Abscess and fly strike

[Thumperina]

well she never ate hay, why should she start now? She usually eats grass in the yard.
I'd say she poops enough but the poops are small.

 

[Thumperina]

when I try to pick her up, she makes sounds... not sure how to describe it (that she is not happy with what I do). But she is quiet when she is left alone.

 

[Aki]

Not eating hay is not much of a problem if the rabbit spends the day outside eating grass, but right now your rabbit is not outside. A rabbit normally eats their size in hay (because most of us use hay, considering most of us have inside rabbits), or in grass in your case. If you don't cut her size (3 - 4 big handfuls) in grass everyday to give it to her, then her system is slowing down due to the lack of fibers. It explains the small poops and her lack of eating. Give it 2 or 3 days like that and her guts will stop. You have to give her a lot of grass or hay to keep her guts moving. Vegetables or pellets aren't enough to get the job done.

 

[Thumperina]

I mentioned I gave her grass... she didn't touch it.

 

[Thumperina]

I am guessing she fears I will keep he in the house forever... And this stresses her very much.
She eats her veggies... a little bit.

She takes 2.5 ml of Meloxidyl every 24 hours.
concentration is 1.5 mg/ml
She is a 9 lbs bunny
Is this dose reasonable?

 

[Akzholedent]

I know with people, they always say to finish your antibiotic. If you only use half of it, you run the risk of the infection not only coming back, but being worse than it was because the bacteria are getting time to develop a resistance. It's definitely better to keep her on the meds until they're completely done. :-(

My fiance bought some rather premium looking hay for our buns, and Butterscotch (who isn't the biggest hay fan), has been eating every stalk he can find. It's the Oxbow Western Timothy Hay, and they love it. Maybe try getting a small bag of some good looking hay just for her (if you haven't done that already). It might be the change that will get her eating again.

 

[RavenousDragon]

Definitely don't stop giving her the meds. She needs to finish the antibiotics (she probably is feeling better, which is why she's being more difficult about taking them). The pain meds seems like the right dose, and if you take her off of that, then she probably will stop eating entirely.

She definitely needs to start eating. If you have Critical Care- start feeding her that. You could also force feed her a pellet mush (you can mix it with fruit flavored baby food for flavor if you want) to at least keep her GI tract moving.

 

[Thumperina]

yesterday she decided to go on a hunger strike so I had to feed her Critical care.
This is the first rime I am dealing with it, I had to watch YouTube video and didn't have a good syringe. It was a TORTURE and a MESS for both of us. It took a few hours and I am still not sure how much ended up inside her.
What do you use to feed critical care guys?

Today in the morning I let her out in the yard and she was back to her normal self, the rabbit I know. I gave her a few hours to enjoy the yard and her friends, she was again the first one to run to me when it was feeding time. When I brought her in, I washed her wound and it still looked the same. They told me to wash it with the kitchen hose. I think I will be letting her out a little bit then checking her wound. She needs to stop being depressed.
I would love to put a bandage on it to keep germs out but not sure how.

 

[Thumperina]

usually, advice to finish AB applies to the situation when people want to stop after 3-4-5 days. She has taken AB for 9 days now. Also, what are we treating? They took a tester from her wound and there is no infection. so we pretty much taking them "just in case"

I have American pet dinner high fiber hay. Its a good hay

 

[Akzholedent]

That's great that she did so well outside! I was going to suggest taking her out for a bit, but wasn't sure if the vet recommended not doing so. so glad she was acting happy and normal. ^_^

As for the critical care question, someone else will have to answer that. I haven't had the need for it yet.

 

[Thumperina]

thank you all!
Can a rabbit be eating vegetables but still have GI statis? If they eat... does it mean, the food goes thru, right? (I am not saying the right food, like hay, just any food, even a piece of banana... )

 

[Thumperina]

another question. I have to flip her on her back in order to wash her wound and then blow dry it and apply ointment. I am reading it may be very stressful and not even safe. Sometimes she is OK with it, sometimes she is scared. I can tell that she hates when I blow dry her bum.
Do you think I can wash her, etc differently? Is having them on their side better for them?

 

[Thumperina]

I thought to try manuka honey to accelerate healing but then I thought if she goes outside (and it's hot) it may not be a good idea, unless honey is fully absorbed by her skin. What you think?

 

[RavenousDragon]

Feeding Critical Case is ALWAYS a messy job if they aren't eating it on their own.

I would say that if she has done OK flipping her on her back until now. she should be fine for the duration of the treatments. We try to practice flipping our little ones on their backs shortly just to get them used to it.

I would avoid putting honey on it for now, as honey can have bacteria that COULD make it worse (probably not, but still).

You can potentially still have some GI stasis if they are eating, even a little. But eating some is a very good sign. Just keep trying to get her to eat (as you have been) and keep up with the treatments!

It sounds like she might be getting better finally (hopefully). I think I answered all your questions- if I missed one, let me know.

 

[Thumperina]

after letting her out a few times it seemed to me that I saw things might be getting a bit worse (her wound) so I stopped letting her out. At first she was eating OK in the basement but then she again went on a hunger strike.
Actually, even I would be depressed not to see any sunshine. and she used to be outdoors all the time, so her depression could be understood.
I start manuka honey treatment. I have read a lot about it, how to choose a good honey and so on. It's been used to successfully treat abscesses in rabbits

 

[mikenyny]

another question. I have to flip her on her back in order to wash her wound and then blow dry it and apply ointment. I am reading it may be very stressful and not even safe. Sometimes she is OK with it, sometimes she is scared. I can tell that she hates when I blow dry her bum.
Do you think I can wash her, etc differently? Is having them on their side better for them?

I have read to never place a rabbit on its back; there are a number of reasons not to do this. What I do is put the rabbit on its side and place a small rolled up towel behind it to make it feel secure.

 

[mikenyny]

well she never ate hay, why should she start now? She usually eats grass in the yard.
I'd say she poops enough but the poops are small.

Hay or grass: as long as it is one or the other is okay.

 

[Thumperina]

Hay or grass: as long as it is one or the other is okay.

she doesn't eat hay, and grass doesn't grow in the house where she has to be kept. She doesn't eat grass that I pick for her in the yard.

Thank you all guys for your input, discussion, advice and support.

I will be taking her for recheck tomorrow.

 

[Thumperina]

I have read to never place a rabbit on its back; there are a number of reasons not to do this. What I do is put the rabbit on its side and place a small rolled up towel behind it to make it feel secure.

well the main reason is because they can flip themselves in the normal position and hurt themselves
The second, while on the back, they are in trans and have no control over anything which is kind of stressful for them.
Its not recommended to place them on the back by a novice owner.
I have to use kitchen hose (small shower) to wash her privates and there is nobody to help me with that. I have to hold her (on her back) with one arm while another hand is holding the shower. While doing this, I try to get her wet minimally.

 

[Thumperina]

anyone had any experience using Manuka in rabbits?
Should I cover the application area after it's applied? Otherwise, I am afraid it will end up on the carper
If I should cover, how?