E.C. vs Ear infection after Gi stasis episode

[Kiwi]

Hi! Im crying right now. I dropped off my bunny at the ER and they started treating him for EC and ear infection without ruling out one or the other. I declined to get the EC blood test due to reading that its not reliable and now im hoping that i made the right decision. The test was almost $400 dollars. The doctor said they can tell looking at the titre values and then rule one out. She also said 50% of bunnies have EC.

My bunny started showing decreased eating since tuesday this past week.

By wednesday after rejecting 3 meals i took her to the ER. Did 2 lab work and got gapentin and critical care assuming it was gi stasis. Kiwi pooped overnight but didnt poop after for over 12 hrs.

So THURSDAY i took him back to ER, do one xray that shows gas, and get antibiotics bc his previous lab work showed white blood cell value inverted? Nobody said anything the day before.

FRIDAY starting to poop slowly. At night he started thumping while i massaged his belly for gas and that seemed to calm him down. Eventually we sleep.

Saturday, he lost his balance while trying to get cecotrope, he lost his balance a little while scratching, then at night i was able to record him losing balance twice.  He started to look weak on one side like he couldnt hold his bodyb weight on one side. I called the ER multiple times throughout the day to assess if it was an emergency or just general weakness for being sick. One doctor said wait till 8 am sunday when exotic vet comes in. Another doctor said to get it on video. Another doctor said did he fall flat on his side? No.

We go to sleep and he freaks out when i take out a tissue from the box, tries to run off , I catch him, hold him, I try putting him down in litter box, he runs off walking around the bed frame to go under nightstand,and the whole time he is leaning on the bed frame as he goes around fast. I put him on the bed and hold him, he is curled up under my arm on the bed and he looked freightened. Still thumping a little.  Also all day he was trying to rest and facing the wall, away from me.

I took him to the er. I could barely get him in the carrier, he thumped and i was scared on the drive because his thumps got less loud and his head was down and like he wasnt lifting his own head. Even tho it didnt look tilted throughout the day.

 

The ER said they suspected EC or ear infections. I told them to treat for both, not test for ec. Left him in the hospital for the next 2 days. And now im waiting for them to call and give me an update.

I cried my eyes out and feel like i could have taken him to the ER earlier had they told me you should come based on what you are describing. Im praying that he doesnt have neurological damage. I’m so scared and feel so guilty that ive been watching him slowly show concerning things but i guess it didnt amount to concerning enough to the doctors. I did notice that he was hopping looking straight earlier. He was staying close to me and sleeping w me on the bed.

Did i make the right call but choosing not to test and treat for both? I just dont trust that they run all the tests and never know for sure meanwhile im spending all this money. We already spent 2 thousand this week.

 

Do you have experiences, will they  recover? Do u think i caught it pretty early?

The doctor said maybe the EC caused the GI. Or maybe the GI activated the EC because his immune system was weak due to GI? Same for the ear infection? He was scratching and shaking his head, not excessively,  just the normal amount. He is a lionhead to he has a mane in the front. He also wasnt peeing, i saw that EC involves a lot of peeing. He had started eating cilantro earlier in the day, so I thought he was recovering and this whole other thing was soo unexpected.

I feel so bad that in the course of a day i just did not take him faster and now he might have neurological damage.

Do you know what to expect from the treatment? Is it harmful to do both treatments together? Did i mess up by not getting the confirmatory test?

 

Thank you

 

🙁

 

 

 

 

[Bam]

I would’ve opted out of the test too and asked them to go ahead and treat asap. When an animal is acutely ill, you dont really want to wait for tests to come back before you start treatment.

Treatment for an ear infection is antibiotics. Antibiotics can be given together with the most commonly used EC med, Panacur and some vets opt to treat EC with both Panacur and antibiotics.

My rabbit savvy vet says ear infections often first present as stasis. A middle ear infection is very painful, and many rabbits stop eating when they are in pain.

I hope your bun will get well now with appropriate vet care. It’s deeply frustrating when vets don’t take your concerns seriously and it turns out you were right in suspecting that something is off. Your bun is receiving care now, and that’s all you can do.

 

[mia]

It is fine to treat for both ear infection and EC without confirmation. Maybe even a better route because you get treatment faster and bun may feel better sooner. At the end of the day, it depends on what the root cause is though.

[Azerane]

You’re definitely doing the right thing treating for both. I’ve even been told that the E.c test requires two seperate blood tests a week apart to compare the titre levels. No time to wait for that so going straight to treatment is really the best option in my opinion.

E.c can be tricky and present in many different ways, it also usually gets worse before it gets better even after starting medication. Wishing all the best for your bun.

[DanaNM]

I would have done the same thing! No harm in treating for both. It can take some time for the EC treatment to work but hopefully she starts feeling better soon!  It does sound like you caught it pretty early so I bet he will feel better soon.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

I agree with the others. Given the circumstances, I would have gone ahead and treated for both. I wouldn’t want to wait for test results, especially if they end up being inconclusive. That is a lot of time potentially wasted. We have see bunnies on here test negative for EC and, yet, they “mysteriously” get better with EC treatment. And there is absolutely no harm in treating for both an ear infection and EC at the same time. Hopefully one or the other medication helps him feel better soon.

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