Help needed for abcess

Hello, i need some advice about abcesses. My beautiful little Holly who i have only had 3 weeks has got an abcess near her right eye, it was caused by her problems with her cheek teeth which she had a dental on couple of weeks ago so they are now fine (well for the time being) but the abcess has got bigger. They have drained the abcess but ater 3 weeks of baytril it still hasnt got better.

Been to vets tonight for her check up and they said its the worse kind of abcess, a multi chambered one, cant remember the proper term, and he squeezed so much puss out of it, it was horrible and she was such a good girl. Vet said there wasnt much they could for it, surgery is an option but there are no guarentees it would work and even if it did likelihood is it would just come back again anyway. He said if she has one abcess likelihood is she'll have or will develop others elsewhere possibly even internal. She's on baytril for another couple of weeks and back for a check up to see if its improved at all and then we'll have to decide about surgery.

He said there might not be anything we can do to completely get rid of it and as it is so close to her eye if it gets bigger it will start damaging her eye. He said needed to prepare myself that if her quality of life starts deteriorating we might have to make that horrible horrible decision.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice on how we can do anything to help her please let me know. Im so worried we are going to lose her and we've only had her for such a short time. It took us 6 months to finally get our Hermes a girlfriend, it seems so unfair that he might lose her. Sorry for the long rambling post i'm just so worried and scared

Here is my gorgeous Holly and her ever so troublesome husbun hermes (Holly is the harlequin, Hermes is the nethie)

My suggestion would be that you need a much more effective antibiotic than Baytril, it has relatively poor tissue penetration making it pretty ineffective against abcessation as they are usually 'walled off' and filled with very thick pus.

I would speak to your vet about the use of Ceporex (oral), Depocillin (injectable) or Metronidaole and about taking a culture and sensitivity test from the abcess so you can identify what antibiotics will be most effective against the bacteria involved.

I'm really sorry to hear about Holly's abscess. They are horrid things but it is possible to successfully treat them.

Firstly I don't think Baytril is going to touch it, I've had two rabbits who have had very nasty abscesses and Baytril did nothing for them. My vet (a rabbit specialist) successfully treated Benny who had a recurring jaw abscess with daily Duphapen injections which we gave him at home and we also used Manuka honey on the open wound which worked wonders.

More recently the same vet has had success with oral Azithromycin (Zithromax) which we used on Daisy who had three abscesses in her face, one was behind her eye causing it to bulge outwards. We seriously thought she was going to lose her eye at the very least but after a short period of time on Zithromax all her swellings reduced to nothing. She has been abscess free now for eight months and is doing well!

I know how worried you must be feeling but if your vet is willing to try other options there is hope. Please let us know how you get on.

Vickie
x

Hi, I just wanted to say that I am going through a very similar situation as you and I can see you've already got some excellent advice from the other members.

Abscesses are not something that can be left - the longer you leave them, the more chance it gives them to spread plus its very uncomfortable for the bunny if the abscess is growing and pressurising the area. Some times, it takes 2 or 3 times of draining an abscess to get rid of it and the right antibiotic plays a major role - the sensitivity test is imperative to find this antibiotic.

I've worked with rabbit rescues and there are lots of rabbits living a good long life who live with recurring abscesses.

I wish you and your bunny lots of luck.

Jayne x

PS One very kind member told me of a site to look at for abscess information - I hope this gives you hope as it has me and I'm off to vets tonight to talk to her about Bicillin. The website is: http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html - go to abscesses and severe wounds and check out successful eradication of severe abscesses and Bicillin Case Studies.

Thanks so much for your replies. You've given me hope we can get it sorted! I've made an appointment with the vet tomorrow to discuss her treatment and will raise all the drugs you ahve suggested with him. If anyone has any other advice or things i should tell/ask/suggest to the vet please let me know.

Someone suggested that manuka honey is god for abcesses mixed with ? Has anyone else used this? what strength honey should be used? How much do you mix together? Is it dangerous if my other bun was to lick it (i know the eye drops are poisoness if taken internally)? Sorry lots of questions again, im just desperate to do anything i can to get my Hol better

Hi! I have sent you a pm.

I've used Manuka and applied it once a day directly into the abcess cavity, I also applied oral Baytril directly once a day.

You need a minimum of 16 UMF.

Yeah I've used manuka honey. I also have been using homeopathy in order to allow it to naturally get to a head and burst. This is early days of me using it but it seems to be working so far... And so much more pleasant for them than surgery.

I'm hoping that by fighting it himself it will teach his body to fight it its self in future. Will just have to see tho!

You will most prob have to do some squeezing yourself tho!
Mine is just under my rabbits eye too. On his cheek.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=124510&page=3

everything you need to know about abscess