Panacur as a preventative

I was reading that you can give Panacur as a preventative for E.Cuniculi, 9 day dose, every 3-6 months. Took Berts for his Myxi booster today and was asking the vet. He said people do do it, but in his opinion, it wouldn't prevent it, but if contracted you would treat it with Panacur to keep it under control. He then showed us Lapizol, and said that this is a one off dose if E.Cuniculi is found.

I'm asking in case I should be using Panacur and I'm not, and if everything he said is right, He also mentioned worming with Panacur once a year, but as a house bun, this wouldn't really be necessary. He gave the jab correctly, which is the first time that's happened, but he's a different vet to the last one we saw. Thanks

Oh lordy! The Panacur debate!

My understanding is that
1. Lapizole and Panacur have the same active ingredient at the same concentration so I cannot fathom out why some vets suggest Lapizole is a one off treatment.

2. A 9 day course is given twice a year as a preventative and a 6 week course as a treatment for active EC.

I bow to Sooz and Jane's superior knowledge though and look forward to hearing their current thoughts

PS Rosie and BJ were given Panacur earlier this year when they had intestinal worms (yucky yuk )

I have only ever used Panacur for one lot of treatment, when Twinkle and Pickle were together as another option to erradicate Twinkle's mucky bum.....

I too am undecided whether it is necessary to do this as a regular thing.... I havent done any since... but now have four bunnies who share a grass run (separate times) so do wonder if I should add Panacuring to my list of medications for bunnies.

the vet i saw at horwich gave us lapizole to treat active EC (for prevention and treatment), when i phoned back recently to ask what i should use in future she recommended using panacur (for help in prevention)

AAARRGH, I still cannot understand why vets recommend Lapizole as superior to Panacur and say it's a one off dose - it's exactly the same!!!

Thanks for the replies, interestingly my vet also sadi that if you asked 3 different vets, you'd get 3 different answers, it seems this issue is confusing!
he also said that a woman from Lapizol came in to talk to them and give an info-drop to the staff and told them this was a one-off dose. When he looked at the contents, he did say that they were exactly the same, looked a bit surprised and confused, and said nothing more

I think that sums it up, Jay - the makers of Lapizole just market it differently, but I'd expect vets to be able to see through that.

SarahP wrote:I think that sums it up, Jay - the makers of Lapizole just market it differently, but I'd expect vets to be able to see through that.

This is true. Panacur can be given as a one off dose to worm other animals such as dogs & cats against intestinal/internal worms but for rabbits the 9 day course is recommended for this purpose. The 9 day course is also suggested to be used for worming against EC as a preventative. However the maximum of 4 times a year seems to be pretty widely regarded as too often, because there is a chance that the protozoa could build up a resistance which would render future use of Fenbendazole pointless. I personally use the preventative course twice yearly with an additional course at times of high risk which means contact with 'strange' rabbits.

We've seen two of my rabbits die with suspected EC so knowing it is probably in most of mine I treat them all as carriers. When one has a suspected EC flare-up I treat all of them 'in contact' with 6 weeks and those not in contact with 9 days. There is a worry that over treating asymptomatic rabbits could cause problems because the reason they remain symptomless is most likely to be related to their personal immune defence. An occasional 9 day course could possibly help to control their personal spore count, keeping it at a manageable level for their immune system.

However, over treating too often with a 6 week course could so rapidly diminish the spore count that their antibody count also goes into 'remission' and leaves them more vunerable should the spore count start to climb again. EC carriers are most likely to suffer a flare up when their immune system is under attack from elsewhere and those efforts usually put towards keeping the EC controlled are diverted.

This has probably, if anything, left you more confused than before but it's my current take on matters anyway.

PS: I've never used Lapizole but the active ingrediants are the same, so it should follow that the doseage is to.

Reeeally sorry Jay, Cant add anything as I have been through the whole EC/panacur thing so many times with different vets that I've given up trying to understand! If I could just ask though, Rhia recently tested neg for EC, and will not be in contact with another bunster now, Would you still panacur her routinely?

Thanks, that makes sense Sooz and I do understand. The vet suggest that if we were worried about it, that as a matter of course, it would be worth considering giving the 9 day course as a worning treatment once a year, as Berts is indoors and not on communal grass, but he didn't say it was necessary.
Sometimes I just wish they'd be more clear, as this multi-option dialgue makes it really confusing to kow what to do for the best. If I had more than 1 and they were outside I'd considera more regular treatment, as you suggest Sooz. I don't, however, want to give him anything unnatural unneccessarily either.

Becki wrote:Reeeally sorry Jay, Cant add anything as I have been through the whole EC/panacur thing so many times with different vets that I've given up trying to understand! If I could just ask though, Rhia recently tested neg for EC, and will not be in contact with another bunster now, Would you still panacur her routinely?

Did she test totally neg. or just static?

Jay wrote:Thanks, that makes sense Sooz and I do understand. The vet suggest that if we were worried about it, that as a matter of course, it would be worth considering giving the 9 day course as a worning treatment once a year, as Berts is indoors and not on communal grass, but he didn't say it was necessary.
Sometimes I just wish they'd be more clear, as this multi-option dialgue makes it really confusing to kow what to do for the best. If I had more than 1 and they were outside I'd considera more regular treatment, as you suggest Sooz. I don't, however, want to give him anything unnatural unneccessarily either.

I don't worm mine routinely for intestinal parasites, just for EC and in this case I don't believe living inside or out would make the blindest bit of difference unless you had wild rabbits running across your lawn!

Bertie boards at a rescue dosn't he?

Sooz wrote:

Becki wrote:Reeeally sorry Jay, Cant add anything as I have been through the whole EC/panacur thing so many times with different vets that I've given up trying to understand! If I could just ask though, Rhia recently tested neg for EC, and will not be in contact with another bunster now, Would you still panacur her routinely?

Did she test totally neg. or just static?

The vet just said she tested negative?

Can I ask would you give a recently acquired bunny with no known previous history a six week course as a precautionary measure? Do rescues do this?

And what %age or rabbits carry EC? None of ours have been tested and therefore are potentially non-carriers but I intend to dose them every six months given there is six of them and we have wildies in the garden.

Herbie and Hollie are now due but am quaking as Herbie is a so-and-so to dose. Wasted nearly a whole tube trying to hide the Panacur in various food stuffs last time out which he soon saw through He is such a tiny bunny under all his fur I find it really hard to hold his head without worrrying that I am hurting him especially when he wriggles even when wrapped in a towel.

Becki wrote:

Sooz wrote:

Becki wrote:Reeeally sorry Jay, Cant add anything as I have been through the whole EC/panacur thing so many times with different vets that I've given up trying to understand! If I could just ask though, Rhia recently tested neg for EC, and will not be in contact with another bunster now, Would you still panacur her routinely?

Did she test totally neg. or just static?

The vet just said she tested negative?

In that case then no, I don't see a reason to Panacur for EC personally....but you may want to worm her against intestinal parasites in spring.

Sixer wrote:Can I ask would you give a recently acquired bunny with no known previous history a six week course as a precautionary measure? Do rescues do this?

And what %age or rabbits carry EC? None of ours have been tested and therefore are potentially non-carriers but I intend to dose them every six months given there is six of them and we have wildies in the garden.

Herbie and Hollie are now due but am quaking as Herbie is a so-and-so to dose. Wasted nearly a whole tube trying to hide the Panacur in various food stuffs last time out which he soon saw through He is such a tiny bunny under all his fur I find it really hard to hold his head without worrrying that I am hurting him especially when he wriggles even when wrapped in a towel.

To my knowledge rescues who DO Panacur use 9 day courses. The reason for this would be potentially damaging the rabbits natural immunity at a time when it is already very pressured (new environment & stress, exposure to other illnesses) by reducing the number of antibodies and possibly even preventing them building a natural immunity upon primary exposure.

However I do wonder that if breeders were required to worm rabbits routinely before sale, whilst still in a familiar environment, if a 6 week course could help cut the number of rabbits carrying EC. This is highly unlikely to happen though and would possibly detrimental if only some breeders were doing so. It could also lead to protozoa immunity.

It's suggested that 50% of domestic rabbits at least carry EC, the vast majority are asymptomatic. I don't believe any harm would come from dosing a non-carrier as a precaution if you have no definitive proof that they are not a carrier.

Really appreciate all the info Sooz, thanks, I'm gonna read it all through this eve

I panacur twice yearly as preventative.