Hi, my rabbit had an ultrasound done on Sunday that revealed a mass, the vet initially suspected it to be a bacterial infection and gave me penicillin injections and so far I’ve only administered it that Sunday. On Monday night she gave me a call that I had missed and left a voicemail saying that the aspiration they did showed that no bacteria was present and it was rather necrotic cells and the full report she sent over suggested to consider the mass benign etiology(abscess or granuloma) given the lack of vasculature but that she wants me to continue with the antibiotics, I wasn’t able to get a call back to ask why she would want me continuing antibiotics if there is no bacteria present and she will not be back in office until Friday. I don’t feel comfortable continuing to give antibiotics without knowing what it’s doing if there is no bacteria to be killed. Is there any reason why antibiotics should be continued if there is no bacteria present which was the initial suspicion and the sole reason antibiotics were given. She also wants me to get a CT scan done to determine where it’s coming from and to see if the can surgically remove it, the ultrasound showed that the mass isn’t attached to any organs or intestines and that it is a mobile and encapsulated mass. The cost for a CT scan is probably another thousand alone if not more and I’ve already spent thousands for the ultrasound and biopsy and it feels like she just keeps pushing for more and more.
Need advice about continuing penicillin injections
- Thread starter koopapp
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If you aren't sure about the scan yet, you could try the antibiotic to see if it has any effect on the mass size. Or if your rabbit is doing well and isn't having any symptoms, you could wait for now, until you feel more sure about what you want to do. The main thing I would be concerned about, is that there might be infection present elsewhere, that spread.
It's kind of an unknown. It could develop into something, or your rabbit may be just fine. I think only you can evaluate what you think the risks are and if you feel your rabbit is ok or if further investigation is needed.
It's kind of an unknown. It could develop into something, or your rabbit may be just fine. I think only you can evaluate what you think the risks are and if you feel your rabbit is ok or if further investigation is needed.
I don’t see how the antibiotics would help with the size of the mass-as it is not from bacterial origin and there’s no infection anywhere else. He’s doing good so far, no signs of any pain etc and he’s has this mass for a few months now. Only reason i’m skeptical about doing a CT scan is because originally after the ultrasound she had said that they can remove the mass but she would like to try to see if antibiotics shrinks it and then remove it, then after the lab report was complete she switched it to they need to do a CT scan to find the origin of it and see if it can be surgically removed…I don’t understand how she went from “we can remove it” to now depending on the CT scan to see if they can, it doesn’t make sense to me but please let me know if I’m wrong, I just don’t wanna feel like I’m gonna spend another thousand for this CT scan and she goes on to say something else is needed again and again. It started with x ray and then it became an ultrasound and now it has to be a CT scan. I’ve already spent $2,000 on all those tests and cannot afford to drop another thousand for the CT scan, plus surgery eventually which will be in the thousands as well. She had also originally quoted me significantly less and then “forgot” to mention that she was gonna do additional tests that ran me up an extra $800-hence why I feel like she’s just pushing for more and more money to be spent.
I can understand that. I've been to a vet where I felt like they were just trying to add on additional costs for things that weren't really necessary. Which is why I now always insist on the options being talked over with me before anyting is done, though with a different vet that works with me more and doesn't try to drive up costs, as I don't go to this other vet if I can avoid it.
If a blood test was also done, and it didn't seem to indicate an active infection, and with no other indications of being unwell, I would probably not be inclined to do antibiotics or the scan either. If you decide to hold off on the scan, you could just continue to monitor your rabbit and decide on the scan if your rabbit starts showing signs of illness, or just have an ultrasound done again to see fi there are changes in the mass. You could also get copies of your records and take them or have them sent to a different epxerienced rabbit vet for a second opinion.
If a blood test was also done, and it didn't seem to indicate an active infection, and with no other indications of being unwell, I would probably not be inclined to do antibiotics or the scan either. If you decide to hold off on the scan, you could just continue to monitor your rabbit and decide on the scan if your rabbit starts showing signs of illness, or just have an ultrasound done again to see fi there are changes in the mass. You could also get copies of your records and take them or have them sent to a different epxerienced rabbit vet for a second opinion.
I would follow the vets advice. These people went to medical school. They see a bigger, more complicated picture than we do. To explain things to non medical people, they have to over simplify everything so that we can grasp it. That means we miss a lot of information. Just sayin’
