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Is this consistent with E. Cunniculi?

22 10:34:54

Question
So grateful to have found this site!  My 7 yo neutered male house rabbit has shown increased thirst and urination along with possible urinary incontinence (peeing outside his litterbox, very unusual for him) for 2-3 weeks. Also a *touch* of loose stools, sporadically. Onset of symptoms was gradual.  A visit to a vet last week revealed nothing abnormal w/the in-office urine test (just a dipstick I think), but bloodwork was "weird" (vet's words): low specific gravity of urine, high CPK, high ALT, and many high globulins, protein, & albumin in protein electrophoresis test.
Vet is unsure, thinking maybe he has E. cunniculi infection since the symptoms are urinary/kidney.  No serological testing for this has been performed yet. Is this likely, if he has no behavioral or neurological changes? The only weird possible neuro symptom is a few times of the bun madly shaking his head & scratching his ear, but I assumed he just had a weird itch!
Any insights or directions to consider would be appreciated. This is the first time he's been sick in the 5 yrs we've had him.

Answer
Dear Sari,

Excessive drinking and excessive urination can be signs of renal disease.  There are many different possible origins for renal disease (E. cuniculi among them), but if the bunny is in chronic renal failure there is not much you can do except provide supportive care.

If the urine had a low specific gravity, but the bunny's blood levels of urea, nitrogen, creatinine, and other solutes was high, that means the kidneys are not concentrating urine, and hence, not working properly.  Unfortunately, unless this came on very suddenly as a result of some chemical or bacterial insult, it may be that the damage is done and cannot be repaired.

Treating for E. cuniculi with Panacur probably won't hurt, but it will not repair damage to the kidneys.  Subcutaneous fluid therapy, judiciously used (too much can be as bad as too little!) may help if the bunny is no longer able to regulate his own intake by drinking.  But always keep him well supplied with LOTS of clean water.  We try to intervene with fluids as little as possible, since subQ fluids can  cause imbalance of electrolytes and other problems even as it helps the bunny to remove toxins from the bloodstream by simple dilution.

If you're not sure your present vet is very experienced with rabbits, you may wish to seek a second opinion from another vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana