Recovery from stroke

[Konijn]

Hello, my 8 year old rabbit Polly, an albino Netherland dwarf, had a stroke last week. One moment he was doing fine, playing, and then a moment later he was circling to the right and unable to get back into his cage. The vet diagnosed a stroke and said all we can do is nurse him and see whether he recovers.

He has made some progress since; he did not eat and drink at all initially (we have been force feeding him) and since Friday he has started drinking water by himself again. He also very occassionally eats a little of the bowl of mashed banana I have put in his cage. He can now also run in a more or less straight line and his coordination is a little better.

I am worried about him still hardly eating anything by himself though, and he generally seems very unhappy, he shakes from time to time, whether from fear or from pain I don’t know. His companion, Molly, has started attacking him so I have had to separate them but I think being all on his own makes him feel worse.

Does anyone else have any experience of dealing with strokes in rabbits? How long do we keep on trying, when is it time to give up and have him put down? any tips on how to get him to eat and how to keep him clean without causing more stress would also be welcome.

[Bam]

A true stroke, like humans get, is uncommon in rabbits. More common causes for neurological disturbances like what you describe are e cuniculi and an ear infection. E cuniculi is a microscopic parasite that invades tissues with high blood supply like the brain. An ear infection is caused by bacteria that can travel from the nose and mounth to the middle ear via the ear trumpet.

Did your vet consider either of those (common) ailments? If you suspect e cuniculi, standard treatment is with a dewormer, Panacur (fenbedazole) for 28 days, often together withb a couple of other meds for symptom relief. For an ear infection, antibiotics and a painkiller are the most commonly prescribed meds. Did your vet look inside your bun’s ears with an otoscope? A middle ear infection can sometimes be seen as a bulging-out of the tympanic membrane, even if the infection itself is enclosed behind the eardrum.

If your bun indeed has suffered a proper vascular stroke, nursing him back to health with supportive care would be the treatment of choice. It’s what you do with humans. Many humans regain most or all function after a couple weeks – months. Some humans, as we all know, are left with life long deficits.

You should keep your bun separate from his wfie if she attacks him, but not too separate – i e they should be in the same room. Separating them altogether would not be good for your boy’s morale and will to live. But if she is very intent on hurting him, you would want to make sure she can’t reach him through the bars of his cage.

It’s good that you’ve been force feeding him. He needs nutritious food.

[Konijn]

Thank you for your response, Bam. The vet did look at his ears and did a few balancing tests to rule out E.cuniculi and an ear infection – she twisted his body in different directions and checked whether he kept his head straight (he did). She said that with E.cuniculi and ear infections, you would expect a loss of balance, which he does not have – only a loss of coordination. He also does not have a head tilt, which is another symptom you would expect with E.cuniculi. The vet also said that although strokes are not common, they are more common in elderly rabbits like Polly.

In any case, we are going back to the vet’s for a check-up later this week and I will ask whether there would be any use in treating for E.cuniculi just in case.

The rabbits’ cages are next to each other so they can see each other – they sit pressed against the bars on either side! Molly is not, I think, intent on hurting him, but mainly very confused – she is a very dominant rabbit and she insists on being groomed when she asks for it, and she attacks him because he won’t groom her. No biting, just pushing him around very hard, which distresses him a lot.

[Bam]

It seems you have a rabbit-savvy vet. That’s great, it’s not always easy to find a good rabbit vet.

Its probably still best to keep the buns apart at least for a few days now. She can’t understand why he’s not acting normal, and it annoys her. It’d be bad if she managed to hurt him (even if she didn’t mean to hurt him). But if they can hang out together with cage bars separating them, that could still be very comforting for them.

Panacur is a drug with very few side effects, and some vets choose to treat on suspicion of EC, because tests for EC are notoriously unreliable. If his problems seem to get worse rather than better over these next few days, Panacur could perhaps be sth to try.

[Konijn]

Update on Polly:

Overall, he is slowly moving in the right direction. His coordination keeps on improving, he can run in straight lines now and is able to get to where he wants to go, and he has even started hiding behind the couch again when it is time for his feed (sigh). He also has moments where he seems to enjoy just exploring the rooms and sniffing and looking at things. He is also getting better at washing himself, and he can turn his head to the left now, although he can’t wash that side of his body very well yet. He has also, finally, started to get hungry again. The force-feeding is going a lot more smoothly because of that. However, he has not worked out how to eat himself yet – if I offer him something he really likes, like some basil or a piece of fruit, he gets restless and pushes his nose against his food and starts to make chewing movements, but he can’t seem to make the connection between the food that he wants and how he should put it in his mouth. The force-feeding takes a lot of energy – he always goes to sleep after he had a feed, completely exhausted. Last night he managed to get a little bit of basil in his mouth but trying to chew it took him so much effort that he had to give up after a minute or so. If anyone has been through something similar and has any tips on how to teach a rabbit to eat, that would be really helpful!

[Bam]

I’m glad to hear there’s so much improvement already! I hope he’ll regain his ability to eat. I don’t have any tips for you about how to teach a bun to eat. Do you think the problem is chewing? Tongue movement? He obviously can swallow, and that’s great.

The website Disabled rabbits is a great resource for owners of disabled buns. They have a Facebook page. Maybe you can find people there that have been in a similar situation.
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/

[Konijn]

Polly did not make it He suffered another stroke this afternoon which left him unable to stand and hop properly, we took him to the vet to have him put to sleep. We will miss him very much – he was such a cheerful and happy rabbit, and brought me so much joy just watching him race and do binkies through the living room every day

[LBJ10]

Oh no, I’m so sorry!

[Bam]

I’m so very sorry. There was nothing you could have done differently. Thank you for giving him an extra chance.

[Author]

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