torn lip ?

[waponswa]

This morning, I discovered that my bunny, Ace,has a tear in his lip right under his nose. Quite frankly, it looks like his cage mate bit him in the mouth as there is another booboo at the corner of the lip, like he was chomped and it cause a tear. It doesn't appear that he bled much. He's been a real sport about me cleaning it and tending to his nose. He acts quite normal: perky,curious, affectionate, eats, drinks. I seperated him from the other bunny. Can anyone tell me if this sort of injury is serious? It doesn't seen to be too bad, but just ugly and sore, you know? Scabbing and a little swelling.

 

[Snuggys Mom]

I would just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get infected.

You can put a thin layer of regular Neosporin on it.Make sure it's NOT the kind with pain reliever in it. It can make your rabbit sick.

 

[waponswa]

We cleaned his lip this morning and applied a litttle neosporin (non-PL kind). He's doing great, it's just that he has this gap between his top front lips, about 2 mm, where as before they were snug to one another. I don't know if, when healed, this will return to normal or if it's even a problem.He doesn't seem the least bothered by it.

 

[naturestee]

Poor little bun. I hope he heals okay. Do those two fight often? Are they spayed/neutered?

 

[SOOOSKA]

Hi, that happened to Buttercup a couple oy years ago. He had to have emegency surgery to sew the lip up. He ended up having some stitches.

Did you bring Ace to the vet?

Soooska:apollo:

 

[waponswa]

The bunnies didn't use to fight, maybe a chase here and there. They are getting older now, so it's neuter time. We haven't taken Ace to the vet because it doesn't seem like he needs more than a little TLC, but I may pop in there anyway. It's just that every time I take one of my rabbits or guinea pigs to see the vet, the Doc looks at them for 3 minutes and tells me to keep doing what I've been doing to care for it and then charges me $30:shock:

 

[Haley]

Do you have a rabbit-savvy vet?

I dont know how bad it is, but one problem with rabbits is that just a little scrape or bite can turn into an abscess, then you will have a much higher vet bill to pay to have that removed.

I would find a rabbit-savvy vet and have it checked out.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Wow $30.00, I wish.

Here just a regular visit starts at $65.00. If it an emergency that usually starts at $150.00. When Buttercuo had his lip sewn up it was around $265.00.

Susan:apollo:

 

[cheryl]

Aww poor little guy,yeah i would just keep a very close eye on it,and just watch for any changes



Here the consultation fees are $45, weekends they charge $100 just to see the animal



cheryl

 

[waponswa]

We just got back from a new vet. They were open later hours, by walk-in, and they were reccomended as having experience with exotics. Ace was showing signs of infection. The new vet said that with rabbits, you never can tell if it'll get better on it's own or become a huge problem, like Haley pointed out. He doesn't need stitches, but he did need baytril (sp?). It's a pill that I have to crush up and mix with a treat or I can mix it with water in a syringe.

I had to go with the syringe, because Ace wasn't in the mood for treats after being manhandled at the vet. Does anyone have syringe tips? I 've done it before with food, but not meds.There's always a little that doesn't get in. With food that didn't matter much, just try again. With the med, that's different. I did pretty well this first time.Just a drop or two spilled.

My former vet ( I guess you could say) is supposed to be rabbit/guinea pig savvy, but I don't see it.

Soooska- $65 for a regular vet visit?!! My goodness! We have some vets that spay/neuter for less. Some vets even have days or evenings where they don't even charge an office visit fee you just pay for your meds.

 

[cheryl]

That's great that you went to a new vet, anything can go wrong very quickly when it comes to these guys, it's better just to be safe, than sorry



cheryl

 

[naturestee]

You could try mixing the meds in with something you know he likes, as long as you didn't get stuck with the liver flavored Baytril that's made for cats. I use canned pumpkin because it's a favorite treat around here. It's much less stressful that way.

Otherwise, there's some great syringe feeding instructions in this thread from Honeypot. Just scroll down a little.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11658&forum_id=16

 

[Haley]

Ive been stuck with liver flavored baytril, so heres my tips on best things to mix with so your bunny doesnt hate you: grenadine (seriously, the best, just dont use too much cuz its so sweet), carrot juice-like odwalla or other organic brand, canned pumpkin, mashed banana, baby food (some bunnies hate it though).

Good Luck!

 

[waponswa]

Thanks for the tips, everyone, because this morning, Ace was a real STINKER about the syringe. Yesterday he poopoo-ed the mashed banana idea, so I am definitely happy to see other suggestions. He is looking much better, by the way. There is less puss and the swelling is gone.

 

[Haley]

great news! some bunnies are just fussy with meds. try some different things and hopefully you will find something that works

 

[waponswa]

Finally we have Ace eating his meds on his own. He doesn't eat it right away, but when I come back later it's always gone. We crush the pill into powder, and mix it with a couple of drops of grenadine and a bit of mashed banana. Then we spread it, like jam, on a leaf of collard green. Each day that passes shows a little improvement.