Falling over and losing balance?

[Sophia]

I got 2 rabbits yesterday named Willow and Luna. They are 9 and a half weeks old. Anyways, I have noticed that Willow seems to lose her balance/fall over occasionaly when she tries to stand up after being a floppy noodle. She kind of falls on her side. She doesn’t seem hurt or have a limp at all though. Luna also sometimes accidently knocks her over when they are eating side by side. I am just wondering if this is something I should be concerned about. Would this require a vet visit or is she just naturally clumbsy? 

[Shadow13]

Is her head tilted?

[Muchelle]

I’d take them to the vet rather quickly to have their ears inspected (an inflamation to the ear canal may cause balance loss), to have an E.C. test done to make sure they are not showing early sign of E.C. and to check their limbs and nails

[Sophia]

It isn’t tilted 

[Sophia]

Their ears got checked when I was getting them adopted yesterday. The women there said that they were clear but I will ask my mom about it 

[LBJ10]

Panacur is cheap and won’t cause any harm if the loss of balance is not the result of an early EC infection. If she isn’t showing any other symptoms of an ear infection, then that is where my thoughts go first.

[tobyluv]

Posted By Sophia on 6/04/2017 8:41 PM

Their ears got checked when I was getting them adopted yesterday. The women there said that they were clear but I will ask my mom about it 

The person who checked their ears might not have had the equipment that a vet would have, and might not have been able to see if there are problems deep down in the ear.  A rabbit should not be falling over, so a vet visit is in order to determine what is wrong and to get the best treatment for it.

[vanessa]

Even before you get a vet appointment – and please please get a vet appointment ASAP – go to a petstore and look for a dog/cat dewormer with the ingredient fenbendazole, or go to a feedstore. Feedstores sell it in large tubes for horses. If you get it from a pet store if will probably be in a powder form and you’ll need a fine scale to weigh the correct dose. The tubes that the feedstores sell also require a fine scale to measure the dose. Like LBJ10 said – it won’t hurt to treat for EC if it is not EC. But if it is EC and you don’t treat it for EC, lots of irreversible damage can be done. There is no definitive test to say it is EC causing the symptoms. Most rabbits are exposed to EC and will test positive. They only way to know for sure – is with a brain tissue biopsie from a dear rabbit. Obviously not your preferred choice. It could be an ear infection like Tobyluv said, and not everyone who pears down the rabbits ear will see it. If it is middle or inner ear – you won’t see if by looking in the ear. Middle/inner are what could cause these symptoms. So ideally – you want your bunny to be on 28 days of Fenbendazole (Panacur), 28 days of baytril, and 28 days of Metacam is also a good idea – since inflammation from EC causes a lot f damage. Metacam is an NSAID that helps with inflammation.

[Bam]

Panacur is sometimes sold as Lapizole. The active ingredient is still Fenbendazole. It’s a good idea to start her on that, it is a “mild” drug because it stays in the GI canal. That also means it takes a long time to take effect, so 28 days are often not enough.

[BunnyJoy]

Hello everyone. I’m new and currently take care of a 6 yr old black and white dwarf rabbit. I just wanted to add my two cents even though this thread is old. My rabbit had falling down episodes this past year and tested positive for e.Cunniculi. The thing about that is that most rabbits are carriers and testing positive doesn’t mean it’s an active infection. None the less I had to treat with a bendozol (there are 3 to pick from). The second thing I want to mention is that it’s true that an active infection can cause inflammation but EC can also damage kidneys and you cannot use metcam (aspirin) with low kidney values or you’ll risk putting your bunny into kidney failure. I give my rabbit gabapentin which is not an inflammatory but relaxes the rabbit so that it’s not freaked out about it’s situation of lacking balance and rolling. I’m at the point where they can’t get enough blood to do blood work and I don’t want to put him through any more needless testing which totally stresses him out. So far he is doing fine, eating and I’m supplementing with critical care once a day. Thank you for letting me share and allowing me to be a part of this very informative site. I hope that what I’ve learned and what I’m doing is helpful for someone else.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hi, BunnyJoy. Thanks for sharing your experience. It will get a lot more attention, however, if you start your own thread. As you noticed, it’s an old thread and some of these members are no longer active. Thanks

[Author]

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