Help from Randy or others (abcess)

[TinysMom]

I was sitting on the couch watching a movie with Tiny beside me - when he actually let me pet him on the chin/neck area and I noticed he had an abcess. As soon as the movie got done, we did a bunny burrito and had a look at it.

The abcess was about 2-3 times the size of a pea. I'm thinking it might have opened and drained itself once on its own because it had a scab over about 1/3 of it (on the top).

We opened the abcess and drained it - there was still a bit of puss left in it but he was hurting so badly that I put bag balm on it and left it alone. We also gave him a shot of penicillin w/ procaine (using lactated ringers to cut the sting with).

Is there anything else I should do other than monitor it on a daily basis and drain it regularly?

This is definitely an external abcess (I've had does get abcesses on their back which were more internal - this is like he caught himself with a nail as he groomed himself and it got infected and is hanging down from the skin and in the dewlap). As I said, it looks like it drained on its own before at least once.....

I am wondering if I should try to get some probiotics in him or painkiller - but he was so stressed that if I do it - I'm going to have to find a way to do it without wrapping him up again. Fortunately, he didn't bite us - something he would have done a few months ago.

I'm thinking that he'll be getting the shots every other day and I'll look at the abcess at that time. When do I discontinue the shots? I was thinking it was 7-10 days after the abcess went away...

Peg

 

[MsBinky]

Sorry, I have absolutely no help o offer but I do hope he gets better soon. Abcesses are so yucky :?

 

[polly]

Oh Tiny i hope you feel better soon gorgeous boy lots of nose rubs from Scotland.

Sorry Peg i have been fortunate not to have to deal with an abcess before i hope he is ok

 

[Maureen Las]

Do you have any metacam for him?

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I just dealt with a dewlap abcess in our pet netherland dwarf.

Once the abcess opened I gave her a shot of Penn-B and flushed it

every day with vanodine and then put as much neosporin in the hole

as I could. The abcess healed from the inside out and is completely

gone now. Once is was open she didn't seem to be in any pain so

I didn't give her any painmeds. I didn't use peroxide on it because it

isharmfull to flesh.

Roger

 

[Ivory]

In my opinion as long as the abcess is draining, I don't think he will need injectible antibiotics every other day. Keep it clean, and possibly get some antibiotic ointment, perhaps [size="-1"]Quadritop if you can get some from a vet, or even just Neosporin.

Just monitor it, clean it, drain it if it needs it, etc. Keep the area as dry as possible. Put the antibiotic ointment on it topically. Get as much pus out as you can. I usually drain until all the pus is gone, and it's only a little blood coming out.

If it's itching him, I believe that Neosporin has some anti-itching properties to it, but I could be wrong. (I haven't used Neosporin in a while, I use Quadritop.)

I don't think that pain meds are really needed. Once the abcesses open, they tend to itch a bit , possibly sting a little, but that painful "pressure" feeling mostly goes away. And after applying topical meds, that helps with the[/size][size="-1"]
[/size][size="-1"]burning/itching.

[/size][size="-1"]Erik has had abcesses in the past. A single shot of penicillin, and this treatment, healed very well.

You may want to attempt to figure out what caused the abcess. Sometimes they just happen, but sometimes it's a chronic problem. So we'll see.

Good luck!
[/size][size="-1"] [/size]

 

[TinysMom]

Randy has been very very busy with rescues and hasn't had time to answer this thread but I did contact him and here is what he shared (for anyone interested).

a. definitely keep giving Tiny the shots...and he told me how long to keep giving shots (Tiny is going to hate both of us)

b. definitely give him the metacam since this is a sensitive area for him to have an abcess in

c. keep Tiny on his normal diet unless he starts having GI issues from the drugs

d. use Neosporin

and wait for it to heal...

Tiny is doing somewhat better except he won't eat now.

Well - I say he won't eat....BUT...he managed to open the bag of calf mana and pull some out....

BAD BUNNY!

 

[Haley]

I was just getting ready to reply when I saw what you said Randy had suggested.

TinysMom wrote:

Randy has been very very busy with rescues and hasn't had time to answer this thread but I did contact him and here is what he shared (for anyone interested).

a. definitely keep giving Tiny the shots...and he told me how long to keep giving shots (Tiny is going to hate both of us)

b. definitely give him the metacam since this is a sensitive area for him to have an abcess in

c. keep Tiny on his normal diet unless he starts having GI issues from the drugs

d. use Neosporin

yes, yes, yes, and yes :biggrin2:

I was going to say I would definitely use the shots even if it is only a preventative to keep the abscess from coming back and/or growing. It cant hurt, regardless. I would use the metacam at least for a week or so while the area is sensitive.

Do you have some of that saline left I sent? You can use that to flush it a little if he will let you, then use some of that silvadine (or neosporin) on the wound 1-2 times daily.

I'll be praying this goes away quickly. Hes in good hands:nurse:

 

[TinysMom]

Well - the hard part is he's not eating...much.

He'll eat carrots...or a fruit loop. He's eaten into the calf mana bag and gotten to some calf mana. He'll even eat a bit of oatmeal....

But he's not eating his normal amount of food.....

His poops are fine though....

Peg