Stewie again

Question
Dana,

I found the bicillin for Stewie's abscess. He has been on it every 3 days for 2.5 weeks?  Last night he experiened partial paralysis in his back legs. Sometime he has trouble hopping then he is ok. This morning he could not stand up. he was pulling himself around with his 2 front legs. A few hours later he gradually got better. He could stand on his feet and hop. Still not 100 % but better. Took him to vet (new one) and he realized Stewie can't see either. he's right. You head towards Stew's eye and he doesn't blink. What could cause the paralysis and what to do? We uped the bicillin to every other day. Will that help?

Answer
Dear Karen,

The combination of hind limb paresis and blindness suggest that this could be due to Encephalitozoon cuniculi, a microsporidian parasite that infects the central nervous and renal systems.  More diagnostic tests would be needed to confirm this.  

Bicillin will not help with E. cuniculi. But it's not unlikely that Stewie's immunosuppressed condition is once again being manifested, this time as signs of E. cuniculi which he may have harbored all his life.

Blindness due to E. cuniculi is caused by a very characteristics type of cataract that is unlike other forms of cataract, and only a veterinary ophthalmologist well versed in this condition would be easily able to diagnose it.  And there are many, many other possible causes of blindness.  This could be completely unrelated to the hind limb paresis, so I'd recommend you get the help of a good veterinary ophthalmologist who can check Stewie's intraocular pressure and do other tests to see if his problem is treatable, or at least can be arrested before it gets worse.

There are also various causes of hind limb paresis, and you can get an  overview here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html

Be sure to read the link to the article by Dr. Susan Brown, which is excellent!

If this were my rabbit, I would ask the vet about putting him on Panacur (fenbendazole) immediately (our vets use it at 20mg/kg once per day for *at least* 30 days), even before any further diagnostics are done.  If this is E. cuniculi, prompt treatment can be critical to arresting the damage and speeding recovery.

I hope this helps.

Dana