colic in rabbits

Question
QUESTION: At 3:00 am my geriatric Netherlands Dwarf rabbit was rolling and writhing in
obvious distress, with one eye squinted nearly shut , head cocked to the side,
and a very rapid heart beat.  I picked her up, quieted her and used a syringe
to administer some pineapple juice (in case a hairball was causing the colic)
and kept her in an upright position until she stabilized. It took some time for
her heart rate to return to normal, but after an hour she seemed fine. Her
appetite was off, but she consumed some food during the day. That evening
at about 10:30 pm  I heard her thrashing about in her cage, and sure enough,
she was rolled onto her side in  obvious pain again.  She was not interested in
the juice this time, so I massaged her stomach for about 7 or 8 minutes.  The
attack was not as severe this time and by morning she was eating well again.  
If I had not known what she had just gone through, I wouldn't suspect
anything was wrong now .  Her appetite has been good today, although she is
not interested in oatmeal, which she usually loves.  She has had lawn grass,
crested wheat grass and a variety of fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano,
cilantro,  sage and carrots. Her normal diet until now was about a cup of
rabbit pellets per week, an eighth of a cup of oatmeal each morning, and a
variety of hay, including some alfalfa and yellow sweet clover.She always has
a supply of fresh water. Any ideas on what is going on?  (I live in a remote
area.  We have a rabbit-savvy vet but she is out of town for the week-end)
Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

ANSWER: Dear Lana,

A rabbit with GI distress will almost never thrash around.  Instead, she will hunch quietly in a corner and loudly grind her teeth in pain.

Thrashing suggests something else, such as an inner ear infection or other reason for dizziness or vertigo.  The fact that she had one eye squinted shut and that her head was tilted to the side suggests to me that she may have either an incipient ear infection, or may be starting to show signs of infection with a parasite known as Encephalitozoon cuniculi.

Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

and get your bunny to an experienced rabbit vet for examination and treatment:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If she's acting normal while at the vet's, then be sure to explain everything you saw very clearly, leaving out no detail.  This really doesn't sound like abdominal pain to me, and I suspect that her ears are at the root of this, if she's thrashing and rolling.

Note that ear infections in dwarf rabbits are often linked to molar root abscesses, so be sure to ask the vet to give a very detailed dental exam, feeling the jawbones for swelling and looking deep into the mouth for any sign of problems.

I hope your rabbit savvy vet will be able to get to the bottom of this and get your bunny back on her feet and feeling better shortly.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Dana, I appreciate your response. She seems to be completely normal
again, including her appetite and bowel functions.  Could there have been
toxicity in the alfalfa or clover? Thanks again, Lana

Answer
Dear Lana,

When there are toxins in the feed, the results are usually much more serious than an intermittent bout of seizures.  The main contaminant in alfalfa-based feeds are mycotoxins, which are lethal or can cause serious liver damage.  So I doubt that was the problem.

However, if you suspect she might have been exposed to any sort of toxin, a good idea would be to get her to a good rabbit vet to have blood drawn for a complete blood chemistry.  This will tell whether any insult was done to her liver or kidneys, and that could give you a clue about what might have happened.  It's pretty mysterious.

I'm very glad she's back to normal.  But do keep an eye out for any signs of head tilt or weakness in the hind end, which could indicate E. cuniculi.  I hope there are no further causes for concern, though, and that she'll be absolutely well from now on!  :)

Dana