need help!!unexplained illness?

tavsan · Mar 20, 2012

Hi, I'm new to all this, and wondered if anybody here has ever had a similar situation, or can suggest anything.

I have a lionhead who is nearly 2 years old. She had always been paired with another lionhead, but she recently passed away.
Not long after I got her I noticed one of her toes look odd. Her nail just seemed to be a stubb. as time went by, this toe started going bald and a little bulbus (sp) so I took her to the vets who have her her mixi injections, and some cream. This didnt work, she had started to lick it quick often, took her back to the vets who gave me antibiotics to give her orally as it was getting sore from her licking. So I was bathing the foot, and giving her her medicine, still nothing worked. Back to the vets as she had started chewing is, made it raw right down to the stub of the nail.when this had happened I notied she started to get this "bulbus" looking skin around her private area...so back to the vets who gave more cream, more antibiotics for both areas. None of this ended up working so it resulted in a toe amputation. she then moved onto the next toe, but has recently stopped this. and the foot is compeletely healed, minus one toe and the nails on that foot!
Now what I am really worried about is her back end. This seems to have happened to her private area. Last time I took her to the vets I said I was worried incase it was cancer etc, he said he had never seen anything like her foot or this, and that he could do a biopsy and see, but looks like they wouldn't come up wth a solution for it as they don't know what it was in the toe in the first place, but it may well be cancer, and if it wasn't affecting her, then just to keep an eye out. well I've just noticed that it seems to have spread to her tail and now its in the same mess as the other area....she isn't agressive, it doesnt hurt her for me to trim the hair in the area and bath it she's still eating, drinking etc.
Does anybody have any ideas what to do, or what this could be? The vets suggestion was to put her to sleep if it became troublesome for the rabbit, but it doesn't seem to be, but it looks awful!....The operation and all above treatment cost around Â£480 all together, and the biopsy will cost around Â£180 before they come up with any treatment, if they find away to treat it, which te vet wasnt hopeful for as they couldn't with the foot!?...
I really don't want to keep her alive to be selfish, so dont knwo what's best to do!?
Sorry for the rambling!!

Watermelons · Mar 20, 2012

What is her set up like? what is she standing on?
Can you post pictures of the injured areas please.

tavsan · Mar 20, 2012

Haven't got a camera here at the moment but should hopefully be able to get pics soon for you.
She is in an enclosed hutch over night, and in the day she has run of the garden,(grass & stone) . . . At the moment she is on shavings and straw...but have tried lots of different bedding when this first happened. i.e shredded paper, just shavings, just straw, soft pet bedding....and nothing made a difference ( did wonder if it was the bedding that irritating her) . . . she used to be kept indoors, but is now outside (introduced slowly to get her used to it) but didnt make a difference inside or out. My vet has no explanation either.

tonyshuman · Mar 20, 2012

Has the vet tried any systemic (ie oral or injected) antibiotics? Have any skin scrapings been done?

I can think of a couple possible reasons. One is a parasite that's affecting the extremities that she's overgrooming. Another is rabbit syphillis, which can stay dormant in a rabbit's system for years so she may have been exposed to it even before you got her. Another possibility is a fungal infection of the skin, like ringworm. Finally she could just be stressed out and is overgrooming. The overgrooming is allowing bacteria to get it and cause abscesses. The treatments for syphillis and bacterial infections should be similar--antibiotics. Injections of penicillin should help with both/either. A fungal infection might need a different type of cream, or even an oral antifungal drug. A mite/parasite would require an antiparasitic. It should be easy to tell if there is a fungus or parasite there by doing a skin scraping.

I would ask the vet to treat for rabbit syphillis/bacterial infection (penicillin g injections), do a skin scraping to check for fungal or mite infestation, and wait to see if the penicillin works and/or what the results of the skin scraping/fungal culture are. I'd have all the affected area clipped down to the skin and clean it daily with a chlorhexidine scrub or povidone iodine. Make sure to dry her off well after the washing. Also, give the bunny a stuffed friend and make sure the environment is clean and safe, with lots of things to keep her busy (chew toys, etc). You might want to try to use a litterbox with hay separate from the rest of the living area, which can be covered with something that's easy to clean, like an old towel or rug.

LakeCondo · Mar 20, 2012

The thing that came to mind, because someone else's rabbit had it, was mange.

tavsan · Mar 20, 2012

hi thanks for the replies...
when it first started she was treated for worms etc and nothing. she had been tried on 2 different courses of antibiotics...at different times, and I also remember having to syringe(sp?) feed her something else but cant for the life of me remember what this is.
When it first started on her foot the vet thought it may have been mange, but was eventually confirmed that it wasnt that either. He then thought the foot may have been something she was born with or even done by her mum chewin her foot by accident when she was little. but then when it appeared in her other area he also ruled this out. When I started to look up cancer he agreed it could be this but would need to do the biopsy to confirm, in which case best thing would be for her to be pts :cry2