Dosage of Panacur for e-cuniculi

[El Stantino]

Hello, I'm looking for experiences of using Panacur for e-cuniculi in guinea pigs.

Took my fella (Hognob) to the vet on Tuesday with a suspected stroke. His back leg on one side had given out, his head was leaning to one side and his eyes were flickering and rolling.

The vet suspected stroke too but also said we should make sure it wasn't parasites. She prescribed Panacur and also and anti-inflammatory/ painkiller, both for 5 days.

We are on day 3 now and the improvement in Hognob is remarkable. He's still not quite himself but he's no longer at death's door. So it looks like the parasite medicine is working really well.

My question is, when I have been googling, everywhere I look recommends a 28 day course of Panacur, but we only have been prescribed 5 days. Does anyone have any experience of using this drug in shorter doses? I think he's been prescribed quite a high daily dose, but I'm unsure whether I should go back to the vet and request a longer course or whether the five days worth will be enough.

Any thoughts?

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Hello,

Sorry to hear your piggy has had some problems.
I have used Panacur in a Giardia case. And the course was 5 days after initial treatment in the veterinary hospital.

Though it is rather unusual for a vet to prescribe as a caution, rather than a result of parasite detection via faecal samples?
Parasite infection is quite rare in piggies.

The shorter and higher dose is a result of effect vs guinea pig metabolism (very different to many other animals).

I’m not sure how head rolling and eye flickering is related to parasitic infection (but I’m not a vet). Main symptoms of parasites is usually digestive upsets, weight loss etc.

Follow the advice of your vet re the course, and just give them a call if you still have concerns.

I hope your piggy improves soon

 

[Wiebke]

@PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns

 

[El Stantino]

Hello,

Sorry to hear your piggy has had some problems.
I have used Panacur in a Giardia case. And the course was 5 days after initial treatment in the veterinary hospital.

Though it is rather unusual for a vet to prescribe as a caution, rather than a result of parasite detection via faecal samples?
Parasite infection is quite rare in piggies.

The shorter and higher dose is a result of effect vs guinea pig metabolism (very different to many other animals).

I’m not sure how head rolling and eye flickering is related to parasitic infection (but I’m not a vet). Main symptoms of parasites is usually digestive upsets, weight loss etc.

Follow the advice of your vet re the course, and just give them a call if you still have concerns.

I hope your piggy improves soon

Thanks for the info. Yes, I'm not sure where on earth he could have picked up a parasitic infection from as he is indoors with us and we don't have other animals (he is unfortunately on his own now for various reasons- lots of attention from us though). He has had no stomach upset issues at all although he was off his food whilst he was really feeling poorly early this week. He's back to eating normally now and racing into the kitchen every time the fridge door opens.

Vet didn't take a sample, no...

Perhaps he simply did have a stroke then and has made a really good recovery?! Who knows. We will continue to watch him closely, finish the prescribed medicines and hope that he continues to improve.

Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it.

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

I believe @Eriathwen has experience of e-cuniculi in piggies, maybe she will have some answers to your questions.
Hope your piggy is better soon!

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

Hi, my Chelsea was testet positive for e. cuniculi, but there is an ongoing discussion between vets in Austria if guinea pigs are really effected by this parasite.
The specialist vet at the university hospital (who is a real expert whom I trust) says that there is no official ecidence. But most other vets treat for e. cuniculi with panacur if the symptoms fit and the piggy is tested positive (though the blood test is really for rabbits, this parasite is really common in rabbits in Austria).

Chelsea was treated with panacur long term. I think the first treatment was 4 or 6 weeks (not quite sure since it was some years ago). And I repeated the treatment whenever the symptoms got worse for about a week.
But and that's a really important but Chelsea was also treated with an antibiotic because she developed an URI during the Initial panacur treatment. Which propably saved her live long term, because most piggies who show symptoms of e. cuniculi (head tilt, not able to walk a straight line, laying in the side ...) really suffer from an inner ear infection. And if the vet misses this infection (which can happen!) and doesn't start treatment soon enough inner ear infections tend to be fatal.

So I would advice you to get your piggy checked for an ear infection. Unfortunately it can not always be detected on an x-ray. In Vienna a CT is recommended, but I don't know if that's available where you live.

But yes, I treated Chelsea with panacur (because of her positive blood test, the initial diagnosis and because my gut feeling told me that it helped). She was really sick when she was about 6 months old and at the time it was quite a struggle, but she lived a happy life after that till about 5 years old.

All the best for your piggy!

 

[Eriathwen]

I have 2 piggies currently with E.cuniculi and have had one other in the past. They absolutely need the full 28 day course, one of mine was actually given an open ended course to be stopped at any point post 28 days that her symptoms plateaued and stopped improving. This was due to having to stop after a week for another drug which we did not know if it could be safely used at the same time, her symptoms became so much worse very quickly after we stopped and we almost lost her so had to just risk it.

I've always been given panacur at a dose of 0.1ml once a day and this has been enough to see an improvement in symptoms fairly quickly, usually within a couple of days but it takes the full course to truly deal with the parasite.
The metacam is important while the parasite is still active as it causes lesions in the brain, this is what causes the awful neurological damage often seen in EC positive piggies. It likely won't be required for the full 28 days.

I hope that helps! And that your boy is better soon.