Sick Rabbit, not sure what’s wrong, neither are the vets!

[S3graham]

I’m at a bit of a loss with one of my long term house rabbits Lola. She’s an older girl and getting on for 7. About 3 weeks ago she just wasn’t acting herself and eventually stopped eating. I took her to the vets straight away and she was given pain killers and the other jab that gets her digestive system going again. The vet thoroughly checked her over and couldn’t find anything wrong.

She seemed to perk up and went a bit crazy eating everything in sight in the house. Walls etc! Roll on 2 weeks now and she’s gone back to square one. I noticed her lack of eating and have been monitoring her. She occasionally drinks and eats the odd leaf or has a bite of a raspberry I give her but generally isn’t eating. She went back to the vets today and they still can’t work out why she isn’t eating. They can hear her digestive system moving so they don’t think that’s the issue, they’ve checked her teeth and had a good listen to her heart etc. She doesn’t seem injured and I’ve checked her feet etc.

She had another round of injections, one for pain relief and another anti-biotic earlier today but she doesn’t seem to have perked up at all. I’m extremely worried as in the last 2 weeks she’s gone from 3Kg to 2.3!! She’s clearly not eating and is now unsteady on her feet.

The other option the vet gave was blood tests or an X-ray but say that for the C-ray they’ll likely have to anesthetise her, which comes with risks… especially in her current state.

Any ideas or things I can look for or try? I thought it may just be old age but again the vets don’t think this as it seems to have come on very quickly rather than a gradual deterioration.

[kurottabun]

Is there any other symptoms apart from not eating? Is she more lethargic, showing hind leg weakness, wobbling while she walks, drinking more water/urinating more etc? When it comes to odd symptoms I always think of EC, since the symptoms for that come in such a wide range and it’s something that cannot usually be diagnosed directly.

It might be good to do a blood test since rabbits don’t have to go under for that. The weight may be an issue though – my bun was underweight and they could only do a simple test (compared to a more comprehensive one that includes the blood cell count etc.) because they didn’t recommend taking too much blood from an underweight rabbit.

It took quite long to draw the blood but thankfully the test helped in determining what medication to give. Kurotta most likely had EC since the test revealed that his liver count was abnormal, paired with a couple of other symptoms. They prescribed medication for that and he is now well again.

Did your vet mention the possibility of EC?

[DanaNM]

That is a lot of weight loss

I would go with the blood test first, and then if that’s not conclusive, the x-ray.

In the meantime, supportive care includes extra critical care to help put some weight back on her and keep her gut happy, plus some pro-biotics for her gut.

If she isn’t eating be sure to syringe feed her. Bunnies often need a course of motility meds to get them going again after stasis, rather than just one dose.

. . . 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.  

[S3graham]

They haven’t mentioned EC no… though she has had it before and it took me a week to get her back to normal.

She is wobbly on her feet, I’d just put it down to the lack of food.

I think I’m going to phone and take her back today. It’s horrible to see her like this and I feel pretty helpless!

[Bam]

If she’s had EX before there’s a very high likelihood that it’s “come back”. It’s difficult to completely eradicate EC, medication often leaves the infection dormant, and from dormancy it can flare up again when the conditions are favorable for the parasite. It’s not fully understood how it works, but it can give lots of different symptoms depending on what organs are affected. Basically all organs with a high blood supply can be affected, not just the brain.

Standard treatment is 28 days of fenbendazole (Panacur) plus meds to alleviate symptoms.

[jerseygirl]

They can hear her digestive system moving so they don’t think that’s the issue, they’ve checked her teeth and had a good listen to her heart etc. She doesn’t seem injured and I’ve checked her feet etc.

Have they checked her teeth while mildly sedated?

Are you able to get critical care or similar? You could give her bowls of this and add oats to help maintain her weight. 

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