Rabbit with EC not doing well, is it fair to keep her going?

[Jessp]

Hello, my rabbit is almost 7 years old and has E Cuniculi, pneumonia and has been having seizures up until yesterday when she started seizure meds. She’s on Tribrissen (for pneumonia) but I’ve already had to stop them once because she just does not eat anything except some veggies here and there. It’s probably been 2 weeks since she’s really ate her hay. She’s also on meloxicam, albendazole, metoclopramide and phenobarbital for her seizures. I started up antibiotics again a couple days ago because her pneumonia is starting to get worse, and today she had liquid poop and was laying in her litter box for like 6 hours and then moves to another spot and lays there for hours. She had been flopping and looking more comfy up until I started her on more meds. She still licks me and acts semi normal sometimes but I can tell she is feeling kinda miserable. She’s being treated for EC and I don’t want to put her down not knowing if she could have pulled through. But I also don’t want to keep her alive if she’s suffering. I’m also force feeding 25/30 ml of critical care three times a day which she absolutely hates and I feel horrible doing it to her. I’m at a loss, I just don’t know where to go from here.

[Jessp]

UPDATE: now she’s eating her veggies like crazy… she’s so back and forth every single day would it make sense to put her down IF she stops eating veggies? I’m beside myself right now, I just lost an 18 year old cat. I can’t imagine losing her too this is beyond difficult and exhausting.

[LBJ10]

How long has she been getting treatment? Is there are reason for using albendazole instead of fenbendazole? Currently, fenbendazole is the standard for EC treatment. Unlike albendazole, fenbendazole can cross the blood-brain barrier.

[Jessp]

I’m not sure why the vet chose albendazole. I will definitely be asking them about that tomorrow.

[Jessp]

Oh oops and she’s been getting treatment for about a week

[Bam]

A week is a short time to treat for EC, the bendazoles are slow-acting drugs, plus the tissue inflammation that ec causes needs time to calm down.

I’d ask about the albendazol/fenbendazol.  Fenbendazol (Panacur) is by far the most common choice for the treatment of ec, although I know of two buns (in the USA) that get oxibendaxole for ec flare ups.

It is actually a good sign that she puts up a fight when you give her CC. A bun that has lost its spark will not have the energy or willpower to protest. You do have to give her the CC, nutritious food is absolutely vital for her recovery. It’s great that she eats greens, but greens will not provide her with the calories and protein or fiber that she needs.

How much does your bun weigh? I had a 1.5 kilo (about 3 pounds) bun that relied totally on CC for a while. I gave him at least 90 ml CC/day divided into 4 or 5 servings. The rabbit stomach holds about 20 ml, so that’s a suitable serving size.

Here’s Oxbow’s CC dosage chart:

It’s from Oxbow Australia’s website:

https://www.oxbowaustralia.com/critical-care-information-for-pet-owners/

You can make the CC as runny as you find practical, but the daily amount dry product should be roughly the same.

There are other brands of recovery food that your bun might like better, f ex Emeraid.

[Jessp]

Ok that makes me feel a bit better because she was thumping and trying to run away yesterday during her feeding, she’s definitely lively during that. My bun used to be a little over 4 lbs but she lost a lot of weight and is down to about 3.6 lbs I can feel her ribs she just feels like a skeleton. Thank you so much for the info. I’ve been feeding 25-30 cc every 5 hours but I give her the night off, (about 10 hours) do I need to be feeding her in the middle of the night too?

[DanaNM]

I’m so sorry you are going through this. I agree with the others, regarding fenbendazole and 1 week being a short time! Also double check your fenbendazole dosage, I had a past vet that underdosed it.

Giving her the night off feeding is fine. You might try the brand Emeraid (the herbivore sustain version) instead of Critical Care. My bun loved Emeraid but hated critical care. Sherwood also makes a recovery food that my buns like more than CC (but not as much as Emeraid!).

I’ve been through this decision recently with both my cat and my senior bun. 🙁  I would start tracking good days and bad days (or even mornings and evenings). One metric of making the decision is an illness that is unlikely to get better. Currently your bun is being treated for some serious things that could get better, but may need a bit more time for the treatments to work. But, if your vet thinks she is unlikely to recover that’s a different situation (but also may be worth getting a second opinion if your vet isn’t 100% rabbit savvy).

. . . 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.  

[Jessp]

I will definitely try a different recovery food! I’ll be calling the vet shortly about the fenbendazole and calling another vet for a second opinion. I do not trust this vet, they never even told me she had pneumonia until a few days after her X-rays. Said they didn’t mention it because they figured they just looked like old rabbit lungs. They also never did the EC test till about a week after I told them my concerns.

[DanaNM]

Oh wow, yes I think getting a second opinion will be very good!

. . . 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.  

[Bam]

It’s great that you dont feed her during the night! My very rabbit savvy vet is adamant that buns need to rest during the night. Syringe feeding is vital for a bun that won’t eat enough itself, but the process of picking the bun up, restraining it and more or less using force in order to get it to eat is still a stressor. Getting the nights off is good both fir her and for you. You need your strenght too, taking care of a poorly bun is madly stressful for the hoom.

It’s great that you’re keeping an eye on her weight.

When my bun Vilde was very ill (due to bad dental disease), I bought a notebook and kept a diary of his weight, the daily amount and nr of servings of CC, the meds and dosages etc. It kind of felt like I got a bit more control over things when I kept a record. I weighed him in a bowl on digital kitchen scales (he was tiny). Allow a daily fluctuation of plus/minus 50 grams (sth like 1-2 ounces) for stomach-, intestinal- and bladder contents.

 

[Jessp]

Phew! I was hoping I didn’t have to feed her through the night haha. And yes the syringe feeding is definitely a stressor for us both. Her first seizure was caused by stress so I try my hardest to make the process quick but stress free which is extremely difficult. I’m going to try some other recovery foods like others suggested, it would be a huge relief for us both if the syringe feeding could stop.

[LBJ10]

Thank you for providing additional information! As the others said, treatment can take time. Sometimes it will be weeks before you see improvement. Oddly though, how quickly you see improvement does not appear to be related to severity of symptoms. Every bunny is different. I would suggest asking your vet about their choice of medication. While albendazole was used in the past, they found that fenbendazole appears to be more effective. It was a huge breakthrough at the time, and has now become the “go-to” medication for treating EC. Here is an article from Medirabbit (a trusted source) that talks about the different medications: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/cuniculi/pyrimethamine.htm

Everyone has given you good advice about feeding CC. Hopefully, if he starts feeling better, he will start to take it more willingly. Some bunnies will even eat CC off a plate if offered to them. But they have to have to appetite for it.

[Jessp]

Awesome! The vets are closed today unfortunately but they’ll be hearing from me first thing tomorrow morning about the medication. Thanks again for the help everyone on here is absolutely incredible.

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