eye abscess-urgent advice

Hi all
My vet thinks my bunny Joon may have an abscess behind her eye. He is doing an x-ray tomorrow so i won't know until then. I am terrified as I know abscesses aren't good news. he said we may need to remove her eye but didn't say much else until we know for sure.
i have read up about them but haven't found anything about them behind the eye. If anyone has any info or has experienced this themselves then please do let me know.
lisa and the buns

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about this, but I hope she will be ok

Is this link is any help

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/rabbit-eye-possible-retrobulbar.htm

Janex

That's exactly what happened to my bunny Maa last year (end of 2005) She had her eye removed but they couldn't get the pus out as it's a bit delicate in there! The abscess came back and they cleaned it out as best they could a couple of times, but what really knocked it out was a course of metronidazole - half a tablet daily for a week (she's an average lop size) which I crushed and added to a paste of mushed up pellets - just enough to hide the taste and not too much that she left any.

All depends what bacterium it is though - I paid for a swab which said it was some nasty bug similar to MRSA - an anaerobic one as it was internal - so the metronidazole was ideal whereas baytril did absolutely nothing.

Then she had 4 clear months but I noticed it swelling again - another swab was done but came back as no bacteria present! Anyway I asked the vet if she could prescribe metronidazole again and luckily she agreed - turned out it was some undissolved stitches from her op causing it!

Anyway - she's been find for over a year now with one eye and is very happy - more energetic than all the bunnies put together so hopefully your girl will be fine

I should warn you it cost over £550 though :shock:

thanks everyone
and thank Elve! that has made me feel a little better. i will have to wait to see hat happens tomorrow but i do hope she can get over this.

Elve
When they removed the eye did they pack it with beads(as i have read that for other abscesses) or do anything to the wound. Or was it just stitched up
thanks Lisa

elve said:

All depends what bacterium it is though - I paid for a swab which said it was some nasty bug similar to MRSA - an anaerobic one as it was internal - so the metronidazole was ideal whereas baytril did absolutely nothing.

I should warn you it cost over £550 though :shock:

Click to expand...

Will rabbit incurance pay out for this kind of swab testing?

bunny mad lisa said:

Elve
When they removed the eye did they pack it with beads(as i have read that for other abscesses) or do anything to the wound. Or was it just stitched up
thanks Lisa

Click to expand...

there's no point putting antibiotic beads in unless all the pus is out as they must be in contact with the abscess wall - plus with Maa it was directly linked to her mouth so the antibiotics would have made her ill if they'd leaked into her mouth - none of the local vets had any beads anyway :shock: They stitched it almost all the way and left a hole, supposedly for it to drain but of course rabbit pus is thick, and the hole closed up so she needed another op. I think if they'd left it open though it would have been impossible to clean properly with it being in such a delicate place, so it was the antibiotic that cured it really, after being cleaned as well as it could be under anaesthetic twice.

thanks Elve, you have been so very helpful! I have more to go on now. Vets always worry me incase they don't know enough and I like to be knowledgable, so I know if they are doing the best for my bunny. I shall let you know the outcome tomorrow and hope you won't mind if I need a bit more advice as you are the only person I know that has had this problem.
I appreciate your help so far
best wishes
lisa and Joon

Joon had her x-ray and the vet couldn't see anything that looked like an abscess and her teeth looked good too. he does still think though that it is an abscess but doesn't want to go ahead and remove the eye just yet. She is on baytril and wants me to monitor her closely. He doesn't want to remove that eye unless totally necessary.

I am concerned she has lost weight and have been weighing her. she hasn't lost anymore since Monday and is still eating well. She came around from her anaesthetic brilliantly and was eating straight away. That was a relief as she gets very stressed, so at least i know that she can cope with that.

So i guess it's a waiting game. If she loses anymore weight or the eye swells more, i am to take her straight to the vet. I shall keep up my research in the meantime and see what that comes up with.

Elve..can I ask, did you vet do an x-ray and could he see the abscess on it. Did you also get a swollen eye.

Has Joan been blood tested for/ treated for EC ?

Janex

Yes Maa's eye was completely ruined and bulging out within a week of me noticing something wrong, and it was obvious there was an abscess there so no x-rays were necessary - can you believe it was caused by a piece of timmy hay getting stuck in her gum when one of her daughters jumped out of a box and didn't see her in the way? The hay then worked it's way through her jaw and up through her head out the eye - poor girl - they found the hay when they operated, and showed it me, about 2" long - nobody could believe it :shock:

Thanks elve
her eye actually doesn't look too bad, looks intact just pertruding but not excessively. But it did swell over a few days and it has been runny for a few weeks now.
No jane she hasn't been tested for EC.

Sorry to hear about your bunny.

My Grace had a retro-bulbar abcess, she was very unwell with it, her eye bulged out she went into stasis and she appeared to be in terrible pain. This all suddenly came on within 3 days. Because she was so distressed I had her put to sleep. She couldn't cope and had just given up.

If I'd have had a guarentee of a full recovery I'd have paid out whatever it took. I do feel guilty that we didn't try with surgery, but I got to say goodbye to her which I wouldn't have done if she'd have died intra-op, which she most likely would have done.

Sending huge huge vibes for your bunny!!!!

Nicola