• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

UTIs and E.Cuniculi

Status
Not open for further replies.
Midge&Panda

Midge&Panda

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
2,128
Reaction score
294
Points
620
Location
Plymouth, Whitleigh
I took Maisie to the vets yesterday as we noticed she was passing bloody urine. There was a new vet there, she gave her a thorough examination and mentioned that she could be carrying the E.cuniculi parasite so she's been prescribed Panacur wormer as a protective measure. I have been reading the symptoms of an infection and 3 that are mentioned are recurrant utis, cataract formation and uveitis. About 3 yrs ago Sherbet had these symptoms and unfortunatly had to be pts because we couldn't 'cure' her utis and now because of this I'm wondering if a simple worming treatment might have stopped a lot of pain and heartache. Does anybody have any personal experience/ imformation on this health condition. Thanks
 
As far as I am aware, the only way that you would be able to tell whether Maisie is infected with E.Cuniculi is to have a blood test performed!

However, as the parasite is very much associated with rabbits - Although, the parasite can infect other mammals, including humans, and birds -, unless Maisie has been in close proximity with an infected rabbit, been housed in a cage which has recently housed an infected rabbit etc, I believe that is unlikely that Maisie is infected with this awful parasite!
 
However, I should clarify that a positive blood test for E.Cuniculi will tell you whether Maisie has been exposed to E.Cuniculi, and will not tell you whether Maise is fignthing an active E.Cuniculi infection!
 
Oh god... It's a nasty problem... But with treatment it is pretty easy to controll...

It does sound like it could be...

It's so easy to transmit aswell...
It's passed through urine... So i have no idea but if you got her from a pet shop there's a high chance she's been exposed to it...

There's a pet shop that had one rabbit out of a litter that was showing the symptoms of this... And that ment that his litter mates and mom and dad would be carriers... And no matter what I did I couldn't stop them selling them... mallethead... People like that are why thing spread... It ment to be that one in three rabbits have been exposed to it...
There isn't any stats on piggies...


I would have thought It would be advisable to panacure any other pigs in contact with her...

I have a pig with neurological problems come in a couple weeks ago and is being treated with panacure as a precaution as are the rabbits that came in with them as they all seem to have some form of neuro problems...

You sound like you've got a good vet there...

Hope your little one gets better soon... And the great news is that the recovery rate from this treatment is very high...

x
 
I believe that Maisie is approximately two years of age?!

However, I would agree with the above advice - If your veterinarian believes that Maisie could be infected with E.Cuniculi, as a preventative measure, I would treat other mammalian, and birds in the home, particularly, those animals who are in contact with, or close proximity of Maisie!
 
Thanks for the good wishes and advice, yes Maisie has just turned 2 and we've also discovered a lump under her right nipple so thats got to be removed. They've also all (5) been treated for mites and now this. What's that saying - 'It never rains but it pours' I think its absolutley p*****g down now. Oh well it's only money and they're worth it. :))
 
Midge&Panda said:
Thanks for the good wishes and advice, yes Maisie has just turned 2 and we've also discovered a lump under her right nipple so thats got to be removed. They've also all (5) been treated for mites and now this. What's that saying - 'It never rains but it pours' I think its absolutley p*****g down now. Oh well it's only money and they're worth it. :))
Click to expand...

Oh bless you...
It will all come right eventually...!
Life don't throw stuff at you that you can't handle...!

Look forward to hearing up dates...!
x
 
There is a huge amount of research going on about the E.Cunuculi virus, and researchers are still unsure about how many rabbits are infected with the virus as many will carry it and never show clinical signs. Weather it infects guinea pigs is another story all together, i dont see any reason why i suppose it could infect a piggie.

E. Cuniculi is only shed in urine, so if you have piggies living together there is a possiblitly of them catching it from each other. However, if they dont then providing you are washing hands between pets then you shouldnt have a problem. But we still dont know if the virus does infect piggies?

Yes it can be diagnosed through a simple blood sample, but taking blood from a piggie and sometimes even small rabbits is difficult and needs an experienced vet and/or nurse and on some occations an aneasthetic or sedative. So on moral grounds taking blood is done very little, hense we know very little about the virus.

Hope this makes sense.

I hope your little one feels better soon. :(

x.
 
A little update but not much to tell. I havent spotted any blood in the cage so I'm hoping whatever was causing Maisie's problem is improving. All 5 girls are now on a worming programme - much to their disgust. I had to take Panda for another injection today (terramycin) so thought I would take Maisie for another check-up and get her checked in for an op on friday and mentioned the E.cuniculi to the vet (different from saturday) and got a very blank look. I thought this a bit odd. Although the vet I saw on saturday was german I'm wondering if their training/ ideas would be different.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top