RJSchaefer":szvlnyrr said:
Any update on this? I hope he got better.
He is slowly improving. His actual head tilt is about the same, but he had been very weak, and he's been getting stronger. He still doesn't have a lot of use of his right side, but he has more than he did. He heard me get a wipe out this morning after he ate and got a bunch of applesauce on his face, and he suddenly hurried to try to clean his face himself! :lol: It was so cute! His right leg was trying so hard to get in on the action. I held it for him so he could lick it and use it a little to rub his face.
At first, we had to hold his head so he could eat and drink. Now we don't. My mom has to hold him, and I have to hold the bowls, but we don't have to hold his head. He has gotten strong and feisty, but my mom has his number.
He'll still roll over a lot when he tries to stand up, but he makes it to a standing position a lot more often now.
I gave him the initial dose of Ivermectin, which was out of date, but was all I had.
The next day, I bought some pellets medicated with Fenbendazole. He's been getting roughly 20 mg/kg daily, to be continued for at least four weeks.
One week after the dose of Ivermectin, I gave him the second dose, this time from a fresh tube. One week later, I gave him a third dose, because I had no idea how effective the first dose was, and I wanted to make sure he at least got two effective doses. I will now go to a dose every three months.
A couple of times, he's gotten a bit messy, and I've had to trim some of the fur on his back legs and around his boy parts. He's been an absolute jewel about it, which is just amazing (and a relief, because I could have turned him into an "it" very quickly by accident, if he hadn't... :shock: ).
I keep waiting for the tilt to improve, but I've read that it can take a while. I have no guarantee that E. Cuniculi, which is what I am treating for, is actually the cause... but I feel I need to treat for it.
His "down eye" is clamped tightly shut, and has been a bit inflamed, as I read was common... I guess because it's constantly rubbing on stuff, and was probably getting pine dust and hay in it. The other night, I saw a little white goop on it, which could easily be from something getting in it, but I started him on PenG just to make sure nothing nefarious was going on.
I have been putting two drops of olive oil into each eye daily, to keep them moist (his "up eye" hardly ever closes, though he's able to blink occasionally now). It seems to be working really well.
He is very, very thin. His appetite, once nonexistent, has come roaring back. He's eating very well, but he's still skin and bones.
MSD pointed out to me that she didn't think we had a detailed wry neck treatment experience on here, so I plan to keep notes and make another thread about it, eventually.
OneAcreFarm":szvlnyrr said:
This is really interesting...there is research that indicates that microsporidia, of which EC is one, are actually a form of highly developed fungi. That is a fairly new development, as it used to be considered a protozoal parasite, like Giardia. So, EC is now classified taxonomically in the Kingdom: Fungi.
Yes, this is what I had found as well. Strange stuff! Some lines are more blurry than you expect them to be.
