If this were an abcess, would Sherry still be eating normally?

[cmh9023]

For the past week or so, Sherry has been shedding like crazy. I normally never notice her shedding at all. I've been calling her my little Lionhead-in-Training because her cheeks, head, and chin have all this long fur sticking out everywhere. Last night I was plucking it off her face and realized that one side of her jaw actually isn't just fur sticking out, I think its swollen. She's been eating and acting totally normally.

I read about abcesses in the health section but have a couple question...Would it feel soft? This is more hard. It seems to bother her a bit when I touch it, but then again, she doesn't like being touched in general. Would she still be eating and acting normally? Could the excess shedding be a symptom of something?

I have a vet appt scheduled for Friday since that's the only day I can get off work this week.

thanks!

 

[naturestee]

Vet time! Abscesses do feel hard. The pus is more like toothpaste or cream cheese than the runny stuff humans have. Some bunnies can put up with a lot of pain and still keep eating. I'd rather have that than a bunny that goes into stasis on a whim.

As for the shedding, Fey and Sprite are doing the exact same thing. Must be something with the weather? They look pretty funny. Mocha and Loki have been molting for weeks which isn't normal.

Keep us updated! *hugs*

 

[cmh9023]

Thanks very much for the advice. Do you think waiting until Friday is too long? Like I said, I can't get off of work this week but I could see if they have an option to drop her off in the morning, pay a boarding fee, and pick her up after work either tomorrow or Thursday. I've never done that but maybe they would do it (since I'm a VERY regular customer ..haha). My vet is open until 7:30 today so if I hear back from youI could still call today. However, if it seems ok I'd prefer to wait until Friday.

What do you think?

 

[cmh9023]

Oh no! I just checked Sherry's jaw and the bump feels huge! Do abcesses come on somewhat suddenly? Like I said, I didn't even notice it until last night and I think it was quite a bit smaller last night. I was mistaken, my vet closed at 5:00 tonight. We do have an Animal Emergency Hospital who are averagely familiar with rabbits, but we have a saying here that it costs $500 just to walk through the door there. But, of course I'll do it if this is an emergency.

 

[cmh9023]

Oh no! I just checked Sherry's jaw and the bump feels huge! Do abcesses come on somewhat suddenly? Like I said, I didn't even notice it until last night and I think it was quite a bit smaller last night. I was mistaken, my vet closed at 5:00 tonight. We do have an Animal Emergency Hospital who are averagely familiar with rabbits, but we have a saying here that it costs $500 just to walk through the door there. But, of course I'll do it if this is an emergency.

 

[naturestee]

Sometimes they do. I was taking care of a bunny named Tank for two weeks during a cross-country transport. She was fine one night and the next morning had a golf ball sized lump on her neck in the same spot she had an abscess a few months ago.

You don't need to go to an emergency vet- they're usually less rabbit savvy anyway so I wouldn't use them unless a rabbit needs emergency stitches, etc (and I've used the Silver Spring one). Just call tomorrow morning before work, explain the situation, and drop her off there for the day. Do they actually charge a boarding fee during the day?

 

[naturestee]

Oh, and FYI if you're talking about the emergency vet clinic on Silver Spring, when I went there at night they didn't have anybody capable of doing much with rabbits. All they could do was bandage Fey and keep her clean overnight until someone else came in on the day shift to stitch her up. Good enough when you really need something like that done, but I'd only go there for open wounds, etc.

 

[cmh9023]

Thanks!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

- here as backup if you need anything. {sherry}{cmh}

 

[cmh9023]

Hi Julie- As Angela suggested, I'm going to call the vetfirst thing in the morning and ask if I can drop her off. I've never done that before, but I imagine that it must happen a lot that someone can't get off of work on such short notice. Hopefully they'll just let her stay for the day. The bump is about the size of a small ping-pong ball now. I can't believe how fast it got so big! It bothers her when I touch it, but she definitely doesn't seem to be in pain. She's still eating, drinking, and pooping normally and she's active. But her poor little face looks lopsided now Keep your fingers crossed that I can drop her off without being there for the appointment.

 

[Maureen Las]

I just read this post Cara...Please let us know how she is doing.

 

[undergunfire]

Sending good luck your way, for you and Sherry!

 

[Michaela]

When Berri had abscesses her eating was completely normal the whole time.

Her abscess in her dewlap came up very suddenly too.

I am really really praying for you here, abscesses are such a nightmare. ray:

 

[cmh9023]

Sherry is going to the vet at 4:00. Did Berri have surgery for the abcess? I noticed on your avatar it says Berri RIP. Did she die from something related to the abcess? Its good to know other people's buns had abcesses that came up really suddenly. I feel like I should have noticed it sooner, but it really came up quick.

 

[naturestee]

Keep us updated!

And yes, sometimes they come on really fast. Since it was small when you first found it, it probablyhadn't been there for long. All I know is that with Tank, she was fine and then 8 hours later had a huge lump. Took another 8 hours or so till her vet appointment and it didn't seem to grow much more. Tank couldn't get surgery because she was mid-transit, so the vet had to just lance it and give her antibiotics. She healed up well and successfully made it to her new home Conneticut in good health. The abscess never reappeared.

If I remember right, Berri had a series of abscesses including one behind her eye.

 

[Michaela]

Yep Angela is right, Berri had several abscesses.

She had one on her jaw, one in her dewlap and one behind her eye. The one on her jaw was removed by surgery and after that it never came back and was fine. The one in her dewlap was drained, it came back but it was drained again. If she just had those two she would have been fine.

But the one behind her eye was in such a hard place, it couldn't be removed by surgery, couldn't be drained, her eye would have had to be removed as well as half of the bones in her face I think, I don't remember that well, I was a mess at the time, she passed on because of that one.

But please please please don't let this discourage you, Berri was just unlucky, she got one in a bad place, andI believe her immune system was weakened because of having a litter not long before. And vets here are terrible with rabbits.Lots of people on here have had buns be fine after abscesses, Haley has had two boys be fine.

Sherry will be fine, I'm praying so hard for you and her ray::hug1

 

[JimD]

Our Binkie developed a small abscess in her dewlap....about the size of a peanut to begin with. Within a very short amount of time it had grown almost to the size of a golf ball.

We opted to have it surgically removed and she's been fine ever since. We did have a problem with her pulling stitches out, but other than that....

~Jim

 

[pamnock]

Abscesses can enlarge very quickly. Depending on location, the rabbit may not show any other symptoms and may continue to eat normally.

Abscesses may feel very hard, but can also be rather soft and "squishy".

Pam

 

[ra7751]

Just a quick comment here. We have dealt with quite a few abscesses here....and have another one we are trying to get in to treat from Gainesville, FL. I am successfully treating many dental and head abscess presentations with drugs alone. This is not to say that surgery might not be indicated. That would need to be the call of your doctor. But do discuss the possibility of drug therapy as a possible alternative to surgery. I know that several of the top doctors do have drug protocols now, like ours, that have proven to be effective in some situations. Again....your doctor is in the best position to make that call....but drug therapy does offer an option to surgeryin some cases.

Randy

 

[Maureen Las]

I think that you are right, Randy, but I don't think a lot of vets are "up" on the latest treatment of abscesses