.

[Nibbles]

As LPT said, rabbits do have seizures. My rabbit Nibbles has focal (partial) seizures and is being successfully treated with phenobarbital. It’s not very common and our vet had never had a rabbit with seizures before nor had the vets at the exotic animal department at the local university’s animal hospital.
With Nibbles it started with her just suddenly screaming, then she would sit there very confused for about a minute before returning to normal behavior. She had a cluster of episodes where she would go up on her hind legs with her head back then start screaming. There were no other symptoms but she was treated for EC just in case. I’ve kept a diary of her seizures, time of day and length, to keep track of when they happen.
It is horrible to watch them have an episode! I do remember reading that it is more common in white furred blue eyed rabbits. Here is some information on seizures-
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm
Good luck at the vets! I hope they will have some answers. Let me know if you have other questions!

[DesertBunny]

I remember it was about 1.5-2 years ago. I placed Jet in the living room while I was cleaning the kitchen. Some movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. He was flopping all over the floor. Like something out of the Exorcist. I held him and his body was as stiff as a board.

We sat in the recliner and it passed and he was himself again.

I took him with me into the computer room and I was frantically typing a message with one hand and holding him with the other (he was fine at the moment) when suddenly he jerked himself out of my arm, fell to the floor and the whole thing repeated itself.

This must have happened 4 times; the last one was very minor right at bedtime. I couldn’t sleep at all and the next day he went straight to the vet. I do not think he had any more episodes overnight.

The Doctor examined him and, combined with his eyes remming and his head scanning back and forth said it looked like E cuniculi, which can also cause seizures. He went on Panacur for 28 days. He never seized again and as I posted elsewhere he passed away 02.13.

So yes they can have seizures. The vet told me there is medicine for that but a seizure is usually a symptom of something else.

[LBJ10]

Hmm, considering her young age and coloring, I suspect something genetic. EC is always a real possibility though.

[Azerane]

Is it possible that she just had a little muscle twitch and then did a bunny flop with her muscles still twitching?

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