Chronically Ill 4 yr old Holland lop...vet now says EC

Question
Hi there...my Holland lop has been a sickly little guy since I got him.  He has meibomian cysts that have to get laced every few months, he has continuous gi issues (not only stasis but the vet his stomach is too large even when his cecum is fine) he is not a big hay eater (but does not have tooth issues that would prevent him from eating hay)so I give him critical care every day to keep his gut moving
 He very suddenly developed cataracts and the vet immediately put him on pancur and assumed EC but did not do the blood test.  My question is this:  is it possible that EC is the cause of all his quirky health issues without him getting head tilt or weak back legs?  Also, should I insist that she do the EC test or doesn't it really matter?  Finally, is pancur really effective to fight ec and if so how many days should he be on it.  Or is ivermectin better?  Thank you so much.

Answer
Dear Dorothy,

Sorry for the delay.  The AllExperts sites seems to be down more than working these days, and every time I log on I seem to get a "try again later" message!

I'm sorry to hear about your bunny's chronic problems.

I honestly would be *sure* there is no dental problem, as Holland Lops are notorious for this.  It can take a real expert vet to detect spurs that are far back in the mouth, and might even require anesthesia to get in a take a really good look.  Molar spurs can be very hard to see when a rabbit is awake, and it really takes a vet who is experienced at looking for the right thing to determine if they are a problem, even if small.

Cataracts can be caused by things other than E cuniculi.  Although glaucoma doesn't *cause* cataracts, we often see bunnies with glaucoma also developing cataracts.  It might be a good idea to have your bunny's eyes evaluated by a boarded veterinary ophthalmologist, as a mammalian eye is a mammalian eye.  E. cuniculi creates very distincting cataracts, different from those of other causes, so be sure to mention the suspicion to the ophthalmologist so s/he will be aware that this is a possibility (if s/he doesn't see many rabbits).

I hope some of this will help.

Dana