Manuka honey for abscess

Hi everyone,
In our latest fight against jaw abscesses we are trying mancuna honey on Maddies wound. Not done this before so wondered if anyone has any tips for applying it successfully please? I am imagining it to be a bit of trouble at the moment!

Thanks all
MB

I have used Manuka Honey a lot, it is just fantastic!

To apply it into an abscess witout as much mess as i could, i put it on a cotton bud, then press the honey on the bud into the abscess, then kinda twist the cotton bud and move it away......hope that made sense. When i was trying to apply it with my finger, it just kept getting stuck to my finger and not staying on the abscess.

Tinsel would be an excellent person to talk to. She used it in Toadstool's wound to excellent effect!

We used it for my rabbit Tipsy who developed an abscess on her tummy by her hind leg, which then seeded

The abscesses were lanced open (by vet), cleaned out with water and then iodine and then we syringed manuka honey in.... it was quite a messy business, even though the honey was thick, Tipsys body warmth would make it runny. This was done twice a day. She was also on some drugs... pain meds obviously, and some sort of antibio,.... Baytril to begin with, but they we treid a wide range of things.

Eventually, she was given a few penicillin, as a 'kill or cure'. Thankfully for us, it cured. I thought I was going to lose her..... she had 3 ops, many vet visits and lots of vet trips and baths in those few months.

When she was rid of her last one, her fur on her back end was still dyed kind of orangey from the iodine, and her skin was a bit dry, I guess from all the baths. But she did survive and live a normal life for just over a year after.

Good luck!

You need a high UMF Manuka honey - 25+ if possible.

prettylupin said:

You need a high UMF Manuka honey - 25+ if possible.

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Yeah, and the decent stuff costs a bit more, but its worth it. I saw manuka honey in tesco the other day, I was surprised! I think it was only active 5 though.

Thanks everyone.

The vets have ordered the honey for me so I'm assuming they've got the good stuff!

We've got a baytril and flagyl antibiotic combo as this gave us 8 months abscess free from the last operation. They normally leave in an antibiotic bead but this time we're trying the honey too.

I thought I'd read something about warming the honey before applying it to make it easier to syringe in? Or is it better on a cotton bud? Guess it's a matter of trial and error?

Fingers crossed...

Oh an afterthought - her husbun won't try to lick the honey will he???

Hi :wave:
I've seen manuka honey used for human leg ulcers as a student. It was fantastic. It's beginning to make a come back, & has been a massive help for buns, cos it makes their thick pus much much easier to drain out too!

It's very important to flush it out every day.

Yes you can warm it to make it easy to syringe in, but it's best to warm it in small quantities in a container in a bowl of hand warm water so as not to rewarm it several times. If it gets too hot the sugar crystalises out when it cools & it loses its effectiveness.

I'd try the cotton bud technique 1st.

Yes, both buns may well try to groom it off, but there's a good chance that the jaw abcess is too painful for Maddy to allow any grooming there.

Wishing you lots of success.

Just to update... Things seem to be ok once I got over being squeamish!! the honey is going in ok on a cotton bud but I'm not sure about the flushing aspect. How much would I need to do? I'm syringing about 10mls in but no puss comes out. I think I can see a little bit inside the wound or is this the honey?

Will the puss come out quite easily if there is any there?

Mad Bunster said:

Just to update... Things seem to be ok once I got over being squeamish!! the honey is going in ok on a cotton bud but I'm not sure about the flushing aspect. How much would I need to do? I'm syringing about 10mls in but no puss comes out. I think I can see a little bit inside the wound or is this the honey?

Will the puss come out quite easily if there is any there?

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The flushing is the grim bit.... thankfully, my mum was nurse to my bun and had a stomach of steel.

What we used to do was wrap the bun in a towel and place her over the sink, using a large syringe filled with warm water to try and flush out push but sometimes we had to be a bit rougher and ... erm..... squeeze, but Tipsys were on her leg which isnt as sensative as the jaw?? Then we would flush out with iodine I think it was, dry her (by now, her rear was a bit wet) and then insert the honey.

I think you might want to ask the dr about cleaning out the abscesses... I dont think you can be as rough as we were because the face is obviously more sensitive :? We had the vet seeing Tipsy every few days to check progress and give us more meds, he would open up and clean out any new abscesses. And give her an injection for pain (she would have this on top of metacam, just to make sure we were staying on top of pain) She had about 3 ops a month apart.

It took us almost 4 or 5 months to get her free of them.... and to begin with, they were cleaned out twice a day, then once a day then eventually, it was just checking the healing wounds remained clear.

Ps: The puss is thick, and quite hard to get out we found, like toothpaste, except wont break up with water, and it smells more awful that yucky cheese

I've only seen manuka honey used in a rabbit abcess where the whole of the top of the abcess had been removed. (marsupialisation operation)

The fantastic thing about the honey was that it changed the pus from thick cream cheese consistancy to more liquid, & "bitty" & easier to flush out. The floor of the abcess soon became bright red & a bit knobbly (healthy healing granulation tissue)

Perhaps you could see the vet nurse to check all is OK & show you a good technique, if you're not sure.

The pus is hard to come out, i dodnt get pus out of Kermit's abscess all the time, but when it came out it was really thick. A small bit of it popped out and i pulled it and a whole thick pus bit came, was really rank!

Even if you dont get all the pus out, the honey still works (although works better with pus out!!)

I am using the honey just now on my Inca's flower and it seems to be working it's magic

Thanks so much everyone. I've had a good look tonight with a torch and I think it's going ok but I will go see the vets and check I'm doing it right.

I did wonder if it needed a squeeze (gross) as the edges seem swollen but this could be from the actual op as her jaw is normally swollen for a few days post op.

It doesn't smell so that's a good sign I'm assuming?!

No smell is an excellent sign.
Most of the "smelly types" of bacteria are killed by oxygen. We think that 1 of the ways that manuka honey works, is that it contains peroxides which break down, & blast the bugs with oxygen!

They don't like the high sugar content either. (crystalised fruits preserved in sugar don't go "off") The sugar helps to reduce the swollen tissues, by sucking the water out by osmosis. This helps oxygenated blood containing the ABx to get nearer to the abscess, & kill the bugs on the other side too.

It's great stuff cos we don't get resistant bacteria either.

Sounds as if you're doing a great job.
(My mouse has a stutter :roll

Interesting! Thanks for the info Thumps - my family think I've been fooled by my vet when I told them about the honey but now I can give them the details!

With the infection being in the bone, will it still work do you think as there will never be that renewed healthy tissue... does it have to be on soft tissue?

Mad Bunster said:

With the infection being in the bone, will it still work do you think as there will never be that renewed healthy tissue... does it have to be on soft tissue?

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I used Manuka honey on my Inca's toes, they were in a terrible mess after she had EC.
She was already deformed, then she got EC which made the back legs weak, so she kept on catching her feet in random places. She got an infection in her feet and it just wouldnt heal up, the vet said it was to the bone. There was thick pus round all her toes. I used Manuka Honey on it, and noe her feet are so much better. No infection there at all and healthy tissue on all of her toes

Ah that's great news for Inca, thanks for sharing!

I also recommend depocillin injections. This worked for Grim's jaw abscesses and Dexter's. Both of these were in the root canal of the incisors and Grim's had worked into the bone.

Jenova said:

I also recommend depocillin injections. This worked for Grim's jaw abscesses and Dexter's. Both of these were in the root canal of the incisors and Grim's had worked into the bone.

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I think Tipsy had some of this for hers too.... Bayril didnt touch them.

I'm a bit late, but want to agree with the others that you need really big guns ABx for bone.

The big problem with bone, is that the swelling from the infection is in a very tight place, so pressure builds up fast, cutting off the blood supply (& ABx). The living tissues dies & the bugs have a feast. (That's why it's so painful too) Anything to reduce that swelling & pressure is great!