Rabbit with extremely bad infection- advice (RIP)

[a17sanchez]

I have a 4-5 year old rex named Whyley who was having a little watery eye so we took him to a vet who said his eye had a scratch and gave us lubricating drops- after a few days his eye rapidly got worse and was almost sealed shut with white pus- we took him to the emergency vet (on Christmas Eve) and they said he had a very bad infection and his lymph nodes where swollen and hard. The vet did not seem optimistic but noted that he wasn't displaying any signs of being sick or in pain so he gave us antibiotics (oral and in drop form) and some solution to rinse it out twice a day. Since then his eye now smells somewhat like rotting feces and it looks awful, lots of discharge and it's cloudy even under the lens. He still comes out and behaves almost like nothing is wrong and he is taking all of his medicine and eating (not a lot but still eating). His follow up appointment is in two days, the vet doesn't think surgery is an option if the antibiotics aren't helping to reduce the infection- his eye doesn't looks as swollen so I was wondering if anyone had a rabbit recover from this/if the discharge could mean it's actually healing even though it seems like it's getting worse. The smell is very bad and the discharge has increased after 3 days on the antibiotics, but I am thinking it could be his body healing and getting rid of the infection... The vet said he had experience with rabbits and I have no reason to doubt him but I was a little concerned since the info I find online seems to indicate that eye infections are very treatable and he seemed to indicate that this was unlikely to have a happy ending unless the antibiotics showed a lot of improvement. Does anyone here have any experience with a rabbit having similar symptoms? He really doesn't show signs of suffering although I know they go to great lengths to hide it... I'm wondering if we should take him to a different vet or if this is normal and infections seem to get worse while they are healing... In all honesty mostly looking for some optimism since me and my fiance are pretty broken up by what appears to be a very aggressive condition- it seems like every day the smell and amount of discharge gets worse and it happened so quickly (smell only started after starting antibiotics). Also it's confusing that it physically looks worse but he seems fine otherwise.

 

[a17sanchez]

Just as FYI he came from a reptile show so I'm sure he doesn't have great genetics since he was mass bred as a feeder, he is still eating his favorite foods (although not enthusiastically) which is a small piece of banana followed by fresh basil and cilantro (he prefers mint to cilantro but it's hard to get this time of year and he likes them in that order, he won't touch the basil until he has his 1" piece of breakfast banana). He's a bit spoiled and has his own bedroom with a TV and two houses + a tall bed for more privacy. And he is free range although he rarely goes beyond 10 feet of his bedroom- he prefers to sit just outside the door when the sun hits the hallway and play security guard protecting his space. He is fixed as well and has a playmate (from my sister's cat rescue-they got him from a meat auction but he is bred as a pet and has never had health issues) bunny that he gets along with very well. He definitely prefers cats and rabbits to people which is understandable given that his upbringing was living in a cat carrier with a dozen other rabbits waiting to be fed to a snake but he does like nose pets and he will sit with us as long as we don't try to pick him up. Just some context. His previous vet called him a spoiled prince (in an endearing way I think) after they saw how specific his food requests were (he literally will not eat until he gets what he wants first, banana then herbs THEN he will eat his pellets and hay) after he had an overnight stay a few years ago.

 

[Preitler]

Sorry, I have little medical knowledge, so don't take my opinion as fact.
But putrid smell, persistent even after cleaning, and lots of pus doesn't sound like healing to me. I would think that fighting an eye infection would be rather difficult once it's deep in the tissue - how would antibiotics get there? Very little blood vessels, and eyes are pretty well shielded from stuff getting in from outside. The experiences I had with eye infections are irrelevant here since those were just superficial, not going into the tissue.
In my situation, with at least 10 affordable vets in an 1 hour drive radius, I would definitly get a second opinion about if there is any chance to save his eyesight on that eye, or if an amputation would help with recovery. I'm pretty sure he can't see much with it right now anyway.

 

[Niomi]

So sorry about your rabbit. Years ago I had a similar experience with a rabbit that came from a sad situation. The vet said he had an eye infection. The antibiotic did nothing, so the vet tried different antibiotics. Those antibiotics did nothing. By the time the weekend came, he was in bad shape. I took him to the emergency vet. The rabbit was so sick by then that he was losing weight. The new vet said that the problem was from a bad tooth. The damage to his eye and jaw was so extensive that to save his life, he would need his eye removed and part of his jaw. Because he was so sick, the vet thought he might not make it through the surgery. The little guy had suffered enough, and i had him put to sleep. Maybe you need a second opinion before your rabbit gets worse.

 

[a17sanchez]

His bad eye seems to be getting worse (at least more cloudy) by the hour but he's still extremely active.

 

[a17sanchez]

Sorry, I have little medical knowledge, so don't take my opinion as fact.
But putrid smell, persistent even after cleaning, and lots of pus doesn't sound like healing to me. I would think that fighting an eye infection would be rather difficult once it's deep in the tissue - how would antibiotics get there? Very little blood vessels, and eyes are pretty well shielded from stuff getting in from outside. The experiences I had with eye infections are irrelevant here since those were just superficial, not going into the tissue.
In my situation, with at least 10 affordable vets in an 1 hour drive radius, I would definitly get a second opinion about if there is any chance to save his eyesight on that eye, or if an amputation would help with recovery. I'm pretty sure he can't see much with it right now anyway.

Thanks I will be calling around this afternoon to see if there are other vets with experience in rabbits. I think by the time his Wednesday appointment comes around it may be too late...

 

[a17sanchez]

Earliest available appointment was 1pm tomorrow, my sister deals with mostly cats but recommended warm compress before cleaning to draw more out and relieve the pressure- she thinks it's likely looking worse because it was behind the eye and now coming to the surface and draining. Sent her the picture and she said she has had many kittens look worse but regain their vision after it heals so I'm a bit more hopeful now that he can pull through without having to weigh a risky surgery option. But apparently this is not uncommon during healing at least in her experience.

 

[JBun]

I'm pretty sure that eye is beyond saving. It's pretty badly infected. But it doesn't mean your rabbit can't be ok with surgery and having the eye removed, and put on a good rabbit safe antibiotic.

I had a 9 yr old rabbit that got a really bad eye infection from a corneal ulcer. It wasn't clearing up and eventually the eye globe was beyond saving. I elected to have the surgery done for the eye to be removed. She recovered fine, but the eye socket did develop an abscess. I ended up having to flush the hole left by the abscess for several weeks. She was initially on baytril, but it wasn't helping and the pus wasn't clearing. I requested azithromycin instead, and she was put on the lower 30mg dose for 2.5 or 3 weeks. It looked like it was gone, but after a few weeks the infection came back so at that point she was put on 50mg/kg for 4 weeks. it cleared up completely and didn't come back. With one eye and a cataract in the other eye, she was blind, but did just fine adjusting to it. She lived another year then died at 10 from old age. So severe infections can sometimes be cleared up when an effective antibiotic and treatment is done.

Your vet may be semi knowledgeable about rabbits, but to me doesn't sound very experienced with rabbits. If you can find a better vet, and get your rabbit seen tomorrow by them, that's what I would suggest. I think at this point, your rabbits eye is beyond saving and needs to be removed. Continuing and increasing dishcarge and a foul smell, means the infection isn't clearing up, which would mean the antibiotic being used isn't effective.

Until the surgery can be scheduled and done, I would strongly urge you to ask whatever vet you end up going to, to switch antibiotics to azithromycin, or maybe penicilin g injections. Azithromycin might be the better of the two, as I found it starts to work pretty quickly, which is what you need at this point. I noticed a difference within 2-3 days with my rabbit. Though do be aware that rarely some rabbits will develop severe digestive upset from it, in which case it needs to be stopped. But I only saw some stomach cramping with one rabbit, that resolved after a few hours. Don't wait with the surgery and with changeing antibiotics This sounds like it's really bad and immediate changes need to be made for any chance of turning this around.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Medirabbit: skin abscesses

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Abscesses
Medirabbit: abscess management

 

[a17sanchez]

I'm pretty sure that eye is beyond saving. It's pretty badly infected. But it doesn't mean your rabbit can't be ok with surgery and having the eye removed, and put on a good rabbit safe antibiotic.

I had a 9 yr old rabbit that got a really bad eye infection from a corneal ulcer. It wasn't clearing up and eventually the eye globe was beyond saving. I elected to have the surgery done for the eye to be removed. She recovered fine, but the eye socket did develop an abscess. I ended up having to flush the hole left by the abscess for several weeks. She was initially on baytril, but it wasn't helping and the pus wasn't clearing. I requested azithromycin instead, and she was put on the lower 30mg dose for 2.5 or 3 weeks. It looked like it was gone, but after a few weeks the infection came back so at that point she was put on 50mg/kg for 4 weeks. it cleared up completely and didn't come back. With one eye and a cataract in the other eye, she was blind, but did just fine adjusting to it. She lived another year then died at 10 from old age. So severe infections can sometimes be cleared up when an effective antibiotic and treatment is done.

Your vet may be semi knowledgeable about rabbits, but to me doesn't sound very experienced with rabbits. If you can find a better vet, and get your rabbit seen tomorrow by them, that's what I would suggest. I think at this point, your rabbits eye is beyond saving and needs to be removed. Continuing and increasing dishcarge and a foul smell, means the infection isn't clearing up, which would mean the antibiotic being used isn't effective.

Until the surgery can be scheduled and done, I would strongly urge you to ask whatever vet you end up going to, to switch antibiotics to azithromycin, or maybe penicilin g injections. Azithromycin might be the better of the two, as I found it starts to work pretty quickly, which is what you need at this point. I noticed a difference within 2-3 days with my rabbit. Though do be aware that rarely some rabbits will develop severe digestive upset from it, in which case it needs to be stopped. But I only saw some stomach cramping with one rabbit, that resolved after a few hours. Don't wait with the surgery and with changeing antibiotics This sounds like it's really bad and immediate changes need to be made for any chance of turning this around.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Medirabbit: skin abscesses

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Abscesses
Medirabbit: abscess management

Thank you! We are at a different vet right now, we gave them the medications he is taking and are waiting for them to call us while he's inside. He is still spunky as ever and we made sure to tell this vet he is behaving normal and eating. I'll see what they say and ask about switching antibiotics if they feel the infection is not responding. It did seem a little better today although the eye itself is very cloudy and mostly he is keeping it closed. But the smell and discharge wasn't as bad as it had been.

 

[a17sanchez]

Update- new vet did not seem as concerned, just advised to continue meds and this is normal healing for a large infection. They said it doesn't appear to be spreading and the swelling seems to be minimal, pressure behind eye is minimal. He has been more tolerant of being picked up today which is either concerning (although he still is grooming and eating) because he's normally very against it or he is getting used to it since we pick him up for meds and cleaning multiple times a day. He also seems to love his meds (cherry and banana flavor) and goes right for the oral syringe. Contrasting that with his complete rejection of critical care (I accidentally got the apple flavor. He does not like apple flavor.) makes me not as worried about his newfound acceptance of being handled- I think he just knows cherry-banana treats (antibiotics) are soon to follow. He is keeping his eye closed most of the time now but his eyelids don't seem as swollen. There is some hair loss around his eye now but I imagine that's to be expected with all the stuff going on there. Follow up with original vet in a few hours, so hopefully will get a more detailed prognosis.

 

[a17sanchez]

So his eye actually improved to the point that there is no swelling and he had it open and clear but yesterday the infection came back and now he can't walk and his whole side is swollen. He stopped eating and he is just sitting in the corner. He has an appointment in a few hours

 

[a17sanchez]

It had spread to his bone. He didn't make it

 

[Freedom]

I am so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did everything you could for him. And loved him till the end.

 

[JBun]

That's so sad! I'm so sorry.

 

[HalaBuns]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I had been following his progress and was really hoping he would be ok. You did everything you could

 

[a17sanchez]

Thank you all for your kind words and compassion. We all miss our little spoiled prince, it's hard to walk by his bedroom still and even his 'frenemy' companion bunny has been sad. They had just started bonding after over a year together (both males and did not get along at all initially so they had a fence separating them but they bonded over us moving to a new house a few months ago and until Whylie got sick they spent every minute side by side in the new house).

 

[Nancy McClelland]

So sorry for your loss--he sounded like a really great little guy.

 

[elliem]

So so sorry for your loss

 

[cwebster]

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[Momma Luvbun]

Condolences to your hearts.
Remind yourself you did all you could with the information you were given.
Your little fella crossed, knowing love, thank you and healing vibes being sent to you