Leg Abscess - the healing process

[Kipcha]

Poor little guy, he'll feel so much better with pain medication! When Peace was having his issues we were doing bandage changes every 2 days or so, which wasn't a lot of fun because Peace was definitely not impressed with it.

JBun, that was a really good read. I could not believe the amount of difference the honey made.

 

[Rayen]

It's back to healing again! At least it didn't get any worse.

We're going to be doing bandage changes every three days from now on. The vet said that likely the problem that made it worse was waiting too long between bandage changes. The first layer of his bandage apparently shifted sometime after the change as well, which likely added some additional friction on the wound. She doesn't want us to change it too often, so after his next penicillin shot we'll be changing it at least once between visits.

I got a good look at it this time and it does look quite a bit better than the picture we were shown last week. The wound looks a lot healthier, no dark or dying tissue (thankfully!). Though there is a bit of an awkward spot that's kind of peeling away, I hope that doesn't cause any future problems.

The pain medication is making him feel a lot more comfortable too. He's even gone back to begging for treats! Though I am still having trouble getting him to eat pellets. He'd eat vegetables all day every day if I let him but he only eats the odd mouthful here or there of pellets. Thankfully he's gone back to eating his critical care.

 

[Rayen]

So he's lost another bit of weight, and currently sits at 1.64kg. Ugh. I wish it was easier to get him to eat! There are days I'll delay a critical care feeding because I see him eating pellets and hay a lot, so I think he'll be fine. Obviously not.

His leg didn't really look any better this time around. Not worse, by any means, and the vet didn't have anything worrying to say about it. I'll be doing bandage changes twice before our next visit.

I talked about the honey this time around. The vet said that we could try it if we wanted to, and that the only reason she hadn't been using it already was because the vet clinic didn't have any in. She just couldn't remember how messy it was, and told us not to use too much if we did want to try it.

Is there any kind of special honey I should be using? I live like five minutes down the road from a place that makes it, so I got some of their bottled unpasteurized honey. Is that fine to use? Is there anything I should be watching out for in it? The bottle says it's 100% unpasteurized honey.

Next week we've got another different vet. I'm not super thrilled by the idea, but he needs his penicillin shot and it's a weird week since there's a holiday. Our current vet said he shouldn't need his bandage changed at least, and if she wanted a picture of the wound she would do one free of charge. But that doesn't really mean much when she's not there to enforce it.

 

[aBeautifulHope]

I know for people we use Manuka honey (I'm in the medical field)...you can find it at most health food stores ☺️. I've used it along with cleaning the wound out with vetericyn (it's totally safe, basically water but they did something to it and I have cleared up some NASTY abscesses without antibiotics and just that) and then apply the honey like a compress...I have a lot of horses and dogs and I saved one of my dog's life using that and the vetericyn is my go to for any wound on anything ☺️☺️☺️

 

[aBeautifulHope]

The nice thing about the vetericyn since it's not a medication and is basically just water it can't hurt anything 😁. Most horse people (including vets...my old boss had it EVERYWHERE and on his truck) swear by it

 

[Rayen]

His poop is a bit soft and sticky today, I found one stuck in his fur when I was feeding him earlier. I think I may have over done the vegetables yesterday, I don't really measure anything out so I was hoping to do a couple of 'small' vegetable feedings throughout the day that may have been larger than I assumed.

He's being super stubborn about his critical care feedings too. He lashes out and bites at the towel and at my hands a lot more these last few times. I do see him eating some hay beforehand so maybe he's just not hungry and super irritated I'm trying to make him eat.

Very frustrating! I just don't want him to keep on losing weight.

 

[Rayen]

I did my first bandage change today and I'm super paranoid that I didn't do it right. Everything looked good while I was applying it, despite a bit of a wonky boot-shaped end result. Fingers crossed I didn't mess up. On the bright side, I have extra supplies if I do need to fix it. He's a very good bunny for bandage changes! I only got kicked maybe once or twice.

It, again, didn't really look any better to me. I don't know if it's just super slow going and I don't notice it between changes or if there is some noticeable change. I grabbed a picture for the vet to see anyway (not that I have any ink to actually print it out, but maybe I can find their email address or something). I just know that it doesn't have that gross infected smell, so I want to assume everything is going alright.

I decided to add some honey this time around. I'll check on Sunday to see how much of a pain it's going to be, or if it looks noticeably worse before deciding if I'll keep using it. I've never used the raw unpasteurized stuff before, it's very weird! I expected it to be thicker and more sticky.

 

[Lokin4AReason]

praying for the best for the little one and glad that he has you next to him =0)

my 2nd bun, his name was little man w/ a broken leg at 5 to 8 week(s) old. the breeders wont let me have him and when I did, I drove to the vet clinic asap. they were telling me this and that and he had to be put down because abscess starting. the leg needed to be removed and I agreed to it to save his life. i even went to get a ct scan ( at the animal hosp. ) of his leg and the doc. was talking w/ the vet ( at who wanted to little man down, which I didn't know of ). at when it was time to get him .... well, he is binkying over the rainbow =*0/

I think that the vet and doctor ( at the hosp. ) agreed put him down because of his leg being broken. and this vet ( is like he knows everything and has a god like attitude ) is supposed to be the best in the area. never again will he see any of my kid(s) and I ll just pass the word around to anyone that wants to go see him ...

once again, praying and be strong =0)

 

[mike158]

As I said in my posts (previous pages), I lost 2 rabbits in 2 months due to foot abscesses. Unfortunately - and I am obviously not anything like an expert on this subject (just been looking after my rabbits for 4 years) I personally don't see how a rabbit can have a quality life with losing a leg, and the other thing is - as 2 vets at 2 clinics have told me - the bacteria that causes the leg abscess can reside in other places in the rabbit's body if not completely eradicated initially, and then - if there is a break in the skin on the rabbit's foot and it gets wet or dirty, the abscess may quickly return.. A dog or a cat - yes; I can see and have seen that they can lead a normal life after losing a limb. From reading the last few posts, I realize that the pet owners are going "all out" to try and save their beloved rabbits, but I also believe in the saying "you need to be cruel to be kind" (sometimes/at some stage).

 

[Rayen]

I'm very sorry for your guys' loss and I am glad for the well-wishes, but can you please not post here with these kinds of stories right now? This is an incredibly stressful time for me and I really don't want to see a lot of negative experiences when everything is still so uncertain.

This is not my first time dealing with an abscess, I've seen them in a ton of pets before. I've already lost a guinea pig to one before. I know nothing is certain when it comes to them. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook.

So far he's still looking good, he still gets around very well. The wound on his leg is not great looking, but there are parts of it that have healed up. It used to wrap around to the back of his leg, but now only the front portion remains. Not a huge improvement, to be sure, but we're getting there.

So, no, I'm not having him put to sleep right now. If the time comes when there's no improvement and the infection comes back with a vengeance I may consider it. This isn't my first pet, or even my dozenth. I'm prepared to do what I have to, I'm just not willing to give up quite yet.

 

[Watermelons]

What kind of antibiotics are being used?

 

[Rayen]

He's on a once a week penicillin injection as well as a twice a day oral antibiotic. I'm honestly not sure what the oral one is, it's kind of greasy? So it melts the label off. I'll dig through my receipts later and figure out what it's called.

 

[aBeautifulHope]

I think you're doing a wonderful job with him and giving him every chance to fight through this ☺️. With all of the myriad of pets I've had make their way over the rainbow, they've always told me or let me know that it was their time to go...you're definitely doing the right thing and sometimes wounds just take a looooooong time to heal. Especially in rabbits ☺️

 

[Watermelons]

He's on a once a week penicillin injection as well as a twice a day oral antibiotic. I'm honestly not sure what the oral one is, it's kind of greasy? So it melts the label off. I'll dig through my receipts later and figure out what it's called.

Just wanted to make sure you were on an injectable. But getting to see the oral might be interesting to see what it is.

 

[Rayen]

The oral medication is Enrofloxacin 40mg/ml.

 

[mike158]

No offence intended; I sincerely hope everything works out and he recovers.

 

[Rayen]

I decided to do a bandage change a day early just for my own peace of mind. I didn't like the job I did last time and I didn't want to leave it an extra day just in case the inner pad had shifted again. It was also a bit on the low side, so there was a tiny piece of tape stuck to his shaved skin and I knew that couldn't have been comfortable.

It looks like the honey is helping though! It obviously wasn't a huge change, but it does seem like the wound has filled in a tiny bit with some new tissue. It didn't seem to bleed as much either when we were cleaning it. I don't know if that's a positive or not, but it feels like one.

That one area that was peeling away has started peeling more though. I'm worried about it, and want the vet to look at it. I'm still kind of irritated we can't see the vet that did the surgery because she would know what I was talking about and would be able to look at the pictures for an idea of what it looked like last time, but oh well. If the vet thinks it looks bad enough I'll just try to get another appointment for the regular vet to look at it.

I hope we don't have to, I really don't like going there so many times. It's at least an hour each way, and the roads are filled with construction so it's always such a gamble of if I'll even make it on time. I bring something for Quinn to eat, normally some wet veggies so he at least has some access to water but it can't be comfortable for him at all.

 

[Akzholedent]

I'm glad the honey seems to be helping! Keep up the healing, Little Quinn! You can do it, buddy! And Rayen, you're doing an awesome job yourself. Even though Quinn has his cranky days, we all do. <3 Keep up the good work, and I'll keep sending healing vibes your way.

 

[stevesmum]

Couldn't you maybe take some close up photos and email them to your chosen vet? They must understand that an hour each way is stressful for bunny and stress impedes healing. It sounds like you fund their practice enough as it is going for regular check ups and bandage changes, so maybe they could show you a little compassion and generosity. I am lucky to have a great vet, I know she would do this for me and she's only ten minutes away! But a good rabbit vet understands that most bunnies don't travel well, so I hope you can work something out with them. Keep us posted.

 

[Rayen]

It sounds like you fund their practice enough as it is going for regular check ups and bandage changes, so maybe they could show you a little compassion and generosity.

Honestly, this whole thing is one of the reasons I'm never super comfortable with exotic vets and don't really have a great working relationship with one. I've been lucky enough throughout my life to have really good, understanding dog/cat/large animal vets but it seems like as soon as I walk in the door of a small animal clinic they just see dollar signs.

The surgery on Quinn alone was just over $600. His initial visit and X-ray cost just around $300. Every week so far I've been spending at least $100 on bandage changes, medication and check-ups. I haven't actually added everything up together but I'd guess it's been at least $1300 so far. I wasn't even given one post-op bandage change/visit included with the actual surgery. Ugh, I feel like I should be more pushy about this but at the same time I really don't want to rock the boat on this and have to change vets for the rest of his recovery.

My current dog/cat vet can do everything right in their clinic. They can do blood tests and cultures while you wait and if you go in with any problem big or small they have a vet that can take care of it. My cat just recently had a blocked salivary gland, something that only very, very rarely happens in cats. Looking for advice online basically had me thinking I was going to have to put her to sleep. The vet walked in, said he would do the surgery, walked out with her and did it that day. She's been fine ever since.

I do understand that they're all very different animals, but I just never feel like I get the same respect at small animal clinics.