Rear Leg Abcess

[Flopsy]

Hey all! Well Fluffy has had his rear leg abscess for 10 months now. I’m going to get everyone up to date on what has happened so far. We took him to the vet every 4 months so that the doctor could pop his abscess. For the first 6 months he was to have amoxicillin by mouth twice everyday and I was supposed to soak his foot everynight for 10 minutes and try to get the ickyness out. Then I read that amoxicillin was bad when orally administered. Then we went to the vet again and he said my books were wrong( yeah all 3 of them… right) and I also read on here that it is bad for them when not given in shot form.

After that he switched it to 0.3ccs “Clindamycin Hydrochlorida Drops” twice a day. I didn’t really do it as much as I should have because I had no clue what it is and if its okay for rabbits because I lost faith in my vet. I also don’t know if I should be the one popping it. My veterinarian decided he was going to stop doing rabbits now and the closest vet is 4 hours away, which ain’t happening, no one is willing to drive us out there.

So what should I do? Does anyone know if I can use the “Clindamycin Hydrochlorida Drops” like the vet said? What about soaking am is that really helping or worse?
Please help us Rabbits Only

-Ashley :?, Fluffy :dutch, Pumpkin:rabbithop, (& Flopsy always :bunnyangel

 

[pla725]

Do not use Clindamycin Hydrochloride!

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=31&A=486&S=0

This medication is not safe for use in horses, rabbits, rodents, or ruminants.

 

[ra7751]

DO NOT USE CLINDAMYCIN!!!

DO NOT USE CLINDAMYCIN!!!

DO NOT USE CLINDAMYCIN!!!

AND AGAIN, DO NOT USE CLINDAMYCIN!!!

DO NOT "POP" AN ABSCESS!!!

DO FIND A REAL RABBIT VET!!!



Holy Cow....I am surprised your rabbit is still with us. And it is a good idea this "vet" is suspending his work with rabbits. I think everyone knows that I carry the highest respect for vets as I work side by side with them often...but if this vet treated your bun like that, he is totally incompetent and should limit his work to stuffed animals and pet rocks. Amoxicillin can be used in certain conditions but it would never be one of my first dozen or so choices. Clindamycin migrates to the GI tract and is a "kill all" antibiotic....and it kills all the bacteria and you know what happens when you lose the beneficial bacteria.

If you could PM me your exact location in FL, I have contacts all over. If you can get a local vet to work with you, I would be happy to walk them thru treating this issue. I have treated several leg abscesses (and many jaw troubles). Since we have several buns with leg issues, infections are always lurking. I generally treat an abscess with a combination of Pen G (Procaine and Benzathine combo) and Zithromax. Another option is Chloramphenicol. This drug has fallen out of favor due to some complications from some humans in the form of bone marrow suppression....but I have no fear when it comes to my rabbit and used it recently with an absess on abun with major leg issues and it was successful. When using Chloramphenicol, you must protect yourself by using long sleeves, gloves and a face mask to prevent the drug from contacting your skin. I call it "suiting up". The problem with treating a rabbit abscess is due to the thickness of the pus....it makes drug penetration difficult. And the core of the abscess usually contains difficult to identify and treat anaerobic bacteria (meaning the bacteria does not need oxygen to survive).

Please PM me and we can discuss this further. And I would start calling to beg a vet to help. Jeez....I am nothing short of shocked at how your rabbit has been treated...err mistreated.

Randy

 

[pla725]

:yeahthat:

Here is a list of vets in FL:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/vets.html

 

[pamnock]

Absolutely no Amoxicillin orally.

Penn G injected may be effective.

The label advises not to give Clindamycin Hydrochloride Dropsto rabbits because of possible adverse GI effects. (Is the vet having you administer it orally or topically?)

A Betadine soak is good.

It's best to keep the abscess open until healing from the inside is well established. This should be done by lancing, not manually squeezing because you want to minimize tissue damage and minimize spread of the infection into other tissues.

You may also want to discuss pain management with the vet. How is his appetite? Nutri Cal for cats/dogsis a high calorie supplement that is easy to digest and helps to boost the immune system.



Here are some articles with further info. on different treatments:

http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=503&S=5&SourceID=43

http://www.vspn.org/VSPNSearch/VINLibrary/rabbit_abscess.htm





Pam

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Flopsy, I don't think you should use those things for your rabbit Fluffy. Something tells me they aren't safe.........

Seriously, I hope you can get the right stuff for him

 

[Haley]

Oh wow, how awful and frustrating that this vet has given you these medications to give to Fluffy! Im so glad that you did your research and that he's still with us!

Hopefully Randy can help you find someone local. Even if they dont treat bunnies maybe they would talk to Randy or at least read material you bring in to treat this. I cant believe Fluffy has had this for 10 months!

Ive found the best medicine for treating abscesses is PenG or Bicillin, which is given through subcutanious injections. Also, using silvadine on the wound helps as well. Usually oral medications are ineffective against abscesses.

I'll be keeping Fluffy in my thoughts and prayers. If you can get him to the vet just once Im sure they can give you the meds to take home and show you how to do the injections yourself.

 

[Haley]

Also, for you to read and if you need anything to take to a vet's office heres out Library links:

Abscesses

Antibiotics

 

[gentle giants]

I have also found personally that PenG injections work well, along with keeping the abcess open. YOu have to make sure to keep it clean and try not to let anything get into it, bedding etc. Like Pam said, rabbit pus is very thick, so it doens't alwasy drain well. Soaking it will help with that.

 

[Flopsy]

Holy Cow! :shock: Thank you all so much I knew I could count on you. I'm so glad that I didn't use the medicine as much as he told me too, something told me something was not right. :? Poor Fluffy I feel so horrible, I can't believe how much money my parents wasted. I'm going to start applying for jobs, I can't let another one of my babies suffer on my watch . I pmed Randy, I was hoping he would have responded to my topic. And yes Pam he had me adminstering the Clindamycin orally.

Thanks all!

-Ashley

 

[EileenH]

When I first got Gulliver,he had a persistent front foot abscess. I had him on PenG injectable every day for 3 months. I also had to flush the wound every day (easier said than done!)as the wound would close after about 3 days all the time & he had to go back in to have it opened.
I also had to have him on Metacam - when I first got him he wasn't on it & he went into stasis because of the pain in his foot.

After 3 months, there was still a dime-sized pocket of pus. As a last resort, I brought up trying Manuka honey, but since any self-respecting bunny will lick it out of their wound, we tried the same principle with 50% dextrose. I would flush the wound with Nolvasan, spot dry it and then inject .2cc's 50% dextrose into the wound. Don't know if it was just time or the dextrose, but it worked.

The thinking was that the dextrose inhibits bacterial growth by creating an environment that bacteria do not like to live in.

Something to think about....

 

[Flopsy]

I finally saved up enough money from work to take Fluffy to the vet. We have an appointment this Wednesday at 11am. God, I hope this is a real rabbit veterinarian this time :?.:?

 

[Haley]

Thats great! Did you call there first to ask about treating rabbits? I bet if youre concerned they would let you speak to the vet on the phone first. If your funds are limited that would definitely be something to try first.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Did you get to the vet this week? How did it go? I hope this one was rabbit savvy.

Let us know!

 

[Flopsy]

Yes we went to the vet!!! And when he came into the room and looked at what the medications the last "vet" ordered Fluffy to take he was like "OMGGG did you really give your rabbit these orally? gjagjadgadf" and I said no...no and started bawling:?. Then he looked at my mom and said "You should be really proud of your daughter and that she is the only reason this rabbit is still alive." He then was like "why would a vet... I have to be professional."

Then he looked Fluffy completely over. Checked his eyes, ears, body, teeth, everything without me even asking, I was so happy. And aparently Fluffy has something wacko going on with his inner teeth but nothing that should cause problems. His teeth on one side aren't wearing down correctly, but that the wear is even so its okay for now.

Then it came to the abcess, it has ran up his entire leg now . He said that usally when he gets abcesses in rabbits that it usally is in the mouth. The vet says that he thinks this infection is ethier in the bone or a result from the body trying to fight a tumor. He then gave Fluffy an pencillen shot, Baytril(twice a day for two weeks), and for me to soak his leg every night. We have an appointment on the 9th to see what has happened and to make another decision from there.

God I hope that this works a whole lot. Fluffy's not even phased by the abcess he's not ready to join Flopsy and I'm not ready for him to leave either:tears2:

 

[tonyshuman]

That vet sounds a lot better. I'm sure others will chime in too. Poor Fluffy! Lots of get well wishes from me...

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Oh man, I feel for Flopsy and you, arg. Please keep us posted on how it goes.

I don't think Baytril was the way to go with this though... I am hoping you can talk your vet into something more proven...ack.

Zithromax at least? Penicillan injectible is not enough, I don't think. Gosh, I hope you get the best treatment (evaluated and changed)asap Baytril won't do much for this, as I've heard:?.

Randy?

 

[Michaela]

This vet sounds encouraging. I know all about bad vets and abscesses, unfortunately.

I hope hope hope Fluffy will be ok. ray:

 

[Flopsy]

Thanks everyone I will give Fluffy extra hugs and kisses tonight from yous.:bunnyheart

AngelnSnuffy wrote:

Oh man, I feel for Flopsy and you, arg. Please keep us posted on how it goes.

I don't think Baytril was the way to go with this though... I am hoping you can talk your vet into something more proven...ack.

Zithromax at least? Penicillan injectible is not enough, I don't think. Gosh, I hope you get the best treatment (evaluated and changed)asap Baytril won't do much for this, as I've heard:?.

Randy?

Yeah that's what I was thinking about the Baytril, I rememeber randy saying how lots of vets think of it as a "miracle drug". :? I think I was just happy that this vet didn't prescribe something that would kill him.

Like AngelnSnuffy said Randy??

 

[Maureen Las]

Maybe this vet is open to suggestions....

With the vet I had here I had to go through weeks of what he thought would work..(oral baytril) before he agreed to azithromycin. The azithromycin was a lot more effective but my vet gave me too low a dose for her.

Even a vet that doesn't know rabbits wellis OK if they are open minded and are open to learning. I have had to deal with people who start to talk over me when I bring up something new...

I asked my vet if he would talk to randy and he said that he didn't need to.

very discouraging..

Anyway I'm sure that with RO behind you we can all help you to get the right vet care for Floppsy