been to the vets :(

went to the vets today with belle
the vet was very nice and knew what he was talking about really nice to have a vet like him he was compassionate and generally cared for animals
he checked belle over and complimented me on how well conditioned her coat is and how healthy she looked apart from her face he checked that over and gave me the bad news
belle has got an abscess he said he has been dealing with a rabbit with abscess for 2 years and he was telling me that they kept coming back and was worse costing the owner alot of money, he said the bad thing with abscesses is that they will most likely come back and he said that eventually she may have to be pts
but he is trying her on antibiotics and pain killers for 10 days if it does not go she will have to go back to the vets and we will discuss what to do then,
i got ever so upset when he said the put to sleep bit its my worse fear
i was crying but glad he told me strait and did not give me false hope
please belle fight this abscess don't give up little lady

I hope the vet can help her.

Lots of vibes for Belle!

Jaw abcesses are notoriously difficult if this is where it is, and no they are not always successful to treat, but sometimes they are and sometimes they will go into remission for years. Abcesses do have a habit of coming back BUT with a combination of strong antibiotics (off license), surgical removal if possible and ongoing pain relief/anti-inflammatories there is every chance that bun will make a recovery so don't think about pts just yet at all x

Sending vibes for Belle. I hope the antibiotics work. xx

vibes for Belle xxx

Sending vibes for Belle. Try to stay positive for her, Prettylupin has given some good advice, so try to think of that. I can only think how worried you must be though as those words are what every rabbit owner dreads x

Awww fingers crossed. Your vet sounds bun savvy, I'm sure he will do all he can!

prettylupin said:

Jaw abcesses are notoriously difficult if this is where it is, and no they are not always successful to treat, but sometimes they are and sometimes they will go into remission for years. Abcesses do have a habit of coming back BUT with a combination of strong antibiotics (off license), surgical removal if possible and ongoing pain relief/anti-inflammatories there is every chance that bun will make a recovery so don't think about pts just yet at all x

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thank you for replying and yes its a jaw abscess and the pts is defenatly not on my cards just yet i will do everything i can before that option
the vet has put her on baytril
which luckily i learned how to administer at college
but then she is on metacam oral which says apply 10 drops today and then 5 drops for 10 days but how can tell if i am putting the right amount of drops in :?

Oh bless Belle - I'm sorry you came away feeling really down about things

But as prettylupin has said jaw abscesses can be treated & treatment is successful We've had 3 buns with jaw abscesses this year - Libby & Teddy - both are thankfully doing very well at the moment

Both had them surgically removed & then I had to flush them out daily, which I then packed with manuka honey (it's got excellent healing properties). They were also on metacam daily & an antibiotic called Zithromax - sadly I found that baytril didn't do a great deal with abscesses. Quite often they need antibiotics which are stronger - Zithromax is a human antibiotic & isn't licencsed for use in bunnies, but our vet agreed with me it was the best way forward for our two If baytril doesn't work you might want to talk to your vet about using Zithromax & possible surgically removing the abscess if that can be done depending on where it is on the jaw.

Noah has also had a jaw abscess removed, which hasn't come back - sadly however, he has also had to have 2 very recent ops to remove an abscess from his ear We don't know yet if those ops will be successful as his last op was only last Thursday.

As far as the metacam goes - I must admit I tend to syringe it out to get the dose prescribed, so not sure drop wise. Could you ring them back for advice on that?

I know it's hard, but try to stay positive for Belle - hopefully she can beat this abscess given time & the necessary treatment Sending her lots of get well vibes.

Feel free to pm me if you want to chat further xxx

thankyou bunny addict i hope your buns will be as good as new when better
lots of vibes for your buns 2,
i will try my best for her but i always think of the worse it breaks my heart 2 think of it but me and the vet will do are best if the metacam does not work i will suggest the other one you have been using
thankyou

I agree that baytril is rarely if ever strong enough to treat the bacteria inside a jaw abcess. Ideally the abcess should be excised and abraded and a sample from the abcess wall taken for culture to find which abx it is most sensitive to, however if bun has been on baytril this may skew the results.

Vets have to, in general, go with baytril first as part of the prescribing cascade but with something like a jaw abcess they can jump this and go to off license antibiotics. Generally something like a penicillin, metronidazole, zithromycin, tetracyline, cephalosporins etc are far more effective on abcesses. Baytril just will not get to the hub of the infection.

The prescribing standard for metacam is 0.4-0.6mg/kg of bunny - this should be on your vet's drug prescribing database and is far more accurate than doing it by drops alone as you can then use a ml syringe and give bun the level of pain relief and anti-inflammatory they need. If your vet has any doubts or concerns then I would suggest that they contact an exotics specialist somewhere like GWR or Bristol Rabbit Clinic for further advice which can be given by phone/email/fax etc.