Rabbit with seizures

[Nibbles]

Hello, I was curious if anyone has a rabbit who has seizures. Nibbles starting having seizures about a month and a half ago. They are partial seizures, she doesn’t fall over, she goes onto her hind legs, head goes back, front paws twitching and mouth moving. Sometimes she screams afterward. Nibbles recovers completely afterwards, a little agitated at first but calms down with pets. It takes me longer to calm down!
She’s just finishes her medicine for possible E. cuniculi infection and is almost done with a course of antibiotics. The seizures seemed to be decreasing during the treatment but then three days ago she had a cluster of seizures, which was very scary! Her vet wants to put her on phenobarbital to manage the seizures while we try to figure out possible causes for them. The vet told me seizures are pretty rare in rabbits and the dosing for phenobarbital is not established.
Has anybody had something similar with their rabbit?
Thank you!

[LBJ10]

How long is the EC treatment? A long course is often recommended. As for the phenobarbital, your vet is correct. There isn’t much research out there regarding how much can be safely given to rabbits. I believe diazepam is preferred, but I suppose it depends on the circumstances and what’s available.

MediRabbit has an article on seizures:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm

It gives a list of all possible causes of seizures in rabbits. EC is probably the most common though. Does your bunny have any other symptoms?

[Nibbles]

Thanks LBJ10! The treatment for EC was 28 days but she never had any symptoms for EC, just seizures. The vet thinks one possibility is that the seizures could due to damage from an EC infection. Blood work and liver functions are all normal. The only thing that stood out was lead levels which were a high normal so I’m also looking into possible environmental lead exposure.
She’ll start on phenobarbital on Monday to hopefully prevent seizures. Nibbles is otherwise a healthy bun who is getting tired of going to the vet

[vanessa]

That sucks. Some EC symptoms are hard to notice. Darting eyes and weaving or nodding head were some that I didn’t recognize at first. In the absence of other symptoms, yours doesn’t seem to be an easy case. Lead is on the list of causes though… Here’s an article from medirabbit. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm 1 of my bunnies had seizures that were a result of EC, and it wasn’t quite like you describe. Merlin would get stiff, fall onto his side and shake with his eyes rolled back. Perhaps try bottled water until you can rule out lead contamination?

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Nibbles on 12/16/2016 10:16 PM

Thanks LBJ10! The treatment for EC was 28 days but she never had any symptoms for EC, just seizures. The vet thinks one possibility is that the seizures could due to damage from an EC infection. Blood work and liver functions are all normal. The only thing that stood out was lead levels which were a high normal so I’m also looking into possible environmental lead exposure.
She’ll start on phenobarbital on Monday to hopefully prevent seizures. Nibbles is otherwise a healthy bun who is getting tired of going to the vet

Seizures can be a symptom of EC. Also Pasteurellosis.

Diazepam can be used to manage seizures in rabbits. 

I hope you can find out the cause. Perhaps it’s a combination, Lead toxicity being one of them? 

Another lesser known cause is audiogenic seizures where an animal is reacting to certain frequencies being omitted in the enviroment. Some pet may be more sensitive then others to devices like ultrasonic pest controllers.

Sending some anti-seizure {{{vibes}}} out for Nibbles!  It must be awful to witness. 

[Nibbles]

Wanted to give an update on Nibbles. I took her to the teaching hospital at the local university and she was looked at by the neurology group. They are also suggesting that her seizures could be due to an EC infection or damage from one. She has been on phenobarbital for about a week and seizure free for two! She is also back her to social, but naughty, self ?

[LBJ10]

That’s great! I’m glad to hear she’s doing better.

[Bam]

Oh, that’s lovely news! Thanks for the update!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Great News!! Hope she continues to do well.

[jerseygirl]

Continuing with the {{{vibes}}}!

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