Query about worming/panacur

[sarahthegemini]

Hi guys, I use panacur for 9 days as a preventative every 4 months on my rabbits, so 3 x per year – I start the 9 day treatment on 26th October, 26th February and 26th June. I’ve also read that they should be wormed during anything potentially stressful. I may be moving home in a week which will obviously be quite a scary experience for them. Should I bring their October worming forward and do it during the move? If the last worming was June 26th for 9 days, and I start worming them on the day we start moving, it’ll be just less than 3 months gap. I think  What do you guys think? 

[Boston's Mama]

I’ve been told by many, including my vet and some owners of E cuniculi bunnies that it isn’t a good idea to frequently use panacur as a preventer and only to use it as a treatment if worms are seen or symptoms of e cuniculi are present. Apparently over time the use of panacur reduces its effectiveness of further doses and it’s ability to fight of EC. Having a bunny who had EC when I got him and needed treatment with panacur for 6 weeks I did question this a lot and read many postings about it also as I wanted regularly panacur as a preventer to reduce risk of it flaring up but now that I know that I decided against it but I’m vigilant to look for signs and check for worms

[Boston's Mama]

Not sure if my wording was clear – The 9 day course is only good for ridding of worms if they are present ( hence only doing if you see them )
If you don’t know they have worms then the panacur is doing no good – it’s just making the bunnies less likely to have results from it when it / if it is needed for EC at any point.
It will not prevent the bigger problem – EC , it takes 6 week course to treat EC if it was present

[sarahthegemini]

Wow, really? I knew it’s effectiveness was questionable but I figured I’ve got nothing to lose by doing it but to think it might actually reduce ability to fight E.C. is shocking.

[Boston's Mama]

My vet also said something about bone marrow issues with regular use also ( he hesitated to treat Boston for the suspected EC and considered waiting a couple of days to see if symptoms worsened even but decided to treat with 6 week course )

[Bam]

It’s a problem with all anti-parasitics, that the parasites get resistant to them. It’s basically the same principle as antibiotic- resistance, only I don’t know if microsporidians can exchange segments of DNA the way bacteria can (horizontal transmission). Resistance would still develop, only more slowly. This is why routine deworming of horses and dogs should be kept at a minimum and most deworming should be done after a fecal exam so you can target the parasites that are actually present. It’s also important to rotate dewormers for routine deworming. But for e cuniculi, our only option currently is Panacur (fenbendazole).

[Boston's Mama]

^ totally agree. When EC is suspected the only treatment is panacur – and it is only effective if given as a 6 week course for EC. It, however, is only effective during the treatment – my understanding is once the 6 weeks is up the bunny is no more protected from reoccurance than it was before. It’s a treatment rather than a preventor. It does however treat other worms like tapeworm – in a 9 day course. But more research is needed to know how safe it is long term to be using it regularly without knowing worms are present as a ” incase” ( again not meaning for EC as 9 day course does not help If its EC active )

The studies so far are so limited on ec in rabbits ( most studies on ec are on other animals not rabbits – I think only one is done of rabbit EC ??)
The long term effects – resistance built , bone marrow issues etc still requires a lot of studying.
The info that is know is confusing even for vets – some claim routine treatment is not helpful since it does not prevent EC and builds resistance to panacur etc etc
Others claim it is good to routinely treat but I am yet to find a vet sight where it is recommended to routinely treat that explains why given that EC is proven to need a 6 week course not a 9 day course anyway … it is true that after a week a bunny with active EC will improve IF it is going to respond to treatment – however that is just a “hey this is working ” not a “stop now , I’m good” . It use to be 28days was recommended treatment but too many were developing symptoms again after 28 day treatments – 6 week ones were more effective and getting better results with less reoccurance.
There is so much controversy around panacur for EC that vets are still split on whether is it a treatment or a cure even, some believe it may be a cure where as some say it will always be there dormant and can retrigger.

Personally – if I see worms I’ll do 9 days treatment – otherwise I won’t as it’s only good for treating worms if done in 9 day course.
If I see any at all EC symptoms I’ll do 6 weeks course straight away.
But I would suggest seeing what your vet thinks of you trust them they should have the knowledge of the studies done also and should be able to give their opinion on the bone marrow risks, resistance risks and the pros and cons from his / her opinion. I’m obviously not a vet but I have done my best to gain knowledge on this given Bostons history – panacur is cheap as chips so of course I would do it if it appeared to be the best option ( not saying I wouldn’t if it was $1000 just meaning there is no gain for me by not doing it ) and he takes it easy too luckily if I do ever need it again !

[sarahthegemini]

Some food for thought here. I think me and my partner have decided to use panacur for during the move (moving day will be 26th September so the gap between previous dose and this would be 3 months) just to eliminate the possibility of stress causing issues and then once the move is over, we’ll hold off on routine worming. Thanks guys!

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