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Benjy, a jaw abscess and stasis

Eeyore

Young Bun
For the past few months, Benjy (my rescue house bun) has been backwards and forwards to the vet due to a lack of appetite and gut stasis. He has never been a hay eater, despite all efforts and lived on whatever pellets and veg, particularly as he is a dental gummy bunny with very few teeth!

Initially the vet couldn't see why he was going into stasis until his appetite started going again at the start of last week. Last tuesday I took him to the vet gave him the syringe food sachets and Zantec and told me to come back either way in three days. I have now learnt from reading these forums over the last couple of days, that no pain relief was given or a gut stimulant injection.

Between Tuesday and Friday, the poos lessened, despite being syringe fed and Thursday night he appeared to be in discomfort and was glad to get him to the vet first thing on the Friday morning.

Luckily then I saw much more of a rabbit savvy vet, who immediately admitted him for pain relief and a full dental examination. At the time, he was too weak to be under anaesethic for an intestinal examination and a couple of hours later, I got a phone call to say they had found a jaw abscess underneath where one of his teeth had been removed a few years back. Over the next few days I received phone calls to say they were syringe feeding him and giving him various gut stimulants, appetisers, antibiotics and painkillers.

It wasn't till this Tuesday afternoon he returned home, although still not eating much and we were still advised to syringe feed, especially as he was producing very few poos, but only to syringe feed half the amount as he had been eating greens and dandelions by himself and hopefully he would eat by himself. We got him home and he seemed bright and cheerful and within moments he was scoffing corriander and dandelions and even attempted a few pellets. He was told to come back on Thursday for a check up and his antibiotic injection.

Wednesday am, he remained bright, although had stopped eating the pellets. I managed to get him to willingly eat some corriander, cabbage and dandelions. As usual the Timothy hay, grass and alphalfa was refused, but by the evening, we were back to syringe feeding him properly as he had stopped eating again.

Thursday morning, we continued to syringe feed him as nearly all poos had stopped. Took him in for his antibiotic injection and check up and was advised to carry on syringe feeding him and try weetabix with him to get him eating (to which he showed no interest). Next appointment for his check up and antibiotic jab was to be tomorrow morning (Saturday). I mentioned that he appeared to be going downhill and whether he should have Metacam, but she didn't seem to think that was necessary, or to give him a gut stimulant.

Today, I have had him sitting on my lap, and although he seems cheerful, is still not eating of his own accord so am syringe feeding every 2 to 3 hours and giving him a big fuss. I can't help thinking the lack of eating is due to the pain from the abscess and no pain relief.

I'm at work at the moment till the early hours of the morning and his appointment is at half ten tomorrow and have left my boyfriend syringe feeding him. We are at least, finally getting poos out of him on an increasing scale, but they are typicallly stasis like hard and small.

At present, his medications are Maxalon, Zantac, Baytril, Periactin (due to an unexplained fur loss at the same time, possibly mites) and Duphapen antibiotic injections every other day. I feel he should still be having gut stimulant intections and Metacam.

Can anyone shed some ideas or advice on what to say to the vet tomorrow or any further suggestions of what to do for him. I'm desperately worried about him and I can't help but wondering after putting up with severe pain and being backwards and forwards in the car for 12 days, how much longer he's going to carry on.

Appologies for such a long post!
 
Its seems simple enough, he needs pain relief !!
You are absolutely correct.

I bet the Vet would expect analgesia if he/she had a Dental abscess ...............

Personally I would absolutely INSIST on regular analgesia. If Vet continues to refuse this I'd first take the Rabbit to another Vet straight away and then make a formal complaint about the initial Vet to both the Practice itself with a copy to the RCVS.

A Rabbit in pain wont eat,their guts slow down and they can go into GI stasis. I'd be telling the Vet its not Rocket Science its basic common sense !!

Sorry to go off on one :oops: but these sort of situations make me so angry.
You are clearly doing absolutely all you can for your Bun.

I feel certain that with adequate analgesia he will feel able to eat a bit more for himself.

As an aside the Zantac is not only an anti GI ulcer med but it also increases the rate of gastric emptying. So it will have some beneficial effects on gut motility.

Good luck at the Vets tomorrow.
 
Thanks for your advice. I know what you mean about getting angry with the vets, as it shouldn't be the client's responsibility to have to tell the vet what to do.

Will insist on pain relief for him tomorrow and keep you updated.
 
Thanks for your advice. I know what you mean about getting angry with the vets, as it shouldn't be the client's responsibility to have to tell the vet what to do.

Will insist on pain relief for him tomorrow and keep you updated.

Did your Rabbit have skull radiographs taken ? I am wondering if the abscess is actually the tip of the iceberg and that he may also have infection in his actual jawbone (osteomyelitis) This condition is very painful and if your Bun did have radiographs and the Vet found osteomyelitis aswell as the abscess then the failure to provide ongoing analgesia really is unforgivable.

Perhaps you could print these off and take them with you :

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=500

http://www.mohrs.org/hrswebpg8.html
 
Yes. They did say that as he was so poorly, they'd actually managed to get him to stay still enough to get some x-rays done of his skull and didn't mention the infection having spread any further, but I will ask tomorrow and take those documents in, thanks.

The picture of the bun in the first document is the spitting image of my Benjy. Could almost be his double!
 
Yes. They did say that as he was so poorly, they'd actually managed to get him to stay still enough to get some x-rays done of his skull and didn't mention the infection having spread any further, but I will ask tomorrow and take those documents in, thanks.

The picture of the bun in the first document is the spitting image of my Benjy. Could almost be his double!

Awwww well he is lovely :love:

I really hope he will feel more comfortable soon.
 
try these tricks

1 of my bridge bun Little Happy was like that, and the root of the problem is not eating hay. AT the time, I don't know how to fix the problem. But now I have some new idea:

1) get your bun some hay cookie

2) Get some blackberry or raspberry, smash it via juicer. You need about 6 oz. Get some hay stem, cut the stem in 1 mm length, mixed it w/ the blackberry. Put the mixture in a 35 ml syringe and force feed your bun.

3) The hay is also necessary as it helps them wear off the on growing molars in their mouth. If your bun doesn't have hay stem daily, eventually his molar will overgrow, then you need to have teeth surgery. Hay stem greatly reduce the growing of molar (teeth)

If there is more than say 7% pellet, then your bun will eat the pellet, not the hay. As they love pellets. So you need to control and downsize the pellet and focus primarily on hay, especially hay stem. You always give an unlimited amount of hay at all time, far more than enough that should last for days, then refill them when they run low.

4) Hold a bundle of hay stem in front of your bun, they hate things in front of them, so they will try to bite it off, as they bite it off, they will eat some of it. You have to hope that as your bun is used to the hay, he'll eat more
 
Thanks, both of you for your advice. Will definitely try the hay ideas. At the moment, Benjy is looking at me in disgust as his sample pack of 6 different hays arrived today from the Hay Experts and he has turned his nose up and the wheat and oat one, which although is not the greatest health wise, I'd heard it was the yummiest.

Took him to the vets today and mentioned he appeared to be in pain to which, thankfully he has now been given a Metacam jab, with talks of him taking it home in the oral form if he responds to it. When I asked why he had had no pain relief the last few days, I was told it was because Metacam increases the acidity in the stomach. All very well, I thought, but if the rabbit is in too much pain to eat, then it's worth the risk!

Anyway, he's still on syringe food as not eating by himself. I managed to finally get him to eat some soft bits of cabbage when I returned home from work yesterday and have left some dandelions, hay and a few pellets out in the hope he'll start munching.

The vet did say, after giving him his antibiotic jab that the abcess has started to get bigger, and the worry is that although it initially had no bone involvement it now seems to be spreading, and surgery may be needed, Going to see how he gets on with the pain relief over the weekend and he's back to see the head vet on Monday lunchtime.

Keeping my fingers crossed for him.
 
I read the title and though 'pain' (been on this forum too long...)
If a bun won't eat hay, it is worth collecting long, wild grasses for them. The one with the seed head that children use as a 'dart' and, gets into dogs ears and paws, has particularly soft, succulent leaves that rabbits seen to enjoy, I find :)
Don't forget to offer herbs such as parsley to tempt him :)
 
When I asked why he had had no pain relief the last few days, I was told it was because Metacam increases the acidity in the stomach. All very well, I thought, but if the rabbit is in too much pain to eat, then it's worth the risk!

.

But the Vet had already prescribed Zantac which reduces the acidity of the stomach !!...........................Hey-ho..................:roll:

Anyways, so pleased that you were able to get some pain relief for him. It will only last 24 hours though so if you have none for tomorrow dont be surprised if he stops eating again

You could try making his pellets soft by soaking them in boiled water and allowing them to cool.
 
Thanks for the advice folks. Will try all your ideas. Am getting even more increased about my vet's bunny knowledge as she stated the pain relief would last a couple of days, so am hoping that he won't start going backwards tomorrow.

He's had a bright afternoon and even now is going as far as to sit on my lap and more or less willingly syringe feed him without having to wrap him up, and have left him munching corriander... (have bought some parsley too) and sniffing, (well that's a start anyway) some readigrass and a few dandelion leaves.

Am now at work, but will try the pellet mushing trick when I get back tonight.
 
U/d..... A tooth just popped out his abscess!

I've just had a phone call from my boyfriend who said when he was syringe feeding him, something white started protruding from his abscess at the bottom of his jaw. He pulled it slighly and more came forward, nearly the length of a matchstick and what was it? Part of his tooth came out!

The bizarre thing is... Benjy is a gummy bunny, so he has no teeth. He phoned the emergency vet who said what must have happened is that the tooth can't have been removed completely when he had his dental a couple of years ago, and had started to grow downwards, causing the pain and abscess and it can happen on occasions.

Apparantly Benjy almost breathed a sigh of relief, as it was removed and is now asleep in the litter tray, flopped on his side. Have been advised to keep an eye on him, but hopefully his problems should start clearing up now and if he deteriorates to bring him straight in, if not to bring the tooth in monday morning! How bizarre!
 
there is a type of hay, which is a sweet hay. I don't remember the name, you have to ask around. You can mix it w/ timothy hay and see if your bun will go for it.

You can do 70% sweet hay + 30% timothy hay on week 1
then do 50% - 50% on week 2
then 30% sweet hay + 70% timothy hay on week 3
 
I've just had a phone call from my boyfriend who said when he was syringe feeding him, something white started protruding from his abscess at the bottom of his jaw. He pulled it slighly and more came forward, nearly the length of a matchstick and what was it? Part of his tooth came out!

The bizarre thing is... Benjy is a gummy bunny, so he has no teeth. He phoned the emergency vet who said what must have happened is that the tooth can't have been removed completely when he had his dental a couple of years ago, and had started to grow downwards, causing the pain and abscess and it can happen on occasions.

Apparantly Benjy almost breathed a sigh of relief, as it was removed and is now asleep in the litter tray, flopped on his side. Have been advised to keep an eye on him, but hopefully his problems should start clearing up now and if he deteriorates to bring him straight in, if not to bring the tooth in monday morning! How bizarre!

Poor bunny! That must have been really uncomfortable :shock:
 
Blimey you'd think that'd show up on Xray.................:?

Poor Bunny, I hope he feels much more comfortable now. I bet your bf nearly fainted !!
 
Thanks for the abscess link, Happy Hopping. Unfortunately my work has blocked the link, but will have a look at it when I get home.

Well, he seems to be on the mend, since the tooth incident. Don't know about my bf nearly fainting. I nearly did when I got home and saw the size of it! Slightly concerned as to whether they actually did xrays for them not to notice that in the first place.

He seems to be becoming more interested in food. Ate a bit of redigrass yesterday, chopped up with corriander but rejected the oat and wheat grass. Still no pellet eating, so syringe feeding him, but he's happily eating greens and before I left this afternoon, I picked him some fresh grass which for the first time ever, he is wolfing down and a few dandelion leaves.
 
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Thanks for the abscess link, Happy Hopping. Unfortunately my work has blocked the link, but will have a look at it when I get home.

Well, he seems to be on the mend, since the tooth incident. Don't know about my bf nearly fainting. I nearly did when I got home and saw the size of it! Slightly concerned as to whether they actually did xrays for them not to notice that in the first place.

He seems to be becoming more interested in food. Ate a bit of redigrass yesterday, chopped up with corriander but rejected the oat and wheat grass. Still no pellet eating, so syringe feeding him, but he's happily eating greens and before I left this afternoon, I picked him some fresh grass which for the first time ever, he is wolfing down and a few dandelion leaves.

Awwwwww bless him I do hope he is now feeling much more comfortable.

I'd ask to see the Xrays and also ask why the 'tooth' was not noticed.
 
Just an update on Benjy.

He seems to be doing well. He's making us play Gordon Ramsay for him and chop corriander in with everything. Have managed to get him to eat a little hay, as long as the corriander is chopped in with that, plus some grass and dandelions and he's munching on his veg. Today I've also got him eating mushed down pellets with a little water and suprise suprise.... corriander chopped in it, so had eliminated the need to syringe feed him thanfully at last!

The vet has him now on metacam at home, which seems to have his pain under control and due to him getting so stressed in the car, has suggested he teaches us tomorrow how to do his antibiotic injections at home, and fingers crossed he will continue to make progress.

A couple of questions though. As Benjy is a "gummy bunny" and only has his back teeth, due to his bad start in life, I think that may be why he isn't too hay keen. Does it make too much of a difference if I am collecting grass for him to eat on a daily basis?

Also, are injections particularly hard to give? I'm a little nervous of getting a bubble of air in his blood or something, or hurting him! Silly I know!

Thanks for everyone's help and advice over the last few days. It really has been appreciated.:)
 
Very pleased to hear your bunny is doing so well, you are doing a great job, sounds like your bun is responding well to the pain meds (of course!!) well done for pursuing that with your vet....should make a big difference to your bunny's well being and interest in eating.
You won't get air in the blood giving antibiotics as you won't be giving them intravenously - just sub-cutaneously, under the skin, it's not too difficult and you'll get used to it, practice makes perfect:)
Grass daily is great! don't worry about that, it's high in fibre and wears the teeth well, as long as you introduce it gradually if he's not used to eating it he should be fine with it - buns are designed to eat grass:)
 
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