Berri isn't well

[Michaela]

She doing really well now. The abscess hasn'tcome back so far, let's hope it doesn't! She's still eating well and isas active as ever so it's looking good!:colors:

Michaela:brownbunny

 

[Michaela]

Just if anyone wants to know, while I was off, Berri has been to the vets about her abscesses.

You might know about the problems I have with my vets, in that the place has two good vets, and one really, really bad one.:disgust:

The first night we took her it was fine, it was on of the good ones,the looked at the dewlap abscess, (seemed kinda horrified at the size)and then cut it open and squeezed out all the pus, flushed it out and gave her an injection.

That was the Monday, he told us to come back on the Wednesday for it to be flushed again, I was to wash it and keep the wound opened so he could drain it again.

That was all fine, I did as he said, and we took her back on the Wednesday.

IT WAS THE BAD VET.:tears2:

I nearly cried when I realised he was on.

There was still another small abscess in her, he cut this open and tried to get the pus out. He said it was difficult because the pus wasquite thick. I asked him was this normal for rabbits, he said no.:rollseyes Correct me if I'm wrong, but is rabbit pus not known for being thick?:? That's what the other vet told me anyway.

He couldn't get into the other two wounds where the other abscesses had been to flush them, even though the wounds were open.:shock:

He gave her an injection, and gave me a syringe, and told me to try to flush out the abscesses at home with antiseptic! Just because he couldn't! He told us to come back on the Friday, but not why. He then said, she probably won't survive this and she'd have to be PTS:growl:,I just ignored him, the other vet told me she'll probably be fine.

He charged �33 for this, to some of you this may not seem like much(although remember it's � not $), but I have to pay for this and I'm only 15, so I shouldn't even be working thoughI am,butI don't even get payedminimum wage until I'm 16.And anyway, HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!:nonono:

We didn't take her back because it was going to be him again, but I have been flushing out the wounds, and it seems to be working, because they haven't filled up with pus again, and she's become a lot more lively and active than she was.

You may think I'm awful for not taking her back but I think I've done the right thing for her.:dunno: So far it's looking good anyway.

Sorry this post is so long, I never intended it to be lol, but I'm sure you understand how frustrating it is to have no rabbit savvy vets in your country!ullhair:

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny

 

[naturestee]

OMG! PTS because she has abscesses that he's too inept to be able to handle? And you're right,rabbit pus is very thick kind of like cream cheese. It can be very hard to get out of the wound, but that's what vets are for.

Is she still on antibiotics? What are you flushing it with?

I'm very glad she's feeling better under your care. If you're interested, there are some articles that explain (and show... ew) how to clean abscesses well. They're in the Abscess thread in Rabbit Health References, but here they are sorted out for you:
*warning: first link has graphic photos that may be distressing for some people*
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/abscess_management.PDF
http://www.vspn.org/VSPNSearch/VINLibrary/rabbit_abscess.htm

 

[TinysMom]

Those are some great resources Naturestee shared....although the pictures are kind of graphic.

Here is my take on the situation...

To me, taking the vet to the "bad vet" is as bad or worse than not taking it to the vet at all.

I would still take the rabbit to one of the "good" vets if you can get in to see them. Make sure to specify that you want one of those vets.

It sounds like you're doing a good job and yes, the pus will be very very thick. It is going to be very important to keep that drained and clean (in my opinion). However, I think a good vet should see your rabbit just to verify that everything is coming along ok....

Peg

 

[Michaela]

Thanks so much Naturestee, those are great and really helpful! He told us to flush it with Dettolantiseptic so we are using that. He never mentioned anything like the packing to help keep the wound open though, I will try that.

Peg, I agree, she should see one of the good vets, but we don't know when they are on, it changes all the time- they don't keep the same shifts.

I'm sure your thinking, just ring and ask the receptionists, but that would get you no further, most of them are younger than me and don't have a clue what they are doing, the last time, we had been waiting for about 15 minutes to go into see the vet, and anotherman came in just before the person seeing the vet came out, and the receptionist told the new person to go on in before us, my dad was with me and he was furious, because that person took another 15 minutes.:shock:

The only way I can see to see the good one is go there, look in the window and check which vet is working, we tried that the last time but the blind was closed.

And I guess people are thinking, take her to another vet, but that's the thing, they are all the same around here, they mainly deal with farm animals and only have pet surgeries for a short while each day.There's a newer one in a town near here that my friend takes her dog to, I know being good with dogs it totally different to dealing with rabbits, but she thinks he'd be able to treat rabbits well, he's younger and it's in the town, while ours is pretty much in the country.

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny