# Holistic treatment for e-cuniculi?



## jwark (Jan 24, 2011)

Has anyone ever tried anything besides western medicine? Homeopathic, acupuncture, clay baths?

I'm thinking of trying something else besides the refrigerator full of medicine that hasn't seemed to do much so far.


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## maxysmummy (Jan 24, 2011)

in the book "when your rabbit needs special care - traditional and alternative healing methods" (Kathy Smith and Lucille Moore) one woman effectively treated her 10 year old rabbits who had head tilt for 4 years using a combination of traditional and herbal medications - and she had been taking Chinese herbs.

One of the herbs the book mentions is _Artemisia Annua_ and the chinese herbals _Damp Heat Ear_ and _Wei Qi Booster_

There is heaps about Ecuniculi in this book I seriously recommend buying it. What I could type was only a minute extract from all the information in the book.


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## naturestee (Jan 24, 2011)

:yeahthat:

Kathy Smith knows A LOT about alternative/complementary medicine in rabbits and that book is excellent. Before you do anything, read that book and research anything you want to try. Herbs and supplements can have side effects and bad interactions just like traditional medicines. Also, certain treatments should only be done by a holistic vet.

You may also find that massage helps relieve some symptoms, or at least relaxes the bun. That in itself can be helpful for the immune system, and especially if he gets stressed out with treatments or vet visits.

I do know someone who had good results with acupuncture on a disabled rabbit. I think the second rabbit she tried it on didn't like it, though. These treatments were done by a veterinary acupuncturist.


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## tonyshuman (Jan 24, 2011)

Have you tried ponazuril, before you give up on traditional medicine? I think holistic treatments absolutely can help, but they are less reliable than traditional medicine and thus should only be used as a last resort.


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## jwark (Jan 25, 2011)

I really just can't afford ponazuril. My vet gave me toltrazuril and said it accomplishes the same thing. The problem is I have to buy a big tube for a horse if I want to try ponazuril. The toltrazuril unfortunately has done nothing for her as far as I can see.


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## tonyshuman (Jan 25, 2011)

OK, I am not very familiar with toltrazuril. It is made by the same company as ponazuril, which to me says that it has a somewhat different activity--there are two reasons a company would create a drug that is highly structurally similar to one on the market (1) they are trying to get around the patent protection another company has on the already marketed drug and (2) it works better. The body converts toltrazuril into ponazuril, but my concern is that this metabolism takes place in the liver, and then most of the drug is removed from the blood because of how oral medications are dealt with in the body. I would just guess that the reason ponazuril is better is that it is better at getting in the brain because it gets there before it is exposed to the body's detoxification organs (liver and kidneys), and giving a higher dose of toltrazuril could circumvent that problem.

I am glad, though, that you have at least considered it. It's strange that there's such a price difference when they're both under patent and both from the same company.


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## jwark (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm not sure if the price is different, it's just that he already has toltrazuril so I can buy only the amount I need.

Really, I can deal with the ecuniculi but the urine scald is going to kill her. It's absolutely horrible. I just took a couple of pictures of it. Even after being on antibiotic ointment and penicillin for 3 days now it's still awful. That darn urine is like acid!

This is her butt:







This is her left side:






I don't know if you can see it but she has stitches too but it's still opened up. I made a wheelchair for her but it's really not good enough to leave her in for 10 hours while I'm at work. That is the problem. I don't know how to prevent her from soaking in her own urine while I'm away for that long.


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## Sweetie (Jan 26, 2011)

jwark: Notice that you live in Texas, how far away is Austin from Katy, Texas? I have a friend there that may be able to help you out with your rabbit.


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## Bill Jesse (Feb 11, 2011)

I have a Chinese acupuncturist and when I told him about my bun possibly having EC he mentioned trying herbal treatment but darn it all, at the moment the name escapes me. Of course he was not familiar with EC.


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## jwark (Feb 12, 2011)

I'm going to try some herbal salves but she she has open wounds that I'm still trying to heal up first. I really don't think it's good to put that on an open wound. She's actually getting better in every other aspect.

I finally figured out how to keep her dry. I put a training pad down, then a towel. On top of that I found a miracle, fake rabbit fur. It's amazing and keeps her completely dry.


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## Flash Gordon (Feb 12, 2011)

fake sheepskin...thats what everybody uses that has a disabled bun...
i cringed when i saw the pics...thats gotta hurt...owee.


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## jujub793 (Feb 12, 2011)

Your poor baby!! Like flash Gordon I too cringed when I saw her poor bottom:sosad


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## Pipp (Feb 25, 2011)

This was sent to us by Rami at Medirabbit... awesome source.  

I PM's jwark when it arrived. 

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Mrs Libouton, from Belgium, would like to share a recipe she developed to treat urine burned skin of her rabbit Kimy, to a member of rabbitsonline: jwark 
in relation his rabbit who suffers the same problem:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=63276&forum_id=16&jump_to=845486#

Here you will find the recipe of the cream she prepared:
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/cream/antibiotic_cream.htm

Unfortunately, Mrs Libouton has trouble writing this member directly, and I am not member of your group. Would you mind sharing the above information with jwark asap ?

Rami


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## jwark (Feb 25, 2011)

her urine burn is gone but her wounds are very bad. I'll probably have to put her down soon. She has 3 large chunks of skin missing. I've had them stitched up so many times she has no more skin to stitch. I started using healing clay (a desperate move) and it is probably too late for it to work. 

I have so much guilt about it. So many things I learned too late.


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## jwark (Mar 21, 2011)

Good news, she is making a recovery now. The clay is actually working. Her wounds are half the size that they were and she has started laying on her right side. She hasn't done that in 4 months (since this started.) She has atrophy in her legs now but as soon as the wounds heal I'm going to start physical therapy.

On a side note, I tried the clay on my eczema and it has completely healed that too. Something that, prior to now, only swimming in the ocean would do.

I have to say, I think there is something to this clay. I even suspect it helped pull whatever is causing this entire thing out of her body.


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## Lynslee (Jun 26, 2014)

Have you tried premie diapers for human babies? The diaper will draw the urine away from your bunnies fur and skin. You can also protect the skin a little bit with some vaseline.

Be comforted to know that you are doing a wonderful job caring for you sweetie!


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## squidpop (Jun 30, 2014)

What kind of clay? I have some outdoor rabbits and they dig holes, I used to worry because their feet where getting caked mud stuck to bottom, I kept checking and it turns out there feet are the healthiest feet with the thickest fur. Mud, seems good good for them. I've often wondered if mud would help sore hocks. Clay seems like an even better idea.


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## ladysown (Jun 30, 2014)

put her in a wire bottomed cage.

That will help keep the urine off her.

OR if you have her in a plastic bottomed cage put in risers for her (that's a temporary wire bottom).


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## surf_storm (Jun 30, 2014)

I use puppy wee pads but Shida doesn't chew rugs or carpet so we are pretty safe from her chewing the wee pads they are really absorbent too which helps


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