Poorly bunny - Abscess on jaw advice please

I have a bunny called midnight, he's 3yrs & Iwe've had him since he was tiny.

Some months ago I took him to the vet for a myxi booster and she said that she felt a small lump on his jaw line. She didn't do the myxi jab but checked his teeth and told me he needed to get his teeth wrasped? He went in and whilst he was having it done she removed a tooth which she said was loose and had a little abscess.
He went in to the vet 2-3 x a week for the next 5 weeks to have antibiotics and then went in for a 2nd op to have the abscess cleaned out. The twice weekly injections continued until last week when the vet said that the injections were not helping just prolonging a bad outcome. He's been having baytrill twice a day for months now and I'm stil giving it to him. He is eating normally abd behaving the same as always.
Today I noticed that the abscess had burst or that the clump of hard skin/fur/pus had pulled away from the skin. It looks so messy, I am worried that it might be sore? What can I do? Can I clean it? If so what with? Please can someone give me some advice. I will be calling the vet first thing in the morning. I am very sad that my vet thinks we cannot save him as I love him very much but I do not want him to suffer

I dont have any advise on cleaning- but salt water is normally recommended to stop it getting infected, although it will be painfull at first.

As for the absess- have they tried a different antibiotic? There are many out there and some bunnies are resistant to some. The only other option is getting a second opinion from another vet on the options or to see if they offer any other advice on treating it.

Is he on on any pain relief? Just wondering- how come he has to go into the vets for injections, rather than you being given oral antibiotics? Stress doesnt help buns recover, and going to the vets 2-3 times a week is more stressful than a quick syringe of medicine, or even putting it onto food if he'll eat it!

I hope someone can come on here with more advise soon! Do they not have an emergancy number? Many vets will allow you to phone and provide you advise aslong as you bring them the next day, my vet did and got me an early appointment and it really helped. Good luck, sending vibes

Please don't give up yet, my Tinkerbell also had a jaw absess and the prognosis was shaded to say the least. But, she came through it and she was with us for another year afterwards.

Here is our story http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=132520

Baytril is probably not the most effective anit-biotic that you can use by itself, but alongside other anit-biotics it can provide some back up help. What were the anti-biotic injections?

Yes, it will be incredibly sore, so I would suggest getting some pain killers at the very least.

Have you asked your vet to teach you how to do the injections? That might make it easier on both of you.

Also, did the opposing tooth get taken out as well as the one related to the infection?

Do what you feel is best for your bunny. If this is finding a different vet and trying something else, or getting suggestions here for different medication to ask about, or saying enough is enough, as long as you do what you think is best for your bunny, you won't go wrong. Listen to your gut instinct.

When Kermit had an abscess i flushed/cleaned it out with diluted hibiscrub, tried to take any pus out that i could and packed it with manuka honey. This cleared it up really well.
Now im not saying that it would deffo work for your bun, but at this stage i think it would be worth a try.
Manuka honey with a high UMF value is best, like 25 or above. You can get this in holland and barratt, its about £15 a jar though.

Here is the thread when kermit has an abscess... http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=170910&highlight=kermit+abscess

Just to reiterate what Kermit said about the manuka honey. One of our buns had an abscess on the jawline which burst in a similar way to what you have described. Our vet recommended manuka honey and although I was rather dubious I followed her advice and it was amazing. The abscess cleared up completely to the extent that even the vet was surprised.

Good luck ... and vibes for the poor bun.

Poorly bunny - Abscess on jaw advice please

Midnight has an emergency appointment at the vet at 4.40pm today

I gave this link to a friend of mine:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/abscess_management.PDF

Having not been through this myself, I can't say for certain but from what I have learnt from research and other members on here I would suggest using sterile water to clean the abcess site (or hibiscrub I should think would be ok too). I too would pack the wound and clean it regularly and repack using a high UMF Manuka honey or antibiotic impregnated beads/dressings.

I would also suggest that the vet takes a swab from the 'abcess wall' not just the pus in order to find an appropriate antibioitc. I agree that baytril is probably not sufficient alone to deal with the infection, especially if there is bone infection - osteomyelitis, which would require much more aggressive antibiotic therapy and and a more 'penetrative' antibiotic - this would mean most likely a pencillin or cephalosporin but 'by injection' only as orally these can cause clostridia ovegrowth in the guts and be fatal. If there is bone infection, then the risks of using strong antibiotics like these, even in injectable form, are worth it IMO.
I think that Baytril and another more penetrative antibiotic is crucial to the treatment. It may be that surgery to remove any infected bone is needed as well but I'm not certain on this. Certainly removing any involved teeth is probably sensible.

In the meantime intensive care is required if bun isn't eating - this means syringe feeding to keep the guts full and the immune system fighting, probiotics alongside the antibiotics and definitely pain relief at the highest level possible using a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory like Metacam/meloxicam as the anti-inflammatory properties will be helpful to the soft tissue inflammation. If bun is really struggling with the pain then some opiate analgesics may be appropriate also, but would require the vet to administer these by injection. If bun isn't eating or drinking sufficiently then sub-cut fluids are also probably appropriate to keep hydration up.
Pain must never be underestimated in its ability to affect many systems in the rabbit's body and good pain relief is essential to the overall 'emotional' state of the rabbit and its ability to fight infection.

Good luck and I hope that with your vet you can perhaps try a few alternative treatments. Hoping for a positive outcome for you.

Antibiotics I am thinking of would be Depocillin - injectable penicillin (as Bicillin not licensed in this country) and the cephalosporin - Ceporex - one of these alongside the Baytril which is a floxacin antibiotic I think?
I should think a combination of two types is your best bet. There may be other suitable antibiotics .... hopefully someone else can suggest some alternatives but I would certainly mention these to your vet. Good luck

Agree with what's already been said, but would just like to add something...

A study by Marcy Moore on lab rabbits has shown that injectable penicillin needs to be administered more frequently than is often thought. See: http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

Many vets say that Pen G lasts for 3 days (or half a week in your case), but this isn't strictly true, and ideally needs to be given every other day...or even every day if no improvement is seen after a few weeks.

Your vet is correct that jaw abscesses involving bone are pretty much incurable, but the spread of infection can be slowed or even stopped. Abscesses have even been known to shrink whilst the rabbit is on penicillin, but start growing again if treatment is halted

Good luck :thumb:

Hello everyone Thank you for your advice.
My vet called me at lunch time (she's been treating midnight for weeks!!) She said that I should probably have him put to sleep and to prepare myself. So I called an RSPCA fosterer that I know before I went into the vets with Midnight and she told me that I should have him put to sleep
by the time I got into the vet I prepared myself for the worst and was crying before I even went into the room.

The vet said that Midnight looked well and that If he was eating and behaving normally then he was probably not in too much pain but maybe just some discomfort. He cut away the matted hair from around the abscess and I asked me what I wanted to do??
I was quite emotional but I asked him if he thought Midnight was suffering and he said that If I carried on doing what I'd been doing (baytrill .06ml twice a day) and kept an eye on him then I would just have to wait and see. He said that it would not heal and that I would have to wait for the Inevitable. I asked him if he would give him some pain relief and he did. I also asked if there was any other options like surgery or anything really but he said no.

I told the vet about the Manuka honey advice from you guys and he said that although he had never used it he had only heard good things about it and suggested that I could give it a try.

I will go and get some in the morning, I went to a few places this evening but could not find any and eventually I found some in a health shop but it was only 5mg strength and I think I read on here that I need 25mg? I'll try Holland & Barrett tomorrow.

I'm so glad I didn't let them put him to sleep but I am also sad that I may be prolonging his pain? This evening he's been eating loads!! Bunny excel, cabbage, carrot, apple he's been drinking and hopping around with his chick Lola.

I don't care about the vets bill's not cause I'm loaded because I am putting it all on a credit card but he is far more important to us than money.

I'm going to try and clean the area tomorrow with some warm water. Should I use salt or savlon in it?
Thanks again everyone

I would just clean it with the salt water and apply the honey. We use it at work and have had some good results with it, although it's not a miracle cure.
I hope your bunny manages to fight his illness xx

lilbun said:

I would just clean it with the salt water and apply the honey. We use it at work and have had some good results with it, although it's not a miracle cure.
I hope your bunny manages to fight his illness xx

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Thank you. Do you know how often I have to clean and apply honey? It's on his jaw but underneath so a little akward. Also will flies be attracted to the honey?

lulu33098 said:

Thank you. Do you know how often I have to clean and apply honey? It's on his jaw but underneath so a little akward. Also will flies be attracted to the honey?

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I would say reapply daily.
Flies might be attracted. You could keep him indoors or use a fly screen on his hutch/run

No advice but I hope Midnight can pull through this. You are doing all the right things, did your vet mention anything about trying a different antibiotic? Might be worth a go if they can do a culture test on it.

I am really pleased that it was a positive outcome.

If it helps with the manuka honey - we get ours from Waitrose. It is by Rowse and it is called 15+ High Activity.

We used to apply it once a day, but quite liberally, make sure you really get it into the wound.

Best wishes.

Good luck with treating Midnight's abcess.

I have read lots of threads on here regarding abcesses and have heard great things about Manuka Honey. I am sure they sell it in Tesco's and think I have seen links for it on here to Holland & Barrat Online where it was cheaper than instore.

Just to add, I know you said the vet gave an injectable painkiller but of course this won't last long so did he give you some oral painkillers to give at home? If not I think you should ask for some.

I wonder if you can give him something to support his immune system while he fights this - some Echinacea perhaps?

Vibes for Midnight coming your way:wave:

They do sell the honey in sainsburys etc, but i dont think its as high a UMF. The higher the UMF, the better it is for treating the abscess, so i would get the one from holland and barratt, but failing that get the highest UMF that you can.
This is the one that i used, it was cheaper in store.
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=1616&prodid=1728

I put the honey on twice a day as i felt that it kinda rubbed off through the day. I just washed it as best i could and then put the honey in the abscess, it does go slightly onto the fur round it and it quite sticky and messy, but you get better at putting it on the more you do it.

My kermit was a housebunny, so dunno about the flies being attracted.

Good luck, i really hope this works......hopefully we can add another bun onto the manuka honey healing list

Hi,

sorry to hear about your bunny. Do you know if the abscess has already affected the jaw bone?

My bunny Nosey had a plum size abscess on his lower jaw in April this year, unfortunately the infection had already gone into the jaw bone (called osteomyelitis). His therapy was lancing the abscess, flushing it with diluted hibiscrub twice daily and Engemycin injections every 3 days. I also packed the abscess with Manuka Honey (15+) and flushed it with diluted iodine solution. It took a few weeks but the abscess cleared up. He still has the swelling in his jaw bone so he gets antibiotic injections twice a week to keep the infection under controll and preventing the abscess from returning but apart from that he is a happy bunny with no problems.

I hope your bunnies abscess will clear up, you already had great advice from the others .

Okay, I've been putting off reading this thread for a while because I have a similar problem with Grimlock but I want to add my support.

Grimlock's abscess was also found when they rasped his teeth but it's inside his mouth on the jaw. It had melted his bottom incisors. So now he has no incisors and an abscess that will probably never heal. I was also advised to have him put down, but he is so happy and full of life! I wouldn't let them so I saw a different vet. He was put on Baytril and painkillers for 10 days and now he's just on the Baytril and seems to be doing fine.

The vet said that Baytril is the only antibiotic they can use on rabbits, but that it's not strong enough to kill the abscess, only stop it getting worse. I was wondering if anyone else knew anything about this. Grimlock will most probably be on and off antibiotics forever to keep it under control, but my vet said as long as he's happy it's worth it and I agree. Obviously if he stops eating and gives up I'll know it's time, but I won't give up on him if he's not given up on me!

I'm phoning a specialist vet tomorrow to see if there is anything else I can do for him and I'll be sure to let you know what they say.

Anyway I decided to make a video of my bunny so I could show everyone how happy he is and how much he loves to eat. This was two days ago and it's called:

Grimlock Loves Bread

Enjoy