# Suddenly my bunny can't walk



## haven711

It just happened last night. He was fine during day and we noticed that he was limping and can't walk. Seems like he's having a probem withhis left leg. We checked everything, but couldn't find anything wrong with him visually. We took him to the emergency room at 2AM and a vet checked him out. X-Ray showed nothing wrong with his body. A vet said it could be a issue with soft tissue, so we came back home. I'm not sure if he's getting better or not, but he doesn't seem to feel pain. Has anyone experienced this? My bunny Haven has been very healthy so far. Now he's barely moving. Please help.


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## Bunny parents

Oh  I had no experiences with this. How about his activity , besides stop moving ? Does he eat and drink normally ? I'll help you look for informations here on RO. Please let me know more about him.


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## Runestonez

He can't use it or won't use it?

If it is a sprain or strain he will avoid using it.
As long as your vet has done X-rays and nothing is visible...it is probably best to wait a day or two and see if he begins to use it on his own.

Even if it was something like a hairline fracture that wasn't immediately visible on the X-ray...there really wouldn't be anything the vet could do for it but wait and let it heal!

For now my prescription would be treats and lots of lovins!

In the meantime if he stops eating or he seems to be in exessive pain...you can ask your vet for Metacam for the little guy!

I would also make sure you restrict his jumping until it resolves itself!


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## haven711

> Oh I had no experiences with this. How about his activity , besides stop moving ? Does he eat and drink normally ? I'll help you look for informations here on RO. Please let me know more about him.



He's a 3 months and 2 weeks old Holland Lop male. He eats and drinks normally. He wants to move around, but it seems like he doesn't have any strength left on his lower body. 



> He can't use it or won't use it?



He wants to use it. He still tries to jump around, so I'm sure he doesn't feel much pain.



> If it is a sprain or strain he will avoid using it.
> As long as your vet has done X-rays and nothing is visible...it is probably best to wait a day or two and see if he begins to use it on his own.



Yes, that's what we are doing right now. Since we discovered it, it hasn't gotten any better or worse.



> Even if it was something like a hairline fracture that wasn't immediately visible on the X-ray...there really wouldn't be anything the vet could do for it but wait and let it heal!



A vet and I looked at it really carefully, zoom in and out everywhere, but we couldn't find any fracture. Most of all, if I touch his legs, he doesn't fight, so I'm sure there's no pain.

It's such a heartbreaking. We lost our first bunny because he got a tumor under his armpit. It grew from golf ball size to as big as softball and he died. We don't want to go through something like that again. It was very painful for us and the bunny. :-(


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## Nancy McClelland

We had the same problem but with a significantly older rabbit. He passed before we could get him to a vet. He'd been slowing way down, so it wasn't totally unexpected. Good luck. ray:


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## haven711

Thanks for the replies and PMs. He was getting worse, so we visited a vet again and narrowed down to E. Cuniculi or spine injury. He's currently on Metacam for any soft tissue, spine injury or bone fracture and Panacur for E. Cuniculi. Blood test result will come back in a week, so at this point all we can do is watching him carefully. He kinda tried to move around before, but now he can't use both hind legs anymore. He's lost a little bit of weight, but his appetite is still good. He always ate a lot and very healthy before so that's definitely helping in this kind of situation.


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## haven711

I think it's definitely E. Cuniculi. After one dose of medicine yesterday morning, he was finally able to stand up by himself this morning. Hopefully he will make fast recovery.


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## tonyshuman

Good to hear. I'm moving this to the Infirmary. I do want to mention that a newer antiparasitic is preferred for E cuniculi, called Marquis (ponazuril). It was developed to treat a similar parasite in horses, so a vet that treats horses should know about it. It has the advantage of being able to get into brain tissue, which is where the E cuniculi parasite does the most damage. Panacur cannot get into the brain tissue nearly as effectively. Some bunnies' EC is cured by using Panacur, so it is fine to use it--it's possible that in the cases where it works the parasite hasn't invaded the brain as severely, but Marquis would be preferred because it can kill the parasite in the body and the brain.


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## haven711

Thanks for the info. Believe it or not, I became an expert on E. Cuniculi overnight. You don't know how much time I spent reading on it. Anyway, I just called home and he's been making a lot of progress. I'm just glad that he's finally getting better.


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## haven711

It's been a week since he started taking Panacur and he's back to 100% healthy. We will visit a vet again tomorrow for check up.


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## Maureen Las

We are very glad that he has improved but if there should be a reoccurence remember the drug Ponazuril/Marquis ; if you know anyone who owns horses you may be able to get a small amount from them as it is sold in large amounts to horse owners. 
It is a better and more upto date drug than panacur ...
but it is great the panacur worked this time...


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## alien_8l

OMG..my bunny has the same problem..she can't walk on her back legs.. It's been a week and no veterinarian could find out the problem..she's so weak now and i'm so worry about her..what should I do?? would you please help me about this?


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## Flash Gordon

this thread has all the info in it that you need to get started...first is a vet visit..i hope ur bun gets better soon.
Haven im so glad ur doing better


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## alien_8l

well i can't trust them anymore..they are not professional in rabbits..i visited 2 different vets and they couldn't recognize it..one said she has an Uterus Infection another said it's becuz of Calcium Deficiency..i thought maybe you guys could tell me what to do..i read all about E.Cuniculi and i'm kind of sure that this is what she has in her body..


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## Bill Jesse

I am surprised to hear that EC would come on so quickly. I have a female that I think has it but her symptoms started a while back and the loss of her leg was not one. Having said that I am involved with a lot of rabbits and one female has lost use of both legs. I do know she has EC because she showed the symptoms earlier.
I understand that Ponazuril is a better medication but up here I was quoted about $1000 for a tube.
Anyway bottom line is that your little guy seems to have made a remarkable recovery and I am very happy.


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## haven711

*alien_8l wrote: *


> well i can't trust them anymore..they are not professional in rabbits..i visited 2 different vets and they couldn't recognize it..one said she has an Uterus Infection another said it's becuz of Calcium Deficiency..i thought maybe you guys could tell me what to do..i read all about E.Cuniculi and i'm kind of sure that this is what she has in her body..


Just give your bunny Panacur or Ponazuril whatever that's available for E. Cuniculi. You will see the improvement in a day if your bunny really has EC. YOu got nothing to lose, so please try that first. We were so sad to see our bunny down like that. I'm sure you feel the same.


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## tonyshuman

Haven, I am not sure that your statement about just treating for EC is true. I doubt the bunny has EC because of the sudden onset. In addition, the treatments for EC will not work within a day and can be quite expensive. If you want to properly treat EC, you need to do a blood test to determine the level of EC parasite in the animal, and then treat with either drug for several weeks, and do another blood test to see if there is improvement.

It sounds much more Haven had nerve damage to me. That can result from a fall or other traumatic injury and may not show up on x-ray. Sometimes anti-inflammatories help; sometimes they do not. It is likely that the Metacam Haven was given was what helped him heal and regain full leg function; not the Panacur.

alien, have you looked at our lists of rabbit-savvy vets? Depending on your location, we probably have a member-approved vet in your area. If a bunny suddenly presents with hind leg paralysis or reduced function, the most likely cause is nerve damage or spinal fracture, not EC. EC is a long-term, progressive disease. I would have the bunny x-rayed, have blood work done (maybe including an EC titer if you are convinced that is the cause), and have her put on Metacam to reduce swelling at the spine/nerve if that is the cause.


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## majorv

Maybe the EC was caught very early, but I thought treatment for EC could only stop the damage done, not reverse it (normally)...esp if it involved limb paralysis. We had a5 month old Tan who suddenly developed hind limb paresis. Xrays showed nothing. She didn't have nerve damage. Unfortunately, the vet was not versed in rabbits. They tried a couple of things but it got no better, then she started having kidney problems. She was a beautiful show rabbit, but we had to have her euthanized. Blood work and necropsy showed e. cuniculi cells in her spine, brainandkidneys. I learned that it was probably passed on from the mother (as acarrier) because a sibling had splayed front legs, not bad but noticeable to a judge.


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## tonyshuman

Nearly every rabbit carries EC--unless they were raised in a very (laboratory +) sterile environment. The splayed front legs were unlikely to be related to EC, but were more probably a genetic deformity of the joints. Although 95% or more of rabbits carry EC, only a few have active infections; in some rabbits the immune system just cannot fight off the parasite enough. There can be any trigger, really.


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## Sweetie

Claire: you are so wonderful.

I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking it was a spinal injury and that the metacam was working on Haven, not the Panacur. I remember suspecting EC with Prince but had the titer test and it came back negative, so I was glad with that.


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## woahlookitsme

i'm curious haven did your bunnies test ever come back for E.cuniculi? 

And I agree with tonyshuman. If you suspect EC please take your rabbit to a vet and get a titer test done.


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## alien_8l

thanks everyone for your concerns..tonyshuman unfortunatly there is no member-approved vet in my location(Iran) and yes like haven, my bunny suddenly had hind leg paralysis..i had her x-rayed and no fracture was shown..i think it's E.cuniculi bcuz of the weakness of the back legs,and maybe she has kidney problems for showing increased thirst and urination..but it's better to take a blood test to be 100% sure..i read in a site those rabbits under stress (poor environment and nutrition) and with poor immune systems will be more likely to show immediate clinical signs once exposed to E. cuniculi..
tomorrow i'll take her to vet again..so worry about her..


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## woahlookitsme

taking the blood test and it coming up positive isnt a 100% sure sign its E.cuniculi. If it comes back negative then you know its 100% not, but a positive test can mean other things such as the bunny has been exposed before. What we were going to do with my tan or what people recommended was taking a blood sample 14days apart and testing for the titer on both samples. This would show either an increase or decrease in values.


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## haven711

Well, Haven is healthy as an ox. He eats well and he's one happy bunny, but unfortunately one of his boys, Micky suddenly can't walk. We took him to the vet and vet is not 100% sure if it's spine injury or not, but he decided to go with spine injury. Micky has been on both Prednisolone and Baytril for a week, but there's no progress. I told doctor about Haven, but he kinda ignored my input. Anyway, this morning he gave us Panacur, so we will see if Micky makes a progress. This happened to Micky in late October just like it happened to Haven two years ago. It's weird.


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## haven711

Here's Micky in vet's office. Poor guy.


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## haven711

I forgot this. X-Ray doesn't show clear dislocation or broken bones. My vet kinda took a wild guess and made up his mind as spinal injury. I hope Panacur will work.


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## JBun

Sorry you are going through this again and I hope your little guy will be ok.


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## Ilovemyrabbit

*JBun wrote: *


> Sorry you are going through this again and I hope your little guy will be ok.


:yeahthat:


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## mshill90

Have they been outside at all? They could have gotten a hold of a wild mushroom or a few. 

That happened to my female flemish. 

Took a month to get her back to normal, and she does have some nerve damage to her rear as she can't hop/run like she used to.


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