• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

lump! U/D - he's in surgery.

M

Maizy

Mama Doe
I'm geting ahead of myself here I know, as I have only had a telephone diagnosis by the vet at the moment ( app't 9.30 Monday). But ,I'd really appreciate peoples experiences of how their buns have been treated with a tooth abscess as I and the vet think this maybe what Peppermint has developed.:(
I've read a few vet articles and with abcesses generally, I know they are hard to deal with, but does anyone know what the options are or that are offered? Peppers has a small lump along his lower jaw and his face is a bit swollen ( no watery eyes, generally happy in himself and still alert). He is definitely only eating on one side when I watch him, but he is still eating.
I'm expecting the vet to suggest an Xray to see what the root cause of the problem is and to confirm ( or otherwise the daignosis ). After this, the treatments seem to vary from long term anti-biotics, lancing and invasive surgery to remove as much tissue as poss to try and minimise recurrence.
Has anyone had any experience with teeth abcesses ( with a happy ending)?:(
 
Last edited:
Benny had what one rabbit specialist called 'the worst abscess he's ever seen' and although it took almost a year it eventually disappeared. He had surgery, antibiotic beads, Duphapen injections, you name it we tried it, it just kept coming back. I heard that Manuka honey had excellent healing properties so after everything else failed I started syringing it directly into his cleaned-out open wound. I tried other homeopathic remedies at the same time and it must have been a combination of these that cured him. So whilst abscesses are hideous and difficult to treat they can be curable.
 
I had a rabbit who developed an abscess along her jaw. It was surgically removed, the wound closed up with a drain put in and within two days it was back. She had it surgically removed again but the wound left open this time, my vet didn't suggest manuka honey but my current vet does, and instead he sprinkled penicillin on it. Luckily it healed and never re-occured, but unfortunately the vet fractured her jaw during the second operation which resulted in severe abnormalities. I lost her due to complications through that, but throughout it all the abscess never came back.

I think if it's on the jaw bone it's best to have it surgically removed if possible because it limits the chance of it spreading to the bone. Make sure that they do an x-ray prior to the surgery to ensure of no other abnormalities i.e tooth root impactions etc which could be the reason behind the abscess. Anitbiotic beads are becoming more commonly used but you must have a rabbit savvy vet, a lot of vets won't even attempt to treat an abscess as they think the prognosis is poor. That is not the case and many many rabbits recover from abscesses although you have to be prepared for a long battle. Good luck!!
 
Thanks for the replies.:D I am fortunate in so much as I do have a really good vet, so think they will be up with current thinking and practices. I've just been reading about manuka honey and will certainly bear that in mind if it is an operable abscess. Is it something that can be picked up easily?
 
Hiya Maizy -

I'm so sorry to hear about your bunny and the probabale Abscess - I think you'll find Abscess help is something you can be well assured of on here as soooooooo many of us bunny mums and dads have or have had bunnies with this kinda problem.

Both my lovely girls have Abscess problems - Cagney has a jaw bone one and Buffs has one below her ear and around her tear duct and ear area - bless her - but both are fine at the mo.

I think its very much an individual decision, but we decided along with advice from our Bunny Savy Vet that we wouldn't operate on Cagney as the Abscess is so deep within the Bone. One of the problems when bunnies do not eat (particularly) hay correctly is that their teeth do not wear down as they should and then this gives further problems with tooth pain, bunny stops eating Hay, weight loss, statis and all manor of problems.

But sounds like your lucky in having a good Vet to will be able to help you decide the course of medication for your bunster and full Xrays will definately help in seeing which is the right direction for you and your luvly bunster.

Sending snuggles and keep us all posted. X
 
sending lots of vibes your way - I sadly treated a hideous abscess over Xmas and everyone here was so kind and helpful... Mine was slightly different as it was a cat bite that caused it it was hard work and we nearly lost bunny BUT he is abscess free so it is possible... hard and when I think back at HOW hard I am amazed actually... good luck x x x
 
Thanks guys, Here's a quick piccie of Peppers, so you can see what I mean about the 'drop' on his left ( right side as you look at him). He has a history of dental probs ( despite having 24 hr hay access and a good range of fibrous veg, plus bunny basics T), so I will be so surprised if it's unrelated and like you Bunnytales, the lump is on the jaw.
P1000635.jpg
 
Peppers is in surgery at the moment.:( I have to ring at 2pm. When speaking to the vet this morning, Peppers will come home with an open wound, which needs to stay open so it can drain.
For those of you who've used manuka honey, can you tell me what strength you used and if there are any know contra indications with any conventional treatment that the vets will use ( like the anti-biotics )? There seems to be lots around from 5+ UMF to 30+. I'm guessing the higher it's activity the better? I've bought 15+ as I'm not sure how much the surgery will set me back ( on top of all the car bills this month:roll:) do you think this will do to start with? Any advice gretly received. Am a very worried bunny mummy right now. Hate my buns having GA's and Pepper's has had more than his fair share in the last year.:(
 
Thanks guys. Peppers is almost four, so not old, but he's had dental probs and needed a GA at least once a year since he was a kit. the vet showed me the xray of a 'healthy' jaw today and then explained where's Pepper's lump is and how deep they need to go. To be honest, I'm frantic that they will break his jaw more than anything. He is a strong little bunster so I'm praying the GA won't be an issue, it will be the post op pain.:(. Peppers was our first bun, so although they are all special, there is a bit of a wrench going on inside at the moment and Ezzie hates it when he's not around; she's very protective of him.
 
Just heard from the vets. The vet wants to see me at 6pm. My thoughts right now are ranging from good surgery, poor prognosis to complications and nightmare nursing.:(. What have I done to a bun that was a happy boy this morning?:cry:
 
Oh no :(

I'm sure its not going to be as bad as you think though, try and keep yourself busy so you don't think of the worse case scenario.

Hugs to you and Peppers and Ezzie xx
 
Try not to worry...

The vet should always want to see you after such an invasive surgery. He will explain what he found, prognosis, after care and demonstrate how you should clean the open wound etc. I have to warn you it won't look pretty so brace yourself. When my rabbit had the exact same thing done (even looked the same as your photo) I actually went white when I picked her up. It didn't seem to bother her in the slightest though, and she recovered soon enough. I think it took a while for the hole to close up entirely as you have to keep it open to allow it to heal inside out but i'm sure your bunny will be fine.

I hope it all goes ok :)
 
Thank you. I've been reading a few journal articles and seen some fairly graphic photos too :shock: so I think I've got an idea of what's to come in terms of after care and nursing. I think it's just got the better of me a bit and I'm looking at the half empty glass instead of the half full one :). I will try not to get in a state and just wait and see what I'm dealing with. You are absolutely right Charlie, in that the vets should take time to talk to the owners after and op and they always have before. It's just that it's always been very routine stuff, post GA temperature care etc... and nothing like this before, so I've just got in a bit of a flap. Thanks again and I'll post again once I/ we get home later.
 
When Fudge was operated on and they said they'd need to see me 6pm for a chat I nearly :censored: myself!
It was only to say what they'd done in the operation though..
I hope you have some good news..
karen x
 
After Benny's surgery the vet rang us and explained how exhausting the surgery had been and basically told us that the bone was so badly infected that he didn't stand a very good chance and probably wouldn't 'make old bones'.

Needless to say we were devastated to hear this but never gave up hope. As I mentioned before the surgery didn't cure it (it came back after just 2 weeks) but the Manuka honey helped to get rid of it.

There are no contraindications that I am aware of and our vet knew that I was using it whilst we were injecting Benny with Duphapen but never mentioned any potential problems to me.

We used 10+ strength honey, I couldn't find any higher at the time so I'm sure the 15+ will be absolutely fine.

Let us know how Peppers gets on.

Sending lots of healing vibes
xxx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Gut stasis surgery advice help
2 3
Replies
53
Views
3K
bunny momma
bunny momma
R
Rabbit isn’t eating or doing the toilet
Replies
6
Views
335
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
John-Joe + Roisin U/D 4th May
3 4 5
Replies
80
Views
4K
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Back
Top