Please Help Us - Abcess and Bone infection

[Poppy12]

Hi Everybody

I can finally give an update to Poppy's situation in case anybody needs the same kind of advice for their little bun.

It has been a long hard 4 months. I took Poppy to the Exotic Vet in Brisbane who advised they needed to extract her tooth and open up her abcess under her jaw and flush it out. Unfortunately when they went in to extract her tooth the infection was too bad in her jaw and they could not do it. They opened up her abscess and all under her jaw bone to flush the infection out twice a day and kept her in hospital for 1 week where she got the best care and medication.

When I picked her up I had to keep opening up her wounds twice a day and taking her back to the vets to have the cavities flushed for another month. It was about 6 weeks before her wounds had finally healed over.

She is on penicillin injections 1ml every 2nd day and thankfully has responded very well! She is back to her cheeky self, pain free and no sign of abscess or infection (touch wood).

She will still eventually need to have her tooth extracted or stay on the penicillin, as the vet said the bone infection will always be there as long as the tooth is there even if it is laying dormant at the moment.

All up it has cost me around $2000 to save her, and the operation will probably be another $1500 if and when we get it done. For now I just want her to be happy, pain free and enjoying life.

If anybody else ever has to go through this and wants specific advice on treatment, medications etc. feel free to contact me! It is amazing what the right kind of treatment can do for your bun

I am so happy I persisted in finding her proper treatment and did not listen to the vet who told me to put her down as she would never recover!!!

I am just so happy knowing that I get to have my bunny with me hopefully for many many many more years to come

:jumpforjoy:

 

[Doc Oc]

Honestly, I'm happy for you being willing to spend that much money on your pet, but when it comes to bone infections, you are never going to get rid of it. If you have money to spare and are willing to you can continue the operations and what not, but I personally wouldn't. A few months ago I lost my favorite bun to a Pasturella infection, which is what your bun has. I had a long talk with my vet about surgeries and what not, but I had to face the facts and do what was best for her. It came down to quality of life vs. quantity of life.

I ended up putting her down because she was in pain and was never really going to get better, and who was I to make her suffer? If this continues with your rabbit, it may be economical and most considerate to simply let her go and cherish the time you've had with her.

How much of a life could she possibly be living if she's in pain?

 

[JBun]

I'm so happy to read such a wonderful update! I'm glad she received the care and treatment that she needed and is recovering well. It sounds like she is a happy girl and not in any pain. Hopefully they will be able to get the tooth out at some point, but if it doesn't clear up completely, this can still be managed just fine. There are many pet buns with this issue that have continued to live happy lives.

Thank you for being such a wonderful dedicated owner, and not giving up on your bun

 

[lovelops]

I've had animals recover from bone infections after spending $5,000 US on them. I think the value is in the eyes of the beholder. Some could say the same about humans as well.

Why put someone in the hospital that is never going to heal? Right? Why don't we just put those people down? They are never going to get better are they? Who wants to see those poor people suffer, right? How much living can they be doing right? I don't mean to be sarcastic, but I've heard that same line about my mother when she became paralyzed and could no longer walk.. but the fact remains that we don't know unless we are God himself who is in pain or who is going to improve. As Paul Simon said in the Song Slip Sliding Away

Whoah God only knows, God makes his plan
The information's unavailable to the mortal man
We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away

I think it's up the individual and I personally feel life is precious and I don't want to see anything
suffer but when we don't see anything immediate... I will keep on giving any human or animal the best
care possible.

Vanessa

 

[Tauntz]

Oh, so glad to have a good, happy update!!!!! I, too, believe life is too precious to simply toss it away because it may be bad or difficult to treat. Miracles do happen if we believe & don't give up. To me once hope is lost, all is lost. Hope (& love) gives us something to keep going when at our darkest hour. Bunny hugs & continued prayer for you & Poppy!

 

[squidpop]

I also am happy for you and your rabbit and thank you for sharing information on this forum- people can learn a lot from reading this and it will help many others.
They can learn things like .... Baytril is probably not strong enough for serious abscess infections and always find a rabbit savvy vet.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Hi Everybody



I can finally give an update to Poppy's situation in case anybody needs the same kind of advice for their little bun.



It has been a long hard 4 months. I took Poppy to the Exotic Vet in Brisbane who advised they needed to extract her tooth and open up her abcess under her jaw and flush it out. Unfortunately when they went in to extract her tooth the infection was too bad in her jaw and they could not do it. They opened up her abscess and all under her jaw bone to flush the infection out twice a day and kept her in hospital for 1 week where she got the best care and medication.



When I picked her up I had to keep opening up her wounds twice a day and taking her back to the vets to have the cavities flushed for another month. It was about 6 weeks before her wounds had finally healed over.



She is on penicillin injections 1ml every 2nd day and thankfully has responded very well! She is back to her cheeky self, pain free and no sign of abscess or infection (touch wood).



She will still eventually need to have her tooth extracted or stay on the penicillin, as the vet said the bone infection will always be there as long as the tooth is there even if it is laying dormant at the moment.



All up it has cost me around $2000 to save her, and the operation will probably be another $1500 if and when we get it done. For now I just want her to be happy, pain free and enjoying life.



If anybody else ever has to go through this and wants specific advice on treatment, medications etc. feel free to contact me! It is amazing what the right kind of treatment can do for your bun



I am so happy I persisted in finding her proper treatment and did not listen to the vet who told me to put her down as she would never recover!!!



I am just so happy knowing that I get to have my bunny with me hopefully for many many many more years to come



:jumpforjoy:

hey there! My bun has an abscessed tooth right now. I'm not sure if the infection is in his bone or not. I'll find out tomorrow. I'm so glad your bun is doing better I hope mine can get through it also!

 

[Tauntz]

Thank you so much for the very happy update on Poppy!!!! So glad you listened to Poppy & your heart & did not give up & take the easy route of putting her down. I know it has been a big expense and physically difficult for you & Poppy, love & life itself is worth more than all the riches in the world. My "pets" are worth everything to me as I know your Poppy is to you. Thanks for sharing Poppy's story & hopefully it will help & possibly save some other bunny. Big bunny hugs to you & Poppy! :hearts: :jumpforjoy:

 

[stitch&flopsy]

I am really happy that you didn't give up and for all those people who would've given up on her wouldn't be able to enjoy her now. As love lops was saying why put someone in a hospital if they aren't going to heal? I have a little bit of a more over all kind a question Why breathe if we are just going to die anyways? We breath because for some reason we love being alive and we try to stay alive for as long as we can we all know there is someone out there that we would never give up on. Our pets should be one of those people we never give up on because they don't choose what they do with their life we do. The only reason to put your pet down is if they have been suffering for a while and even they don't want to live through the pain and suffering.

Again happy to hear she is happy again!

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Oh, so glad to have a good, happy update!!!!! I, too, believe life is too precious to simply toss it away because it may be bad or difficult to treat. Miracles do happen if we believe & don't give up. To me once hope is lost, all is lost. Hope (& love) gives us something to keep going when at our darkest hour. Bunny hugs & continued prayer for you & Poppy!

Well said!