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Abscess & Not Eating - Help ASAP

Charlotte333

Warren Scout
Hi All

I took my rabbit Tilly to the emergency vets (Vets Now) yesterday at 5.30 pm as she had heavy breathing and wasn't eating. She had been quiet in the morning and ran away from me when I fed them but that isn't unusual as she is a nervous rabbit.

The emergency vet gave Tilly an injection of Baytril, an injection cat Metacam 0.15 and subcutaneous fluids. I was also given a sachet of Bisolvon but found this was very difficult to give to Tilly. I should have been giving her 25th of the sachet twice a day. She was also given Metoclopramide.

I tried to syringe feed Tilly critical care and fibreplex through the night but she didn't take it very easily. I went to my own vets this morning and saw a good vet but not a rabbit savvy vet. He believes that she has got an abscess on the right side of her chin. They have admitted her and will give her further fluids, Baytril and syringe feed her. I asked the vet if they can use a different antibiotic but he said that there are are only two which are safe for rabbits and you can't use them
together. He also said that you can't drain abscesses very easily and Tilly's chances aren't good as she isn't eating.

Tilly went to the vets (saw the rabbit savvy vet) a week ago for her vaccinations and everything appeared to be ok. Tilly is a dental bun and had her last dental in February. The vets have said that teeth look ok at the moment.

What can I ask the vets to do?

Help:cry::cry:
 
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It sounds as though she has a tooth root abscess and if the 'heavy breathing' was not due to pain it may be that she also has a respiratory tract infection.

There are plenty of other antibiotics which can be used, either alone or alongside Baytril. These would be 'off licence' as very few medications are licensed specifically for Rabbits. But this does NOT mean they are unsafe and a Rabbit Savvy Vet is very likely to decide to use them.

Tooth root abscesses are very problematic and require a lot of aggressive treatment. Removal of the effected tooth and root is almost always essential but if there is a lot of diseased bone this may not be an option. Jaw fractures could occur. So sometimes it is a case of trying to reduce the amount of active infection by removing as much of the abscess and necrotic tissue as possible and then having the Rabbit on long term antibiotics, pain relief and possibly daily flushing out of the abscess cavity and packing it with manuka honey.

Obviously if Tilly does have a RTI too a GA may not be possible, the risk would be too great. So the Vet may try hitting things hard with a good antibiotic and intensive nursing care to try to get her well enough for a GA and surgery.

Skull radiographs would be useful to assess the extent of the infection and bone involvement.

I hope the Rabbit Savvy Vet can help xx
 
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My heart always sinks when I read vets giving Baytril for such serious infections. My vet (rabbit specialist) openly admits to rarely using Baytril, because it simply is just not great at treating abscesses, Septrin neither. Apparently the recommended doses of Baytril just aren't effective enough. He always tends to go straight in with Depocillin injections and Marbocyl. My bun had an abscess on his chin and it was removed surgically like a tumour, and the whole capsule lifted out completely, and never reoccurred again.
 
I'm so sorry. It sounds like it was one of those things that was just so bad, nothing could have saved her. At least you tried and did everything for her, just so sorry that she didn't make it. Binky free Tilly xx
 
Thank you to everyone for their messages:wave::wave:

Tilly passed away whilst the vets were trying to give her treatment. She had a serious respiratory infection and an abscess on her chin which didn't appear to be very large to me. I saw it as the vets had shaved her chin when they were trying to give her treatment. I took Smudge to visit her at the vets after she passed away. I couldn't face bringing her home:roll::roll:

I find the vets to be frustrating - there are two vets who are more rabbit savvy than the others but not perfect. They will prescribe Dog Metacam (the emergency vet only used cat metacam) when I ask for it after operations etc and check the rabbits throughly when doing their vaccinations etc. However they will only use Baytril even when I've asked for a different antibiotic. I'd like to find a proper rabbit savvy vet but it seems to be difficult to find one in the local area. I need to find one who is close enough so I can go to appointments after work or at weekends especially if I need to get there in an emergency.
 
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