Tooth Abscess

[Louladoll]

Hello everyone.

My boy Benji has just recently had surgery to have his tooth abscess scraped out. They have left the wound open with stitches and it is our job to keep it clean of course.


We can now see some swelling above the opening to the wound. Are we supposed to scrape this out? I am going to be calling my vets but theyre not open until Monday. We are flushing it two times a day and the wound is staying completely open. The problem is we cannot really see in the wound very well.

Any advice from people who have had experience with this would be great. He is eating and drinking and pooing normally. He is a very strong boy!

Thanks a lot
Louladoll xxo

 

[JBun]

I would think that a little bit of swelling might be expected after having surgery. You'll be the only one that could tell if it is an abnormal amount though. You can take a look at this link about managing and cleaning a facial abscess, to see if it has any helpful info for you, though some of the details may be slightly different than what you are doing.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Absc_treat/abscess_treat.htm

 

[Louladoll]

Hello!

Thanks so much for responding!

We have been using that exact link for guidance but its difficult as the wound we are dealing with is much different from that. I don't think it is a normal amount of swelling. It looks like the abscess has refilled above the wound. I am just not sure whether to try and scrape it out (I think that would be very painful for him) or just continue with flushing. We just called the emergency vet as I was writing and they advised us to try and remove as much as the rabbit will allow. I guess we are trying again.....He is very tolerant of us doing it so hoping for the best.

He is also on antibiotics and pain relief! I forgot to mention that before. He has also had a blood test done and we are awaiting the results of that. X rays too of course!

Thanks again Do hope we can get this resolved! I know abscesses are very nasty to deal with in rabbits. Will update if any news

 

[Imbrium]

Poor bunny . I'm glad you were able to get some solid advice from the emergency vet... and that Benji is actually being fairly compliant! If you continue to worry and are able to post some pics for us, that may help.

On a side note, did the vet give you probiotics for him as well? If not, I highly recommend asking the vet if they carry them and trying to find some elsewhere if they don't (they seem a little easier to find online than in retail stores, fwiw). Unfortunately, I have no idea what brands are available in your area, as they seem to be totally different from one country to the next (I know the UK brands are all different from what's available in the US). Antibiotics can cause some very nasty side-effects, especially if it's a broad-spectrum antibiotic - probiotics do a great job of preventing/alleviating the side-effects. [As a note, if you can't find small animal probiotics then a human probiotic that doesn't contain anything unsafe for a bunny could be used instead.]

I hope he recovers well - keep us updated on how he's doing! ray:

 

[Louladoll]

Thanks for your concern about my dear boy!

We do have probiotics we can just buy from the pharmacy, but the vet has given us something else which is believed to be better! Either way he is most definitely getting his probiotic for the reasons you specified!

We spoke to our vet this afternoon after sending them some pictures. They advised we scrape out as much as possible. Unfortunately after trying that doesn't seem to be possible. Its not that he isn't tolerant. He is very trusting and will just sit there with minimal holding. It just doesn't look right to us. I can see the pus clearly in the middle of the wound, but where the swelling is I am unable to see the pus. So I'd be basically scraping blind and I don't like that.

Although he is almost 6 they said he did wonderfully under anesthetic. He also ate straight after surgery as he absolutely loves his food. I am thinking this may be his best option to get him re-lanced (if thats even a term!). I think maybe there is some abscess they have missed as it grew back within 2 days of surgery to a large size again. Does anyone know if its possible to grow back so big so quickly? Is that a normal thing to happen?

I suppose originally his abscess did grow within a couple of hours (whilst we were out food shopping!). So I guess it may be possible?

I can post some pictures if you would like?

Louladoll xxo

 

[JBun]

I would think that a bad infection could come back fairly quickly.

You can post pics if you like. I know I'm interested in seeing it. But I may have to insert a graphic picture warning in the title if you do

Let us know how the relancing goes, and if it's successful.

 

[Louladoll]

Alrighty!

Well I got some pictures that we sent the vet, but the swelling has gone down a bit since then. I also have the pictures of his x rays too.

Since the vets were unable to determine the tooth causing his abscess they were unable to remove the tooth. So after doing a lot of research on the net I have found that a drug called Bicillin which is a mix of Penicillin G Benzathine and Pencillin G Procaine could be much more effective in his case. I have asked the vet about using this approach. Unfortunately you need a special permit from drug administration to use it, but she has applied for us. So fingers crossed! At the moment hes only on baytril and I have read that is somewhat ineffective when treating deep abscesses.

Anyway thanks for your interest in my boy. I can post the pictures after this post! I will put a warning on it

Louladoll xxo

 

[Louladoll]

WARNING!!! GRAPHIC CONTENT - AFTER SURGERY MAXILLARY ABSCESS!

Swelling has gone down a bit since these pictures were taken and there is no redness anymore. Also we have managed to scrape out a bit of the pus so its more of a hole now! He is very happy though, he just gets on with it and is eating more than ever. He has been sat giving me the puppy eyes because his food bowl is empty this morning lol.

 

[JBun]

Poor little guy He's a cutie though, and sounds like he is doing pretty well despite the wound. He looks pretty happy all stretched out there too

Injectable bicillin does seem to be an effective antibiotic for this type of thing. You may have already seen these links, but here they are in case you haven't. There is also the manuka honey for the wound itself, that seems to help as well.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html
http://people.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

Thanks so much for sharing the pictures, and please keep us updated on how he's doing.

 

[Louladoll]

Thanks so much Jbun

Them pictures are (in the vets own words) much worse looking than in reality. His wound is actually much better than it looks there!

He is doing amazingly well. My husband took him to the vets today for his check up and theyre not yet home but he has been under (not fully) just to scrape some of the deeper stuff out. She says the wound is looking great apart from that.

He has been in a right war I forgot to mention he also was neutered when he went in for the original op. He has just been through it all! So considering everything hes definitely a little trooper. (hes almost 6 years old btw dunno if i mentioned that)

I will update a bit later on when hes home and settled. I have seen the manuka honey is supposed to be reallly good and also pretty sure I have seen those links already but I will double check so ty! I have been doing lots of bicillin research lol. I really hope we get the permit for it, especially as they are unable to remove the cause of the problem.

Thanks so much for your interest and support with my dear Benji

Louladoll xxo

 

[Louladoll]

Hello!

Benji is doing good! I now know where exactly the abscess is so its very easy to scrape out and flush a couple of times a day so his abscess is staying empty now. This to me is great news! He is tolerating it all very well. Hopefully we will hear about whether we will get the permit for the bicillin injections soon. Will post some newer pictures next week xxo

 

[JBun]

That's such wonderful news! I'm so glad the little guy is doing so well with all of this

 

[Louladoll]

That's such wonderful news! I'm so glad the little guy is doing so well with all of this

Hello again!

Just wanted to share the good news we had today. We got the permit to use bicillin injections We are hoping our boy has some good success with this treatment option. Our vet has ordered it in so it should be with us soon!

Love from Benji boy and family! xxo

 

[JBun]

That's really great! Hopefully you will see some good improvement with the infection while he's on it.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Louladoll my bun has an abscessed tooth right now also. The lump on his neck popped and the vet scraped it all out and cleaned it. It now just looks like a scab. They told me it was life threatening and that the tooth needed to come out. Did they tell yu if it was possible for it to get better without removing the tooth and if the antibiotics could stop the infection in the tooth?

 

[Louladoll]

Louladoll my bun has an abscessed tooth right now also. The lump on his neck popped and the vet scraped it all out and cleaned it. It now just looks like a scab. They told me it was life threatening and that the tooth needed to come out. Did they tell yu if it was possible for it to get better without removing the tooth and if the antibiotics could stop the infection in the tooth?

The problem with tooth abscesses is they will continue to grow back until the cause of the abscess has been removed! Also the infection can spread into the jawbone which is not good news. Having his tooth removed would be the best option for him (if they can clearly see which tooth is causing it). Unfortunately they cannot find the tooth causing the problems with my bunny but if they had I would have had it removed.

I do believe there has been reports that Bicillin (type of Penicillin mix) can cure bunnies abscess without the tooth being removed, but depending on where you live the permits are hard to come by.

Feel free to message me if you like! I hope your bunny will get better soon.

I will post some pictures of my guy so you can see the progress so far! xxo

 

[Louladoll]

These pictures were taken on the 7th Feb! So as you can imagine he is looking even better now He is on his way to the vets as we speak (I cannot go with him due to travel costs as our vets are quite far away). He is going to have his stitches removed and my husband is going to learn how to do his bicillin injections! He is very happy atm We were unable to open the wound up since 6th Feb and nothing has grown back since. I think the baytril he is on right now is keeping it at bay but I believe it would grow back if he were to come off it. Take a look for yourselves!

 

[serenacooper]

Poor little guy He's a cutie though, and sounds like he is doing pretty well despite the wound. He looks pretty happy all stretched out there too

Injectable bicillin does seem to be an effective antibiotic for this type of thing. You may have already seen these links, but here they are in case you haven't. There is also the manuka honey for the wound itself, that seems to help as well.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html
http://people.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

Thanks so much for sharing the pictures, and please keep us updated on how he's doing.

Honey is the best way to cover any type of wound. I would recommend using Manuka honey which contains more amount of antibacterial properties. Visit this site to read more about Manuka honey.

 

[Louladoll]

Honey is the best way to cover any type of wound. I would recommend using Manuka honey which contains more amount of antibacterial properties. Visit this site to read more about Manuka honey.

I have read lots about the Manuka honey but we are using something different which is working great! So we are going to keep using that, but thanks anyway

 

[lovelops]

I'm so glad to see your bunny is doing better and keeping the photos up there where you can clearly see the improvement is great. Wow.. I hope your bunny continues to improve!

Vanessa