My baby had an op on an abscess!

[grumpybabies]

Didn't know whether to bother posting about this or not, but i guess i will! My rabbit bubba seemed to not be himself recently, and losing a bit of weight, but i thought it wasn't serious and he has never been a big eater, and i thought it was just because he was a bit bored as i haven't been that well recently so he didn't get as much run time as normal. Anyway i decided i have to have him checked out at the vets and he had an abscess on his lower jaw. This was on thursday, he had an op on friday and i got him back yesterday so it all happened quickly. Now i have to stick a syringe in his absecess hole 2-3 times a day to wash it out yuckky yuck yuck! He had his teeth trimmed while he was under, but there weren't seriously overgrown or anything.

So i have been told i have to keep the wound open as long as possible so it dies inside before it closes over but she didn't say if she meant days, or weeks or months or anything, so any ideas?

 

[tundrakatiebean]

Haley will be able to give you some good info, her boy max had an abcess...

I'll keep Bubba in my thoughts and hope for a speedy recovery

 

[ra7751]

Wow Grumpybabies....that was quick..and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Can you detail the surgery? The old way of opening up an abscess to debride and allow to heal has pretty much fallen out of favor. There are some doctors that will insert antibiotic laced beads directly into the abscess but that requires multiple surgeries and does carry some hefty baggage. Some time ago, I started treating jaw abscesses coming into my rescue with a very aggressive drug only therapy. It has a perfect success rate so far. I have discussed my protocols with several world class vets and they like it. A rabbit from Gainesville, Florida was just transferred a few weeks ago to my rescue so I could treat his lower mandibular abscess. He was put on my protocols that night and the problem has resolved.

In your case, the opening will heal on it's own even if you are flushing it....we do that all the time with bot fly infestations. I trust your bun is on very aggressive antibiotics and pain meds as well as an enhanced husbandry to offer nutrtional and other support. At this point, I would just continue flushing the hole. Pain meds are critical.

I do want to let you know that I am not a vet....I just treat a lot of seriously injured or ill buns and do consult and work with several top vets. Many of my protocols have been developed out of desperation in trying to help these rabbits. I am offering you this information only as a point of discussion with your vet..not to suggest a course of treatment since your doctor is in the best position to make that call. But I bet if you doctor is anything like all the doctors I meet (and I bet he/she is)....they will want to know about drug therapies for abscesses in lieu of surgeries. And there may be some cases where surgery is indicated...but so far, here at least, we are having success with drugs.

Again, best wishes to your bun for a speedy and complete recover.

Randy

 

[Haley]

Wow, Im so happy you caught it so soon!

Max had one on his lower jaw. Did they have to remove any teeth? Max first had his front lower incisor removed where the abscess was, but when it came back and caused all sorts of breathing problems they decided to remove all the front teeth the second time.

My vet also left a little hole for me to flush with a saline/baytril mix twice a day. It was very gross but it seemed to work. He was also on Metacam for a while.

My vet didnt prescribe any antibiotics, but I knew better. With these abscesses you need to be very aggressive, as Randy mentioned. I went out and bought some Bicillin at my TSC and gave Max injections every other day for months. Its been about 7 months and he's healthy and abscess free.

Was the abscess in the jaw bone or just loose in the cheek? If it was in the jaw, IMO he needs to be on pain meds and an injectible antibiotic like Bicillin. Definitely speak to your vet about that if he's not already on those. It could help him heal faster and help you both avoid another surgery.

Get well soon Bubba :biggrin2:

 

[grumpybabies]

Well thank you for your wonderfully helpful insights. I don't know how the operation was carried out to be honest, just that no teeth were removed, they were just trimmed down, but they weren't major anyway. The abscess is actually in the lower jaw.

To be honest, i think very little of the vet that treated him, she is new and i saw her for the first time with him for this, and apart from her operating on him quickly, she has done nothing really that i am pleased with. I need to get to see my own vet from now on, i'm sick of poor treatment. She told me she would tell me how bad the teeth were, so if they would grow wonky and she never bothered even though i asked. He is not on pain meds and she said he is probably not in pain if the wound is open. And today i had an appointment with the nurse for an injection of Bicillin (once every 2 days he has them) but she called me in which surprised me, but then she had the cheek to tell me to book an appointment with the nurse in future, so i told her i had!!!!! Jeez how stupid! Maybe i am just over critical?

And he isn't eating much, could that be because he is not on pain meds? I was really worried and today when i asked she just didn't bother saying anything about it! Any ideas on making him eat?

 

[Haley]

Yeah sounds like maybe she isnt the best with rabbits if she didnt prescribe pain meds. Thats a must for dental (or really any form of) surgery.

I would ask to see the xrays (they must have taken some before surgery) and talk to them to see if any teeth were involved. Did she say she got the whole abscess out?

I would insist on pain meds, thats definitely part of the reason he wont eat. I would also grind up his pellets (or at least wet them down) and make a pellet slurry. Try mixing pumpkin or something yummy in to entice him. See if he will eat out of the bowl or off a spoon. If not, you'll want to be prepared to syringe him food and water if he wont take it on his own.

Check out this thread on abscesses for more info: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11791&forum_id=10if you scroll down you can read Max's thread as well.

Also, you should ask the nurse or doctor to just show you how to do the injections so you dont have to take him in every other day. Its probably more stressful on him. My vet showed me how and I bought the bicillin at TSC. I did injections myself every other day for about 4 months.

Let me know if you need any help. Unfortunately Im all to familiar with what youre going through

 

[Haley]

Just wanted to check and see how Bubba was doing?

 

[EileenH]

Yes, how is Bubba doing? It is possible that if he is in pain he doesn't want to eat - my bunny stopped eating when he was in pain from a foot injury.

Thoughts are with you, let us know how he is doing.

 

[grumpybabies]

Hey sorry i haven't been on much, bubba isn't good going to the vets in a bit. It has healed up and getting bad again. A nurse has said that it will need major bone removing surgery and he will be in a lot of pain, and tbh i don't think i can put him through that

 

[Haley]

Oh hun Im so sorry to hear things arent well.

Seriously though, I had a vet tell me that he didnt want to operate because it was too severe and to just take Max home and "keep him comfortable". Max would have died months ago if Id listened to that vet.

Find someone who knows what they are doing and has experience with jaw abscesses in rabbits. See if you can get him on an aggressive antibiotic therapy (such a bicillin, zithromax and pain meds). People are having such success with this that surgery is often not needed.

Dont let them tell you to put him down until you've tried everything. Demand pain meds, these things are very very painful for the bunny.

If you need help and/or advice we're here for you. Im sure Randy will help as well he has a lot of (successful) experience with these things.

And if you need more info to take to your vet, check out some of those links in the thread I posted above. Theres so much great info there. Max wouldnt be here today if I wasntaggressivelyinvolvedingetting him thetreatment he needed.

Lots of prayers for you and your boy. I know how difficult this is right now.

 

[swanlake]

my fuz just had an operation on two abcesses on her chest and side. a pucture wound got infected and the puss was stuck to the tissue. the doc said she might not want to eat the day after surgury but to tempt her with her fav foods. my vet got all the puss out and sutured the wound up so i don't know what to tell you about that. i would suggest getting a different vet. i did this and this is how i found out about her abcesses!! my other doc just gave her antibiotics that made her sick! also, my fuz is seriously underweight, you can see her spine sticking out. the doc gave me some critical care stuff fro oxbow hay and it seems to be helping. good luck with your bun, hope he gets better!

 

[cmh9023]

I just saw your posting. My girl Sherry had a huge abscess in her lower jaw about 6 wks ago. Also, the infection went into the jaw bone which sounds similar to Bubba. She saw a veteranary dentist who removed 3 molars and cleaned everything up and now she's doing quite well. She takes injections of Bicillin every other day (I learned to give them myself) and oral Baytril twice a day. So, like Haley said, there is hope.

How are things going?

 

[Offspring2099]

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=15833&forum_id=16

This is kinda a long read, but here are some cliff notes from our story.

* Penny had two lose teeth, then was fine
* Next month she got a bump on her cheek, it happened to be abscess in her lower jaw. (Sept. of 2006)

* The abscess worked itself into the bone, so 'yes' part of the bone had to be removed, along with some teeth. (Bicillin injections started)
* Then Abscess had to be cleaned out again, and an antibiotic bead was placed in.
* Penny stopped eating hay till this day, and just a few months ago we stopped with Bicillin.
* We also have to trim her incisors, every month (other then that, healthy bunny)


Don't give up hope just because part of the jaw has to be removed. It worked for us. Bone grows back. As long as the doc says there is enough jaw bone to do the work.


P.S. ...btw you can do injections yourself. It might take some time to learn this skill but its doable. Our Penny is a very 'wild' rabbit, I think she is a cotton tail mix, so she doesn't trust humans so much, but we still got it done very day. If you need tips, just ask. There are plenty of ppl here that will even tape it for you or have videos.

 

[Offspring2099]

One more thing, if I could do things differently, I would ask for antibiotic bead to be placed in when the jaw bone will be removed. During THAT surgery, not later. Get it done that day. It will help fight the abcess.