Young Lionhead Rabbit having Seizures??

Question
Hi Pam, I really hope you can help me. My daughter's pet Lionhead, Magic, had what I believe to be a seizure today. We got her in August at a petshop and they said she was just a baby then.. but I am not sure about her exact age, only that she is young. She has been fine up until today. She gets a premium Rabbit food mix with cracked corn, some seed looking things and other tid bits in it. Today, during her first fit, she was running all over her cage and throwing herself around. Afterwards she just lay on her side and was breathing really hard and fast. My daughter of course, was crying and very upset, got Magic out of her cage and just held her while I called the vet.  They could not see her today and are not sure if they can get to her tomorrow either. :-( I am praying she holds on that long.  She has not been eating or drinking for a couple days.. I treated her with Frontline for cats about 4-5 days ago. I mentioned this to the vet and they said if she was going to have a reaction to the Frontline, she should have showed some signs the day I gave it to her or the day after.(I also called the vet the day I gave her the Frontline to be sure it was ok to use on Rabbits, they said it isn't labeled for rabbits, but people use it on them.) But other than her not eating and drinking, she has been ok.  About half an hour ago, she had another fit.. maybe a little more mild than the one she had this afternoon.. and now she is in her cage looking around and seems quite normal.  Earlier tonight I put some of the pellets from her Rabbit mix in a bowl and added water to it until it was soupy and gave her some of that from a syringe, hoping to spark her appetite. No luck so far. We cleaned her cage and changed her bedding the same day we did the Frontline.. and I also had bought a new bag of Rabbit Mix, same kind, just new bag.  I am trying like crazy to figure out what we might have done.. new bedding, new food, Frontline, why isn't she eating... *sigh*  What do you think?? Any insight would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Jennifer

I am so sorry your rabbit is ill.  I have a few ideas for you.  First if the vet you called told you that some people use frontline on their rabbits and didn't seem to concerned about it then you need to find a new vet.  Frontline is extremely dangerous for rabbits and can cause them to have neurological problems.  It stays in the system for 30 days or longer and can't just be washed off.  Therefore if the reaction is from the frontline then she may continue to have the neurological problems until it has left her system.

Any food that has seeds, nuts, corn or any colorful pellets should be avoided.  As tempting and nice as they look they are dangerous.  The people that make them don't care about the rabbits but only about the money.  There is always a picture on the bag of a bunny and the poor souls that buy it think it is safe.  Corn can cause extreme gas pains as well as intestinal blockage.  It is best to feed just a plain pellet with at least 16 protein and 18fiber.  You also want to make sure she is eating as much hay as possible and constantly has it available.  You can also give her some rabbit safe veggies but you want to introduce them one at a time so that if she does get diarrhea you know which one is causing it.  You can find a list of rabbit safe foods at the HRS web-site

http://www.rabbit.org

They also have tons of useful information on the proper care of bunnies.  It is a good resource for both new and experienced rabbit owners a like.

If you are to the point that you have to force feed her you are going to want to try something called ox-bow critical care.  You can buy it at certain pet stores but not all of them carry it.  You can try the web-site and see if they can overnight ship it to you.

http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp?page=CriticalCare

You need to find another vet immediately.  Your little girl sounds like she is in serious trouble.  Any time a rabbit stops eating they are in danger of getting complete GI shutdown (ileus).  Once this happens there is often little that can be done to save them.

I am giving you a list of veterinarians.  These veterinarians are all knowledgeable about rabbits and are recommended by the House Rabbit Society.  The best thing to do is to take her to a new vet immediately.  Occasionally it can be a 2 - 3 hour drive since exotic pet vets are not as common as small animal vets (cats, dogs).  I would drive 100 hours to save my rabbits life and it sounds as though you and your daughter love this little girl enough to get her to a rabbit savvy vet right away.

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

If you can't find anything in your region then try a 24 hour animal hospital.  They almost always have a specialist that treats exotic animals on hand.  Your little one may need to be hospitalized for IV therapy and force feeding.  As well as to monitor the neurological problems.

I am so sorry that she is ill.  I will pray that she gets better.  Please let me know if you need anymore help.

Sincerely,

Pam