Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Rabbit Health Mysteries, Part 3

A few weeks ago, my rabbit tested “mildly positive” for E. Cuniculi, which indicated that he was either just getting over an infection or about to launch into one.  We waited a few weeks and re-tested, and Walter’s veterinarian finally called yesterday with the results from this follow-up blood work.  Unfortunately for Walter, his “mild positive” has escalated into a “full positive,” which means he does in fact have a parasitic infection.  My poor bunny!

It seems that standard treatment is to give the rabbit an oral medication for three months.  When telling me about the medication, my veterinarian asked if Walter had any favorite food flavors.  Apparently, the pharmacist alters the rabbit medication so that it tastes like a rabbit’s favorite food, making it easier to give the rabbit his daily dose.  I’m not much of a sweet-treat-giver for Walter, so I wasn’t able to give him any suggestions.  The veterinarian said he’d try for grape or banana, and if Walter didn’t like it, we could try another flavor.

So I guess I should go out and buy a couple grapes and a banana for my bunny, to get him used to the flavors.  I’m really nervous about getting Walter to take his medication every day, but I’m hopeful that after these next three months, but rabbit will be back to his normal, healthy self.

What is your experience with treating a bunny that has E. Cuniculi?  What flavor did you choose for his medication?

2 comments:

  1. Best wishes to you and Walter. Hopefully everything will be okay. I have no experience with E. cuniculi but I've read about it some. I personally wouldn't introduce Walter to grapes or banana - they're both so high in sugar, it's best to avoid them, and the meds are likely sugary already; anyway I bet the banana-flavoured rabbit meds taste no more like real banana than banana-flavoured kids meds do (remember those?). I've had to administer an oral med to my rabbit before, and just from the smell I could tell it was quite sweet - Frank didn't mind the taste, I don't think: it was the procedure he minded. Hopefully Walter will get used to it.

    What medication has your vet recommended? Is Walter symptomatic? Does your vet routinely test for E. cuniculi antibodies? What has your vet said the medication will do for Walter?

    (Sorry to ply you with questions, I'm just curious.)

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  2. I can't remember the name of the medicine, except that it starts with a P and has to be refrigerated. Do you have any advice for administering oral meds to a rabbit? We have to start treatment today, and I know Walter will resist my efforts. So far, Walter's only symptoms are an occasional head shake and some slight incontinence (which he hasn't shown in a while). I don't think testing for E. cuniculi is a routine test - at least I don't believe it was done during Walter's initial veterinary exam. But after 3 months of the meds, Walter should be E. cuniculi free, from what I understand!

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