Abcesses

[MissGracie]

Hi

I'm new to your forum. I've had my rabbit, Gracie for about 18mths now,she's the first bunny I've had. She lives in the house and is well behaved. She's been fine health wise as far as I was aware, then today Itook her to the vets for her nails clipping and we discovered a large abcess under her chin.

I feel guilty that I didn't spot it earlier, but she's very fluffy so it's not obvious by looking and she's never been particularly happy about being picked up or handled too much. Still I feel bad.

The vet says that there isn't much to do unless a soft spot forms so they can drain the pus out (lovely!), but they come back in a lot of cases anyway. She didn't seem to be overly concerned.

What I want to know is..

As she doesn't appear to be in pain and is eating and hopping around quite happily, am I over reacting? i.e will it kill her? Obviously I will keep checking for the soft spot and the vet said to watch for her dribbling, which means she's struggling to swallow.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[aurora369]

I can't offer you much advice, as I've never dealt with an abcess, but I know we've had people on this forum deal with them. Tank, a rabbit that was rescued by some members of the board, had an abcess under her chin, on her dewlap. It was lanced and drained, and I believe she was put on an antibiotic.

Good luck, and hopefully someone else will be able to provide you with more help.

--Dawn

 

[m.e.]

Don't have any experience in the area, but here's a website with links to several informative sites/articles:

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#abs

 

[HoneyPot]

Is your vet Rabbit Savvy? The reason I ask is because from what I was told by my vet and what I have read online, rabbit abcesses don't get soft and pussy.Their abcesses are always hard. They can be lanced and drained or surgically removed.

An abcess may also be an indication of an underlying ailment such as Pasturella.

Here's something I found on the internet:
http://www.hrschicago.org/abscessfr.html

Seems like the bun should be on antibiotics? If your vet isn't too rabbit savvy, see if you can find someone that is, and get another opinion.

Good luck

____________
Nadia

 

[naturestee]

HoneyPot wrote:

Is your vet Rabbit Savvy? The reason I ask is because from what I was told by my vet and what I have read online, rabbit abcesses don't get soft and pussy.Their abcesses are always hard. They can be lanced and drained or surgically removed.

Definately a good point. I do have a little experience because of Tank, who also had an abcess on her neck. Rabbi tpus is thick like toothpaste. It is difficult to remove completely with a simple lance and drain- the abcess can form "fingers"into the surrounding tissue that are nearly impossible to squeeze/drain out. You could try that route plus get the pus cultured and give her an appropriate oral antibiotic.

It worked for Tank,who was unable to have surgery because she was in the middle of a cross-country trip. But I'm fairly sure that Tank only recovered from her simple treatment because she was going from poor health and bad treatment to being pampered like she deserved.It probably boosted her immune system. To my knowledge, she is now perfectly healthy and has not had a reoccurance.

My vet highly- very highly- prefers surgery. It's the only way to remove both the pus and the capsule that surrounds it.There is a new treatment where penicillin is injected into the abcess(never give a rabbit oral penicillin) that sounds very promising, if your vet is willing to do it. And if you are willing to give your rabbit daily injections. There are also treatments where antibiotic foam or beads are put into the drained abcess.

I think you should look for a second opinion. Try finding a vet that works with rabbits often. You could also ask your vet if she would be willing to consult with a more experienced vet.

What it comes down to is this: rabbits are masters of disguise when it comes to pain. Abcess can be and often are fatal.I've also heard of abcesses on the neck and face that eat into the bone. Once bone damage occurs, it can not be repaired.

Check out this list of articles for more info. You could try printing some off and showing them to your vet. I hope this helps.
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#abs

 

[JimD]

naturestee wrote:

My vet highly- very highly- prefers surgery. It's the only way to remove both the pus and the capsule that surrounds it.

Same here.

One of our buns has a lump in her dewlap that we suspect to be an abcess and our vet gave us the following options...

#1) Do nothing and see if it goes away, but keep a close eye on it and take other action if it should worsen. Not recommended by our vet.

#2) Do a biopsy by inserting a needle into it. Not recommended by our vet due to the fact that the contents can be "dragged " into the surrounding tissue.

#3) Surgery to completely remove it and then biopsy it. Highly recommended.

Of course, she also advised us that we can always get a second opinion.

~Jim

 

[FlopsnWills]

i highly suggest a rabbit savvy vet, that vet does not sound like he deals with rabbits on a regular basis. All abcesses on rabbits need to be surgically removed, otherwise infection will spread. it's not something to take lightly. if you give meyour general location, i can help you find a rabbit savvy vet.

 

[MissGracie]

Thank you for your responses. I'm definitely going to keep a close eye on it. The vet said that in order to drain it , it would bewise to see if a soft spot developed, she didn't say the pus would be soft. Sorry, if I didn't explain this very well.She told me how it was thick and not easy to extract. Her advice was that to save unnecessary trauma to Gracie, and as she seemed fine at the moment, I should look out for this soft spot that would make it easier to drain.

I like in the UK in Sheffield, if anyone can recommend a vet. Although I've used my vet for years and they've always been good with my cats.

Thanks again.

 

[naturestee]

Has your vet worked with rabbits much?A rabbit's medical needs are very different from a cat's.Some common treatments, especially antibiotics, that are used on cats and dogs are fatal for rabbits. Not to mention a very different GI system, immune system (hence abcess problems) and other physiological differences. Hopefully someone can recommend someone to you. You can also check UK rabbit rescues- they may have lists of rabbit-savvy vets. I know some of the US ones do.

Good luck!

 

[TinysMom]

I was given a rabbit that turned out to have a major abcess/lump type thing. My vet was out of town when I discovered it and I talked to another breeder who had been breeding for years and sent her photos of it. It was in the dewlap area.

I was told to take a string or elastic band and tie it around the abcess as tight as possible - and to keep tightening it as the abcess would shrink. It took about a month but the abcess fell completely off - I think we adjusted the string 3 times during that month - making it tighter each time.

In this case - it was obviously an older abcess type thing and it was barely attached to the dewlap at all. It was about golf ball size.

I was also treating the rabbit with antibiotics (just in case). When I talked to the vet and told her what I'd done -she said she'd never heard of the trick but to keep an eye on it and let her know what happened. She is a great vet but she also said that sometimes older breeders know tricks like these and to save the rabbit the stress of a trip in the hot car during the summer months(no air conditioning) she felt like I could keep an eye on this and treat it with the meds. I called her again when it fell off and described what it looked like and she said it sounded fine and to just watch for it in case it developed again - which it never did.

I'm not saying everyone should do this - in fact, I always recommend going to see the vet for stuff like this if you can. But in this case - the trick seemed to work and I was told it was an 'old trick breeders have used for years'.....

Anyway - the doe does seem fine. I think that a lot of the reason it worked is that this was just barely attached to her though...

Peg

 

[AmberNBuns]

My holland lop had an abscess that was about 1inch in diameter on his neck. Our vet was able to pop it open and get some of the pus squeezed out. She gave us an antibiotic ointment and told us to pick open the scab and fill the abscess with this ointment a couple times a day. This healed it quite quickly in his case.

In your case, being a very hard abscess, I agree with the others that surgery should not be out of the question. Only an experienced"rabbiteer" would be able to make that judgement upon examination. I just wanted to share my experience so that you can see that although surgery might be necessary for Gracie, it is not the only possibility and you should get a qualified opinion. (or two)

 

[edwinf8936]

If it is an abcess the best thing to do is surgically remove it. They don't drain well because the pus is too think. They may or may not come back. If it was from a slight injury such as scraping the chin or maybe poking it with something it probably won't come back. The other type just shows up for no apparent reason and may come back. Bunny had one removed from her shoulder that I think formed from a small bite from another rabbit. It hasn't come back.

Ed

 

[KatsMeowTree]

Well, here's my experience:

We usually get a blade about like a box cutter blade (new) and sterilize it. Then we make an incision big enough to squeeze the pus out of and make sure it won't grow shut before the next day. Clean the cavity and pack it with antibiotic ointment and a sterile guaze. We also give an injectible antibiotic (having a mental block, maybe somebody else remembers. . ) and probiotics and do this until the wound heals from the inside out.

We haven't had to do it for years so I'm a little rusty. . .


Kat

 

[naturestee]

How is Gracie doing?

 

[MissGracie]

Hi

Thanks for asking. Gracie is doing fine. She's her happy hoppy self. I had another chat with my vet. I explained my concerns (and yours!) and she assured me that current thinking is that unless the abcess starts to affect her ability to eat or she is in obvious distress, then it is best to leave it until it discolours or dries out, which will mean it should be drained. She said that the strength of antibiotics needed can often kill the bunny and draining is very stressful in itself (which again could kill the bunny) so they don't do it unless they have to.

I know some of you had concerns, but my vetis part of team at a major vets in our area. They deal with all sorts of animals, not just cats and dogs, on a regular basis.

I'm really grateful for your responses and concern. Thank you.

Miss Gracie

 

[naturestee]

Good to hear she's doing well!

 

[rabbitgirl]

I wanted to add, since Tank was mentioned--she started out from my place, having been rescued from a nearby mill breeder-- she developed a very large abcess during the weeks she was with me, right in the dewlap area. Because her dewlap was already large, I didn't notice it for awhile either! Anyway, it exploded on its own one day. I came out one morning and it was all wet and deflated,with a dime-sized scab, apparently quite clean. Within a few weeks, it had refilled. By that time, she was on her way to her new home, and that's when naturestee and her husband had to deal with round 2 of the abcess, with good success.

Rose

 

[MissGracie]

Hi

Things have moved on since my last message.

I noticed over the weekend that the lump had grown again and was now making it more difficult for Gracie to eat properly. I took her to the vets today and they tried to make an incision and squeeze some of the pus out, but it's so hard it wouldn't budge.

I've taken her in this afternoon so they can knock her out to open the abcess up and clean it out. The vet says that because of the size and how it is attached to her, they can't do a full removal, so it might come back again.

I'm hopefully picking her up tomorrow, but I'm worried that it'll be too much for her and I'll lose her. I hope not.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[naturestee]

rayrayers for Gracie. I hope it doesn't come back.

 

[JimD]

Any updates?

Our Binkie is going in on Friday to have an abcess removed from her dewlap.

Prayers and good thoughts sent to you and Gracie.

~Jim