Best way to treat jaw bone infection / abcess

Is jaw bone infectection cause by abcess or is an abcess caused by a jaw bone infection? Also how have anyone had jaw abcess treated. Boris had one 6 week ago, they opened it up, ceaned it out, x rayed, but beads in, stiched it up, had 3 follow up injecions. He now has another and we have decided to take him to another vet. His lump is very hard (could this mean its not an abcess?) And under his chin, doesn't feel like its attached to him jaw this time. Our new vet has explained she would treat it differently. One option is just to treat it with injections, other is to lance then leave open to flush it ourselves then maybe continue with injections to prevent it coming back. As we go away next week we have gone with injections till we get back then maybe lance it. Is this the right option? He's not in pain, still acting normal, chasing me around for food. Just wondering any success stories and what the vet did. Also if you was to totally leave it what would happen? Xxx

It is likely that the infection started in a tooth root. If so the infection is unlikely to fully resolve unless the offending tooth and root are extracted.

Could you request a referral to a Specialist ?

Jack's-Jane said:

It is likely that the infection started in a tooth root. If so the infection is unlikely to fully resolve unless the offending tooth and root are extracted.

Could you request a referral to a Specialist ?

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Would a tooth problem not show on a x ray?

GrunBunMum said:

Would a tooth problem not show on a x ray?

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A tooth root infection should be evident on dental Xrays.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Radio/Skull_radio.htm

When Scarlet had a dental abcess whilst she was at the RSPCA they were putting the antibiotic directly into the hole where the abcess was. It took months to clear it. I will try and find her notes and see what it was if it might help.

None of 4 vets we have seen have said anything about tooth roots. They have all seen x rays. I thought the abcess was caused by jaw bone infection. They have all said teeth are great but I'm asuming root problems are not noticable in a mouth inspection. He's on depocillin injections every 3 days till we get, our prev vet had him on alamycin???

Can you get to Harrogate to see Frances Harcourt Brown (or one of her crew) - THE bunny teeth specialist. Well worth the trip if you can get a referral, or book yourself in as a new client. Her rates are normal vet rates as well.

Epp I wrote a massive in depth reply and the laptop shut down!

The basis of it was that I experienced an abscess with an elderly rabbit called Jake with an abscess at the bottom of his ear. They commonly spread to the bone and even when treatment destroys the abscess, when they infection has reached the bone they frequently re-occur. In young bunnies though it's often possible to just treat them as and when they appear.

I found flushing the abscess was the most effective method, very intrusive and a bit distressing for me but I had a very strong bond with my Jake and he trusted me.

As you probably know, rabbit produce a completely different kind of pus from a cat or dog. Very thick, they're body's natural defense system fights the infection by creating this thick wall around it. This unfortunately causes the abscess. The catch 22 is that some, depending on where they are, cause the rabbit no bother and some owners choose not to treat them, this creates a time bomb as the contents will eventually become toxic. Opening the wound and hitting the heart of it hard with antibiotics is the best option.

The problem that I had treating Jake was that his age (7) meant anesthetic was risky and the medication upset the delicate digestive system all bunnies have.
The first treatment however was a great success and had he been younger I would have happily continued to treat him as and when the abscesses occurred. Apparently this is anything from 6-18 months.

I choose to flush the abscess daily and baitryl was inserted. Within 6 weeks it was completely gone. It re-occurred 6 months later and purely due to his age he didn't have the fight left in him so I choose not to treat him again.

I found the best help came from an 'exotic vet' also. I always assumed this would involve reptiles, birds etc but apparently exotic vets have a great interest in bunnies as they require a great deal of knowledge to treat. Hitting the abscess fast and hard is usually the best method and (as I said before) although it's invasive it's the most effective treatment.
I don't know the age of your bun but if he/she is you and otherwise fit I would personally recommend this treatment over the beads.

I hope this helps in some way

He is 5 n half year old. He has had the beads so this obviously hasnt worked as its only been 6 weeks. Im going tonight with him for his injestion so ill question the x rays and teeth with her. Im hoping treating this one a different way might just work, we are prepared to try whatever it takes and if it mean every 6 month at vets with another as long as hes happy we are.

Least I know now leaving it is not an option.

Hes a good bun just gets a bit stressed going vets but we should be ok flushing it out.

Thanks everyone

Shimmer said:

Can you get to Harrogate to see Frances Harcourt Brown (or one of her crew) - THE bunny teeth specialist. Well worth the trip if you can get a referral, or book yourself in as a new client. Her rates are normal vet rates as well.

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Thanks for this, wonder if they would let me get the x rays sent to them to look at for a charge, save me taking him up there. He doesnt travel well, although could take his wifey with him.

When my dental bunny had a referral, FHB used the x-rays and full history from my vet, which saved having to have more x-rays done there. She would obviously need to see your rabbit at some point, but you should get some feedback if you get a referral via your vet with the information you already have. Your vet needs to contact her and give permission for her to take over treatment.

The service at FHBs is really excellent. She fully understands the client's perspective and will save travel and costs where appropriate (eg using existing x-rays, treating same day if possible, on-site nursing / vet care for as long as needed)

The referral fee for my dental rabbit was about £80 a year ago (ie the charge to take over the case, read the notes, assess the case, etc). I had a quote via my vet for the work she thought needed doing, and she was happy for continuing care to be via my vet once the rabbit was home. The quote was quite a wide range due to the severe nature of his jaw disintegration. The bill came in very much at the lower end of the quote although quite a lot of work was done, including 2 ops.

I hope everything goes well for you.

I'm currently having the exact same battle with Charlie. I'll watch with interest, but here's charlie's story in case it helps...

Charlie had pus beneath most pf his cheek teeth on his left side and these were removed three weeks ago. We treated that infection with baytril and as it wasn't clear after a week started septrin. 5 days into that he was having difficulty eating so pus was manually removed. This did nothing so two days and lots of pain relief later we picked up a lump on his jaw and did x rays. It was an access with infection through the bone. Poor mite also had a small crack in his jaw.

The vet went in through the access site and removed pus from there and the mouth. The plan being to keep in open so we could flush ot out. Getting him on his side to do this is difficult and its a two man job but otherwise the process is fine. I'm also injecting penicillin on alternate days and keeping up with septrin and metacam.

When we took him to the vets for a check there was still lots of thick pus , which flushing out won't touch. So now we're continuing the above with a thorough clean from the vet every third d
My vets are exotic specialists and far but it would be interesting to see how you get on, especially of you go to Frances hb

Hope that helps a little x

After the first treatment there was still a very distinctive small lump on the bone on the area where the abscess was. This sounds similar to what you're describing with your bun.

I will warn you the open wound is really shocking when you first see it, I burst into tears when I went to collect him from the vet but I soon realised it bothered me far more than it bothered him.

Good luck and I hope your wee man responds to treatment as well as mine did

Molly Varga who may be nearer to you is also a well respected bunny specialist (she is in Cheshire) if you can't get to see FHB.

Really stuck with it all. We have paid out nearly 600 pound so far and were gonna struggle if it gets more than another 300. Its stressing me out and effecting my work. I'm not sure he would be able to travel far, he gets really stressed. I don't even know how he's going to be with us flushing it out. Can't believe I have to go away next week and leave him. At th moment think we might have to stick with injections then lance and flush after our hols and see what that does

My total cost for the anesthesia and weeks worth of antibiotics was over£100 and then roughly 30 a week for medication for the next 6 weeks. Bare in mind I'm in the Highlands so prices probably vary. We were back each week for follow up check ups, I would be very surprised if your vet charged you for these if you go ahead.
I was exactly the same, couldn't eat couldn't sleep just anxious, worrying about the finances and distressed but as soon as I started to see results that subsided. Jake wasn't over the moon about the flushing but he just got into the routine of it after a week or so. And the more frequently I did it the more confident I was that I was doing it right and I wasn't hurting him. And once we found the right treatment the financial worry eased a little too. It was all the consultation appointments that mounted up the most before I decided to ago ahead.

Sending you good vibes

Just got back from vets who has now seen x rays from our prev vet. She is certain abcess is being caused by molar roots that will need to be removed. She is now looking into referal to specialist, I mentioned the harrogate one to her. He is 5 n half year old, is he going to be ok with having a big op? Also what sort if cost we looking at and is he kept in overnight? He is fine in himself is it best waiting will its effecting him or get it sorted now

GrunBunMum said:

Just got back from vets who has now seen x rays from our prev vet. She is certain abcess is being caused by molar roots that will need to be removed. She is now looking into referal to specialist, I mentioned the harrogate one to her. He is 5 n half year old, is he going to be ok with having a big op? Also what sort if cost we looking at and is he kept in overnight? He is fine in himself is it best waiting will its effecting him or get it sorted now

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Fees could well be less with FHB than they have been with the vets you've used so far. I've not needed any complex dental work done but basic dental work needing GA was only about £70 - £80. 24 hours of nursing care is split between 'nursing' and 'hospitalisation' fees but the two added together are just short of £20 for standard basic nursing care (ie not intensive care such as after major surgery when it's slightly dearer). I make the 20 mile journey to Harrogate for all my rabbits' needs - it will be well worth travelling double the distance to have such expertise in this case as she really is THE expert in this field.

Edit to add: FHB won't consider him at all old with this kind of surgery. My rabbit, Artie, had his kidney removed there just prior to his seventh birthday. They didn't consider age a big factor at all.

No where near what I thought it would cost. Was thinking 500-600 quid. Do you have to pay referall fee? Or does that depend on your vets? Really hope she comes back with FHB. Its about hour n half drive but if I can get my Bozza sorted it be worth it, sure if he's transported with Floz he'll be ok x

GrunBunMum said:

No where near what I thought it would cost. Was thinking 500-600 quid. Do you have to pay referall fee? Or does that depend on your vets? Really hope she comes back with FHB. Its about hour n half drive but if I can get my Bozza sorted it be worth it, sure if he's transported with Floz he'll be ok x

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I didn't pay a referral fee because I just registered there with my rabbits so they are actually registered at two practices. I've seen the referral fee referred to in posts (don't know if it's the same fee for all conditions or not) but it was about £40 or so that was mentioned. I don't see why you can't tell your vet where you want the referral to be made to, it would be hard to argue against as she is the leading expert in the field and only about 40 miles or so from you.