Bailey got a bad bite wound to her vagina

[Maureen Las]

I'm really glad that she is eating and drinking..

this is the way that I give meds

First of all Idraw up the meds and place the syringe and a towel on a rug on the floor . then I place the bun on the floor and kneel over the bun using my inner thighs as a vice to hold the bun.

I keep the rabbit in a normal up-right position sitting on the floor head facing forward Usually whenhe/she tries to escape I clamp my thighs together which will hold the bun tighter.
then with my clamped vice- like thighs I hold the bun while I insert the syringe in a side of the mouth behind the teeth . don't place it in the front of the mouth and shoot.
I give the meds a small amount at at time watching him/her swallow beforeI give more.

This method really works well for me including feeding. I am terrified of a bun aspirating so I feel that it is more comfortable for them to be up-right and not being held.

if you get assistance from a 2nd person there are many other methods to use

this is a one woman way of doing it

 

[irishlops]

ok off topic but i heard the skin rip off and her squeal in my head!!!!!!
**hugs* to bun and mummy bun.

 

[sharper]

I had her upright in the towel, kind of holding her like a baby with one arm, but more vertical. I think the fact that she's so small, she can wiggle the towel so loose much easier.

I think the legs around her while she is on the floor is a way better idea. I'm going to try this at next med time later tonight. Thanks!

 

[sharper]

irishlops wrote:

ok off topic but i heard the skin rip off and her squeal in my head!!!!!!
**hugs* to bun and mummy bun.

Well i had never heard a rabbit squeal before ever. It sounded like my intrusion alarm, just high pitch. I initially thought the alarm went off, but it was just a one second high pitch wale and it came from the play area, so I immediately wondered if that came from a rabbit.

I had no idea they sounded like that.

 

[sharper]

checked on Bailey during lunch break. The water level in the bottle has gone down pretty well. I'm relieved about it.

A new pee spot, so I am satisfied with the urinating enough to incorporate the litter box back into the cage, but I'll still be checking the litter box. The litter box training is still a work in progress with her.

finally made it to Petco and discovered a tiny bottle of bene-bac powder is $15! Yikes! But i want what's best for her, so i got it.

 

[aurora369]

Answering to your reply in your blog.

Sometimes I wonder if Zeke would have been better off with out stitches, as he has healed kind of wonky now. For several months he was urinating on himself because he can't pee straight anymore. He seems to have learned how to aim properly now, but it took him a year to figure it out.

I had the same problems with feeding Zeke oral medicines. He loved the honey flavoured metacam, but refused the antibiotics. I found injections so much easier to give. He didn't get as stressed out, didn't even flinch when the needle went in. If I ever had to give him meds again, I would get injections.

I would suggest looking for some betadine. You can get it over the counter at a people pharmacy. It is really good at penetrating the flesh deeply to keep the wound clean. I would clean it with betadine twice daily to help prevent infection. This is the same stuff that is used to clean an area for operations. Safe for ingestion as well.

--Dawn

 

[sharper]

aurora369 wrote:

Answering to your reply in your blog.

Sometimes I wonder if Zeke would have been better off with out stitches, as he has healed kind of wonky now.  For several months he was urinating on himself because he can't pee straight anymore.  He seems to have learned how to aim properly now, but it took him a year to figure it out.

I had the same problems with feeding Zeke oral medicines.  He loved the honey flavoured metacam, but refused the antibiotics.  I found injections so much easier to give.  He didn't get as stressed out, didn't even flinch when the needle went in.  If I ever had to give him meds again, I would get injections.

I would suggest looking for some betadine.  You can get it over the counter at a people pharmacy.  It is really good at penetrating the flesh deeply to keep the wound clean.  I would clean it with betadine twice daily to help prevent infection.  This is the same stuff that is used to clean an area for operations.  Safe for ingestion as well.

--Dawn

Aww poor boy! I can imagine urinating is pretty hard to figure out after that many stitches.

betadine? Oh I think that's what we call "monkey blood" here. If so, I know what you are talking about.

 

[naturestee]

I'm so glad she's recovering ok! That's a really nasty wound!

 

[sharper]

I tried the other way of putting her down on the floor, between my legs to hold her. This did free up my arms, but she was just as squirmy and freaked out as the first way. She still huffs and puffs at me, shakes her head back and forth or ducks it underneath her chest. And I don't know if rabbits can do this but she seems to tighten her lips to where it's hard to lift them to show her teeth.

And I think with each session, she hates me a little more. My boyfriend just stands by to giver her a yoggie afterwards as a treat. So I'm the mean medicine lady, and he's the one that rescues her and gives her treats. boo.

I just think she just wants to be the hardest rabbit to ever give medicine to. She'd rather it all over her chin than in her mouth.


I put some more vaseline on her wound and it started to bleed a little bit. Maybe I put it on too rough or moved it a wrong way. It wasn't a bad bleed, but just bled a little bit. But she's eating, drinking and chewing on all her toys as usual. Poops still look normal and I think her urinating is a little more often now.

 

[tonyshuman]

It really stinks that she gets upset at you for what you're doing. I hope eventually that she learns that what you're doing helps. I highly recommend betadine--I put it on Benjamin when he had a (much less serious) injury like Zeke's. It was immediately post-neuter for him, so we ended up putting it on his incision marks too. Neosporin (w/o pain meds added) might be better than vaseline too.

Glad she's eliminating normally. Too bad the bunny burrito doesn't work. What about the "Big Kahuna Bunny" hold: put your left hand under her shoulders and sit her feet/butt on your leg (while sitting). Use your right hand to put the medicine in her mouth. This is how I trim nails with bunnies that don't trance--I find that they realize their struggling isn't going to work and you are The Boss, so they cooperate better.

 

[Maureen Las]

It is harder to give (for me anyway) a smaller rabbit meds than a larger one when I do it alone.

it will get easier the more that you do it because you will get a feel for the buns next move and anticipate it.

you can also wrap her in a towel and still have herright side up on the floor . have your boyfriend help you wrap her really tight and then place her on the floor between your knees. She may manage to squirm out of the towel but sometimes a towel helps to some extent. make sure that the towelis not a big one so that you can get a hold on her through it

She doesn't hate you; they really willget over having been given meds..
They don'"t like while you are doing it but after she is treated she will not hold a grudge
if they did all my rabbits would despise me :expressionless

 

[sharper]

tonyshuman wrote:

It really stinks that she gets upset at you for what you're doing. I hope eventually that she learns that what you're doing helps. I highly recommend betadine--I put it on Benjamin when he had a (much less serious) injury like Zeke's. It was immediately post-neuter for him, so we ended up putting it on his incision marks too. Neosporin (w/o pain meds added) might be better than vaseline too.

Glad she's eliminating normally. Too bad the bunny burrito doesn't work. What about the "Big Kahuna Bunny" hold: put your left hand under her shoulders and sit her feet/butt on your leg (while sitting). Use your right hand to put the medicine in her mouth. This is how I trim nails with bunnies that don't trance--I find that they realize their struggling isn't going to work and you are The Boss, so they cooperate better.

I still have to go to the store to get some betadine. I didn't have the chance to do it yesterday. I had put some neosporin on it the night before going to the vet. The vet told me to stop using that since it's a more complicated wound. He said if it was just a surface skin wound, I could use it, but since this was really serious, not to use neosporin. He just wanted vaseline on it to keep the tissue moist so it didn't dry out too fast while healing correctly. Since she's on antibiotics, a antibiotic ointment wasn't necessary.

I'll try this way next time with meds later tonight. I have my doubts this will work cause she puts up a good fight., but I'll def try. thanks!

 

[aurora369]

For Zeke's injury, the vet also suggested getting the eye ointment form of polysporin (antibiotic cream). I had to ask for it at the counter of a people pharmacy. His reasoning was that because the tissue is a moist tissue (like eye tissue), this cream would absorb better. You could try using that cream instead of vaseline.

As for the oral meds, I found it almost impossible to feed them to Zeke as well. I would highly recommend calling your vets and seeing if they are willing to teach you how to do injections. My vets office gave me some pre-loaded syringes, and taught me how to do the injections properly. I then would use one syringe a day and returned the empty syringes to my vets office at my next follow up visit.

I found the injections so much less stressful. Zeke didn't find them painful, and he did not struggle at all, just sat nice and still while I injected. I had my boyfriend help make sure Zeke sat still during the process.

Poor girly, I hope she feels better soon.

--Dawn

 

[Maureen Las]

If the vet say vaseline I would use that
you could also call and have someone ask him if you can use betadine prior to using the vaseline

some vets want the incision left alone ...

 

[tonyshuman]

I just remembered how we gave meds to Benjamin after his neuter--he's a netherland dwarf and very squirmy. I'd lay him on his back on the bed, and put my left hand over his neck with middle, ring, and pinky finger on one side and thumb and pointer on the other side of his neck. Then I'd put my palm on his belly/hips to keep him from twisting his back. That left the right hand free to give meds. It was pretty scary looking because it's a lot of restraint, but he learned he couldn't get out of it so he gave up on trying to. I frequently had to give him his meds before the bf came home to help me. But, he's a tiny 2lb bunny so this may not work for Bailey, who is bigger (right?).

 

[sharper]

Bailey is a little bigger. She is 3lbs. I'll keep that in mind as an option. I'm glad to see there are other ways of doing it. I'll just keep trying to find out what will work with her.

Yeah, I'll call the vet about the betadine first. He kind of wanted me to leave it alone except the vaseline. He did tell me not to put any of the " 'sporins" on it. He just wanted the vaseline to keep it moist and help protect it when she sat down.

 

[sharper]

just got home from work and went to check on Bailey.

I guess it wasn't good that it was bleeding earlier this morning. It wasn't a lot of blood, just a little bit. I just dabbed it off and put her back in the cage.

Now that I'm home from work, it seems like that spot that was bleeding might be infected. It isn't swelled or anything like when we took her to the vet. It still looks a lot better than it did. but the part that was bleeding is now getting a white puss look to it. I might just go get some betadine and hope that clears it up.cti

And while I was looking at it that weird smell came back - smells like old coffee. Has anyone smelled that before with an infected wound on a rabbit?

 

[aurora369]

I think keeping it clean with betadine several times a day will really help.

I think the biggest reason my vet stitched Zeke up was to keep the area clean and for faster healing.

I also cleaned his cage with vinegar 2-3 times a day. I would sweep up any loose debris, spray down the cage with diluted vinegar and then wipe up. I also cleaned the litter boxes out daily.

If you are concerned, calling the vet can help. I had many follow up visits with my vet. Zeke went in every two weeks for check ins for quite a while.

--Dawn

 

[sharper]

well it's a bummer that the vet's office is already closed for the day. I mean, once there is white puss, that's it, it's infected, right? I need to get on top of it before it gets out of control. put some betadine on it tonight and then call the vet in the morning to see if I can continue with the betadine.

I think I'm going to attempt to take some updated pics in a bit

 

[sharper]

I got some new updated pics - day 3
But I must say that they look a lot worse than what it looks like in person. It's a little dried up, but in the photo, it doesn't look dried up at all because of the vaseline. But what I wanted to really show was the white part.

Just going to post the links to the images, just incase there are any that don't want to see the photos.

This isn't what it looks like just straight on without touching it. It looks just like a bunch of fur little pink flesh peaking out, but my boyfriend is holding her and he's actually kind of gently stretching the area to open it up a little to get a good look.

This is one side of it - the better side. It's not infected and not near as bad as the other side
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c23/Jayson_Gold1980/DSC_0238.jpg?t=1235182406

Okay, this is the bad side, pretty sure I need to lay off the vaseline and just concentrate on keeping it clean and let it air dry a little more
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c23/Jayson_Gold1980/DSC_0236.jpg?t=1235182486
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c23/Jayson_Gold1980/DSC_0236.jpg?t=1235182511