Now testing for EC

[Deleted User]

So we’re here at the vet with Bombur. My poor little problem child. He has very mild urine scald around his left leg. He has had his sanitary shave and looks much better. The vet is now testing him for E Cuniculi, which I guess can present itself as a urinary+GI issue in one, along with the neurological form, which would explain his history with GI issues. Waiting on the white blood cell test to see if it is just a bacterial infection, but most likely diagnosis is EC. Go figure!

[Wick & Fable]

Best wishes Bombur!! It’s great that you went in and had it addressed now! Nothing like a good shave to keep things in order, haha. A little breezy feeling.

Wick is sending you {{{{{{{vibes}}}}}}}}

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.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Wick!
Bombur wouldn’t pee for the vet, and they had a hard time trying to expel it, so I was given a syringe to soak up any pee on surfaces at home. They gave me an antibiotic for possible UTI and Silvadene for the minor scald. If antibiotics don’t work then they will move forward with the EC test.

[Deleted User]

There you go again Bombur…give it a rest and just be healthy for a bit man! I know your mom would appreciate it Sorry you have this on your plate now! You are getting your bonding attempts totally sabatoged XD

[Wick & Fable]

Let me know if you need any advice on Silvadine application. I’m a pro now with Wick’s fungal treatment, haha.

If there’s a corner or place in the litter box Bombur typically pees, you can put a small container there so the pee gets collected. If you use litter, push it aside and plop the container there instead. There was a time I thought I would need to collect Wick’s pee, so I thoroughly contemplated the best maneuvers…

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.

[Sirius&Luna]

I had a bunny actually that got urine scald, and was caused by EC causing kidney problems. He also used to drink a crazy amount of water around the time that I noticed it.

I hope the antibiotics clear Bombur up though!

[Deleted User]

S&L because of his excessive drinking and urination, that’s what makes her suspect EC more than a typical UTI. But my little brat wouldn’t cooperate with her and pee, we won’t find out till we run the full course of Sulfatrim. EC is still her first hunch. Did Sirius have it? Any advice for it?

Wick: that is a great idea! I was wondering how I was going to collect it.

BN: ugh! Bombur is my little problem child. Fingers crossed it’ll end soon

[Sirius&Luna]

I’m afraid it was a bunny I had at uni, Pumpkin, 6 years ago, so I can’t really remember the details of his treatment to be honest. He did make a full recovery though!

[Bam]

I hope the antibiotics will help him. 28 days or more of Panacur is the treatment of choice for EC. It affects organs with a high blood flow, and kidneys are just that. The most common EC tests have been known to produce some false negatives, so it’s not completely reliable.

This is a good article that advocates oxibendazole as a superior alternativ to Panacur (fenbendazole). The article is about head tilt so you can just skip over the first part and start reading at paragraph 6. https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/management-of-head-tilt-in-rabbits/

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the article Bam! Definitely reading up on it. On this forum you see it so much as a neurological condition, that this blindsided me. This may or not be in the article, but I’ll ask before I read it anyways. If he does have EC, can it lead to him having the symptoms normall associated with EC? So the head tilt, and the general neurological dysfunctions? I know it’s a parasite, but how could he have gotten it? And why would he just now start showing symptoms? Can Asriel get it by living like 6 inches away from him?

[Sirius&Luna]

The vet 6 years ago told me that lots of rabbits are born with EC, I think they get it from their mothers. It can be dormant until something else triggers it, eg. Being run down in some other way.

[Bam]

It’s exactly as Sirius and Luna says. The bun can catch it in its mother’s womb. I’ve read somewhere that 80% of British pet rabbits are estimated to be carriers of EC. Most never get an active infection.

What triggers a flare up isn’t fully understood. It’s reasonable to think stress can play a role as well as weakened immune defense due to some other illness or old age. But then there are seemingly perfectly healthy, happy buns that get sick, so there really isn’t any simple explanation.

The parasite can potentially affect any organ with a high blood supply to it. The brain and the kidneys are the most commonly affected organs.

[Deleted User]

That’s so interesting, not to be morbidly fascinated by his potential problem. I never knew they were born with it. Everything I’ve been reading says through urine spores. I feel like you always hear the EC horror stories, and never the success stories.

It’s times like these when I love my vet. You would never have guessed she’s 2 years out of veterinary school. She also suggested the blood panel to test for it, not the urine one. She even mentioned the false negatives from the urine test.

[Q8bunny]

Poor bub… He has performance anxiety. I can relate. Can’t pee in front of people.
Hope all is well… when will you get the results?

[LBJ10]

Aww, poor sweetie.

There have been a couple cases of EC on the forum where the bun in question only exhibited urinary symptoms. So it isn’t completely unheard of. It’s just not your “textbook” case, so to speak. Bam and S&L are correct. There is evidence than EC is passed from mother to kit inside the womb. It is believed most rabbits are carriers. Most of them, however, do not exhibit any symptoms.

It seems all tests for EC can produce false negatives. I think the blood test is more reliable, but it can still be wrong. This is because it looks for antibodies, which are not always present. Antibodies are generally highest shortly after initial exposure. It’s also important to remember that the presence of antibodies only mean that the rabbit was exposed… it doesn’t necessarily mean there is an active infection. That’s why a lot of vets will just treat anyway when they suspect EC but they aren’t 100% sure.

[Deleted User]

We won’t find out until Feb 3rd because she wants him to run a two weeks course of Sulfatrim first to see if that helps if it’s a normal UTI. If the Sulfatrim doesn’t help then she’ll test for EC. I can’t really tell if the Sulfatrim is working or not though. Like he still has been peeing in his hay like once or twice a day, and he’s still drinking a ton of water. So I don’t really know if it’s working. He’s been acting a bit sluggish the past few days too, but I can’t tell if that’s from his eternal molt or not.

[Q8bunny]

Antibiotics could be slowing him down too… Poor bub

[Deleted User]

I’m definitely thinking the antibiotics aren’t working. I lifted his litter box today to clean it and there was this giant puddle of urine sitting underneath it. It’s also still pretty brown.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Awww, poor boy Hope that the vet will have a good follow-up plan. Get well soon darling Bombur

[Bam]

I don’t know if your vet has considered putting him on Panacur “just in case”, to treat EC? Many vets choose to draw blood for an EC test, then start treatment right away with Panacur. If the test comes back negative, the bun can be taken off the Panacur again. Panacur has few serious side-effects.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Ellie!
Bam: She really wanted to test for EC, but as the test is like $250 we opted to wait until our follow up to test, just in case the antibiotics worked. She didn’t want him on the Panacur until he had been tested for EC. I feel at this point she was probably right and we’ll end up testing for that this Saturday. I know it does take a few days for the antibiotics to kick in, but it’s been almost a week with out really any improvement.

[Bam]

He ought to have had some improvement from the antibiotics by now, I agree. Many, many healing-vibes for the sweet little boy!

[LBJ10]

There’s always the option of treating for EC without the test to see if there is improvement.

[Deleted User]

Awww poor little munchkin

[Deleted User]

I think that’s going to end up being the plan on Saturday is to start treatment for it while we wait for the results. Because again this morning, more brown urine under his box. It was a little bit more clear though. He’s still also drinking his weight in water.

I’m oddly calm about it though, but I feel like I’ve read a lot of EC success stories that I’m not freaked out about imminent death or anything worse.

[Deleted User]

I think that we tend to hear all the negatives about something. Also, I think that most of the time those cases aren’t addressed in a timely manner because people don’t realize what’s happening until the bun has developed head tilt or something obvious. So I think you caught it early enough that even if he does have it, he should be fine to make a full recovery!!

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