Success rate of treating bad jaw bone infection caused by misaligned teeth

[zakufish]

Hi,

Our bunny "Sesame" is a 9 month old Netherlands Dwarf male and he had a dental surgery last month to have all of his bottom left cheek teeth removed due to infections caused by misaligned cheek teeth. He had been recovering very well.

Post-op medicine included 0.8ml of Penicillin shot per day, 0.45ml of metronidazole twice a day. We also gave him 0.2 ml of enrofloxacin once everyday for 14 days after his surgery.

However, when the vet did an x-ray on my rabbit's jaw during one of the follow-ups, she noticed that there are two more misaligned cheek teeth on the other side that are on the verge of causing infections. The vet suggested that it would be the best option for my rabbit to get these two misaligned cheek teeth taken out as well.

We decided to go for the surgery, and that's when I received the devastating news - the infection on Sesame's jaw bone wasn't contained. The vet even retrieved some fractured mandibles during the surgery. The infection is way worse than everyone's anticipation.

She's suggesting us to put Sesame to sleep.

Just wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience, and how did you deal with it?

We are definitely getting a second opinion from another vet.

 

[JBun]

I haven't dealt with a jaw bone infection, but I have dealt with a stubborn retrobulbar abscess behind the eye of one of my rabbits, and her eye became badly infected because of it. The eye was removed, but the abscess returned. Several different antibiotics were tried but it kept coming back. The one that finally cleared it up was azithromycin suspension at the highest dose for rabbits (50mg/kg) for an extended period of 3-4 weeks. 30mg/kg for two weeks was tried at first, but the infection returned once the antibiotic was stopped. She lived another year after that , abscess free, before she died at the age of 10 from old age.

I've had good success with azithromycin. It also penatrates bone and tissue well, which would be especially needed with a jaw bone infection. Though something to be aware of is a few rabbits seem to have a severely adverse digestive reaction to the med. So that is a risk you would have to weigh. But considering euthanasia is the recommendation at this point, it seems like it might be worth the risk.

I know that this is probably too far away, but maybe you could do a phone consultation with the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic. It seems like they would be more specialized in rabbit care, since rabbits and guinea pigs are their focus.

 

[zakufish]

I haven't dealt with a jaw bone infection, but I have dealt with a stubborn retrobulbar abscess behind the eye of one of my rabbits, and her eye became badly infected because of it. The eye was removed, but the abscess returned. Several different antibiotics were tried but it kept coming back. The one that finally cleared it up was azithromycin suspension at the highest dose for rabbits (50mg/kg) for an extended period of 3-4 weeks. 30mg/kg for two weeks was tried at first, but the infection returned once the antibiotic was stopped. She lived another year after that , abscess free, before she died at the age of 10 from old age.

I've had good success with azithromycin. It also penatrates bone and tissue well, which would be especially needed with a jaw bone infection. Though something to be aware of is a few rabbits seem to have a severely adverse digestive reaction to the med. So that is a risk you would have to weigh. But considering euthanasia is the recommendation at this point, it seems like it might be worth the risk.

I know that this is probably too far away, but maybe you could do a phone consultation with the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic. It seems like they would be more specialized in rabbit care, since rabbits and guinea pigs are their focus.

Thank you so much for you information!

Yeh, I am definitely changing vet. Sesame got a very serious post-surgery adhesion after his surgery yesterday, and the vet that discharged him literally told me she doesn't know what's going on and since the vet is closed after 1pm on Saturday, I should send Sesame to an emergency vet.

We had to send him to an emergency vet to treat his bloating issue, but he's now back to normal (except for wet chin and painful teeth)! He's really a fighter.

This also gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, the vet I was seeing was unprofessional, and Sesame still has a shot if I take him to a rabbit-savvy vet. Maybe there will be a medicine (like azithromycin) to treat his infections.