Thank you Shiloh!
And thank you Maureen for that link
We went to the vets this morning. Actually, we missed our first appointment, because our alarm clock didn't go off :? So we had to call and grovel and luckily they fitted us in a bit later. Our vet was fine and said she was just worried about us!
The abscess has grown.
It was 1.5cm in length and is now over 2cm long, since Monday, and it's a bit thicker too. She said that given that, she strongly reccommends surgery, while Chalk's still so bright, alert, pain free and eating etc.
She did give us the option (she really doesn't want us to miss our trip) of leaving it, and having my mum take her back in for a re-check next week, and then if it's needed they could do the op then if we give permission, but both me and Steve said that we wouldn't feel happy knowing she was in surgery and we were on the other side of the world. And she did admit that there would be a risk with leaving it until we got back.
She did also say that she's had a talk with one of the other senior vets there, and they both strongly suspect that these abscesses aren't septic? And that they could possibly be some sort of reaction to something? I'm not sure on that.... I always thought that where you had pus, you had infection- certainly I know that to be true with me and my own previous abscesses lol, but I don't know about rabbits. I mean, the first one ruptured and caused peritonitis, but they always said there was a slight possibility she had eaten something, that could have perforated her intestine or something like that... The second lot we just all assumed were a reaction to the suture material because it was all along where the sutures had been. So they both agree that whilst the surgery is done, they will send off a sample of the pus to the lab, and also do a full blood screen as well (yikes thank goodness for insurance!!). She is fairly sure that the abscess is encapsulated so removal should be fairly straightforward.
Also, what really surprised me was that she was really open to using the Convenia! She seemed very interested when I said that I know of quite a few people who have used it in rabbits, and with abscesses and had success. I need to start another thread, because she did say that she'd like some anecdotal evidence from a UK vet that has used it with some success, just to be sure that it is ok to try. She said she isn't too busy tomorrow and is more than happy to do some ringing around for us, so we can try that as well as the surgery, to give us more chance of beating it. If that makes any sense. It's something they always keep in stock, as it's so widely used in cats, and obviously there would be the added benefit of only having to go back every so often instead of dosing her everyday...
So, if Flashy or anyone from the UK is reading this and you think that your vet would be happy to talk to mine about Convenia, pleeeeeease PM me or post here! I would appreciate it so much.
(As for our trip, we will only go if she looks to be recovering well, eating and pooing etc. The care arrangements we have are my mum is looking after them in the mornings- she will let them run about for at least an hour (I never asked her to stay that long, she just likes to!), feed them and clean them out etc, and she knows them well and will be able to notice if there's anything up with Chalk. 5 out of the 7 evenings are being taken care of by a local petsitter, who is also a fully qualified vet nurse. Therefore she will be able to administer pain meds if Chalk is needing them by then, or anything else etc. She's coming round tonight to collect the spare key and finalise details etc so I'll discuss it all with her then, but she's already aware of Chalk's situation.)
I say that though, but we really wont go if Chalk isn't well. I don't want people to think we're abandoning her! We know she'll be in good hands but if she's not right, we wont leave her.
Gosh, I wrote an essay there. Sorry! I'm so worried about her.... :?
