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facial abcess

mandybunny

New Kit
Hi, my rabbit "Bunny" has had an abscess for a few months now, after 2 months of antibiotic injections and Metacam anti inflammatory meds, there has been slight improvement, but this lump seems to be so resistant to the Depocillin. One vet wants to cut it like an orange and clean it but not close it, another wants to scoop it all off risking losing the eye and not being able to close it. So, i have decided to give a rest from the injections and try colloidal silver for a month - unless it worsens in which case i will go straight back to the vets. Any one had any success with this method? I am using 1ml twice daily in her drinking water + a cool compress with a few drops which she loves. The first week has passed and she is full of energy, eating well, no change to size of lump.
Thanks Mandy
 
How bad is the abscess?

Any that I have dealt with have been opened, pus cleaned out as much as possible, flushed with dilute iodine or similar, then Manuka honey with a high UMF factor, I use 25+, applied. All abscesses that I have dealt with have cleared up with this method and Injectable antibiotics (Ceporex).

I know that some abscesses are more aggresive, but the Manuka may be worth a try.
 
Thanks Kermit,
I very nearly got some Manuka honey today, but i wouldn't know what to do with it...?

The abscess is a firm lump aprox the size of 2 pence piece in diameter and at the highest is raised to about 1cm, no weeping at all, and she doesn't display any obvious discomfort, it came up after an eye infection pea size and just grew. The size has not changed in the last 5-6 weeks although it has softened slightly...
I would like to take your suggestion to the vet , it sounds sensible to me...
 
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Yip, I would wanna burst the abscess and try to see if it will clear up with Manuka. If an abscess is left it can spread to the bone, which can be much worse :(
 
Rabbit abscesses are very different to abscesses in any other animal. In a rabbit the body forms a thick wall around it so it's hard to penetrate with normal antibiotics. The best way to deal with them is to remove the abscess as a whole, like you would a tumour. If any is left it can still grow/spread. It must be a very difficult decision if doing that would risk the eye. :?

In my rabbits the abscesses have been on the jaw. I have had a lot of success with my vet removing as much of the abscess as she possibly can, in once case she even scraped away some of Smoo's jaw bone to try and get it all. Then I used depocillin injections once it had been removed to get anything that was left. This worked really well but the abscess came back. This time I caught it when it was small and put her on the injections straight away. It shrink right down and disappeared. Unfortunately it has come back again so we're on injections again. :(

A lot of vets like to remove as much as possible and then leave it open and have the owner clean it out each day to stop it healing up. The idea is that if it heals up on the outside the infection can grow inside but if you keep it open it heals up from the inside, but the rabbit has to have an open wound for a while and it looks pretty drastic. Manuka honey is supposed to be excellent but I've never used it.

I hope you can come up with a way of dealing with the abscess. They're so horrible in rabbits. :(
 
:wave: thanks - i am bearing everything in mind... 10 days with the colloidal silver , and so far abscess appears to be a bit smaller, Bunny is totally ok in every other way...
BTW Grimlock is so lovely, Bunny loves clothes and curtains too! :)
 
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