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Possible abscess - advice on next step PLEASE!!!

kazz

Alpha Buck
Usual routine. Last fed rabbits at 9:15pm last night. Fed this morning at 7amish. I seperate to feed as Marley is a bit chunky and faster as eating.

This morning Mia began to eat her spring greens and then left everything. I had noticed her moving the leaf around so broke it into small pieces and fed. She wasn't particularly bothered but ate it. She didn't eat all her pellets but did eat some. Whilst she was eating she seemed slightly sleepy? With her eyes. I'm wondering if this is why she has been eating/mushing faecal pellets also. She has done it everyday however only with 3 or 4.

We're booked in at the vets for this evening and I'm assuming its teeth related. Thinking about it she has been flickingone of her ears however I'm unsure which. I checked her incisors this morning and they don't look any different however I was sure if her front lips were a bit puffier than usual...

I put fresh hay in and she went straight to it, no signs of difficulty or lack of appetite. Surely this would be affected also? She was slower than normal at chewing the greens and pellets but she took the greens and had her usual interest. Sat ing in the litter tray, moved the leaf around a bit and then moved to the other side of the cage and moved it about a bit (this is whilst eating) and then left it before being encouraged with tiny bits. My guess is her problems on one side and now I'm panicking it'll be a reoccurance due to her eating habits of at one side. :(
 
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Sounds as though it is a Dental problem. Has she passed a normal amount of poo overnight ? If she is not pooing she cant wait til this evening to see a Vet.
 
Im not 100% sure whos poos are whos :( there were some where she has her usual spot at the side of the cabinet but I couldn't be sure when she'd done them. I'm at work until 4 and both in laws are at work. Fingers crossed she's alright while I'm out.
 
Well we finally got seen at 10 past 8, after some emergencies came in.

Mia flew from my arms just as I was placing her on the table to secure her :( she's such a nervous rabbit I felt awful. The vet managed to get her and when she was still he checked her mouth and ears. No lacerations on the tongue and no noticeable spurs. He said there were a couple of sharp edges but not something he would anaesthetise her for just yet. No blockages in tummy either. He said maybe a cut in her mouth?

We got home and when it came to feeding for the night i left her alone. Came back, pellets gine but still some greens. Then when i tried coaxing her to eat a couple of the bits of green. She kept lifting her head upwards (like when they pull hay from a tightly filled haynet) and then she did something really weird. Shes been taking a while chewing things but with one piece she chewed it, basically shredded it and spat out/dropped the shredded bits of greens. It reminded me of how she sometimes chews, bites up and then drops the faecal pellets she has been chewing up more so recently.

Shes going through her first moult, does this have any impact? They have a bottle and bowl to drink from. Could it be the bottle? I have seen them pull on the metal occasionally but they always use the bottle over the bowl unless they have to. Also, on the indoor cage there's one of those plastic hayracks that fasten on to the outside and they can pull the hay through. Could that have any effect on a possible cut? I do pull it through for them to start them off so its easier to get. Is the vet just fobbing me off? He said if it continues come back so I'm going to see how she is when I get home with some greens. She seems to be better eating hay... she still does the throwing her head up thing occasionally but not as much as with the greens and her appetite is there. Wouldn't Marley be affected if it was the environment?

I can't believe the worry these two cause me :(
 
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Does she have a history of dental problems? The spitting food out definitely sounds like dental issues to me. Also, they can only see 50% of the picture with an otoscope - they really need to do a GA to get a real idea of what's going on in her mouth.
 
I've had her since June and I think she was under a year old then. When she went for vaccinations I asked him to check her teeth and he said they were lovely, no spurs or anything that looked abnormal so not while she's been with me no :( After the settling in weeks shes eaten hay like a trooper, sometimes leaving some of the last bits of greens and going for the hay.

I can feel her hips on her back but they can't be seen, shes the complete opposite to Marley. Marley would eat until he pops whereas she seems to get her fill and be quite content. She always eaten slower but these last couple of days have been more so. I gave them both a bit of the excel beetroot treat. Probably a bit bigger than a 5p and she didn't move her head around or anything, just seemed to chew it for a lot longer than normal.
 
I took the bottle away wondering if she'd hurt her mouth on that.

She's better but I think thats because I'm tearing the greens up to small pieces. Shes eating faecal pellets more so now.Her poos have sometimes been little. She's binkying, grooming, munching hay as usual. I'd say she was eating her greens and pellets a little slower than normal although she did eat slower than Marley anyway.

I had a look at her incisors and then Marley's to compare. Her bottom teeth seem to fit right behind her front teeth, possibly to the point they're touching the flesh when her mouth is shut. When compared to Marley I would say her teeth are longer and when his mouth is shut, his bottom teeth don't go to the flesh and hey hardly overlap at all.

I've googled rabbits teeth but it comes up with a front view or an xray. I'm going to book her back into the vets but my confidence isn't massive. I might give them one last try and then go elsewhere. She's currently sat muching away on hay and I gave a bit if greens earlier and she shredded it again, which would mean she used her incisiors and then after a couple of shredded pieces she just ate it as normal.

When shes shifting her head it looks as if its at the right :/
 
Well it appears I'm using this space as more of a blog then :(

Mia went back to the vets, this vet was more thorough. No blockages, no teeth issues, even on the incisors she said. Gave a painkiller injection and she if that solves anythinf, if not we try antibiotics as she did see some very very slight redness in the right ear which is where I felt there may be a problem as she's been closing that eye when eating pellets or greens. The vet mentioned that it could be an abscess but that it would be difficult to tell even from an xray and that its very risky for anaesthetic too (which I knew).

So if anyone looks, and has experience with possible abscesses then please comment on your experience or procedures or what happened. She hasn't stopped eating, she just takes longer and needs for it to be in bits to eat, her right eye closes when hes chewing greens (looks sleepy), she moving her head occasionally when she eats as if trying to move away from whatever it is thats uncomfortable and eating more faecal pellets.

Thanks
 
Sorry this seems to be ongoing :(

Ash had a dental abscess.. about 2 years ago now. She wasn't exhibiting any symptoms whatsoever - she does have advanced dental problems - but she went for a routine check and our vet managed to tell just by feeling around her jaw. It was removed the following week. They are noticeable on x-rays/skull radiographs. Most vets will not be able to tell an abscess just by feeling but she was a specialist.

To be honest, this does sound like dental issues to me, and if I were you I would be asking for her to have a GA and a skull radiograph to check the situation. Ash has advanced dental problems like I said with epic tooth root elongation but when I first took her to the vet with stasis before it was diagnosed they couldn't tell without xraying that she had issues, because like I said with the otoscope they can only see 50% of the picture, and they certainly can't tell anything about tooth roots (which is what caused Ash's abscess). Have you felt under her jaw, does it feel "rocky"/harder compared to your other rabbit?

Hope she feels better soon.
 
Thanks ever so much for a reply ashbunny.

I had a good feel and felt nothing that was noticeably different. Feeding her this morning she appeared again to be uncomfortable. I've rang the vets and requested some more painkiller to get her to Wednesday. She's eating more faecal pellets too.

I think they're next going to suggest a course of antibiotics before an xray. Do you suggest I go straight for the xray? When she was explaining abscesses she said they were hard to see on an xray and that sedation was risky. Do you think this sounds like shes not confident to do it? She obviously knows more than the other vet I saw but she seemed as if she was highlighting the risks more so than getting straight to the problem. Although on the other hand if she has an xray and never wakes up only to see shes not had an abscess I'd hate myself forever.

I'm wondering whether to take her to the hospital vet I have nearby as they'll surely be more experience than the little practice I had their jabs done at... Also considering asking her outright to be honest and say whether she's never done it before and doesn't have the confidence for it but scared that she might think me being rude.

Please help.
 
are your vets rabbit savvy? because sharp edges are spurs :?

it sounds like she needs a dental. with bisc, as soon as there is even one sharp edge/spur, he has a dental, because when they do it, there are usually more spurs hidden away so we know he has more than the vet can ever see.

i would think a dental is needed but make sure a rabbit vet does it, not the vet you have seen. lots of luck :wave:

eta: xrays can be taken at the same time as the dental is done so you can check tooth roots, anything else etc. x

eta: sorry, missed the part about the ear and possible abscess. sorry i can't help. x
 
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My Rex Benny Bun had an abscess under is chin, slightly to the left on his jaw. He was immediately put on depocilin injections and pain relief and he was operated on within the week. My vet took as much of the abscess capsule away and left the wound open which I had to flush twice a day, I also had to give him depocilin injections every other day, painkillers and baytril injections (after a week of surgery the baytril was given orally) his meds were given for a month.
He is doing really well, the vet can feel both parts of his jaw and no reoccurrence of the abscess, it has now been 7 weeks and really hope that we have killed the infection, worst case scenario was that it had spread to his bones :( he goes back for another check up in November. He is a happy boy, eats well and is very strong to have gone through what he has done, as the vet says he is a hard nut bun! I never knew he had an abscess as he must have hidden the pain well, it just his routine vacs when the problem was found.

Hope you baby gets better soon
Claire x
 
They gave me loxicom for cats for pain relief orally. I think I'm going to get her in at beechwood hospital and see if they'll have a look this week. Shes such a nervous bunny I'd want her to have complete silence. Would I take Marley with her if she went in? How do I word it so I'm not appearing to be telling them their job or so they'll take notice and do their best to keep her area quiet? I've seen vets be as nice as pie and then awful about the owner behind their back and ignore their wishes.

What kind of price could I be looking at for an abscess removal? I lost my job soon after I got her and have only had 3 weeks temp work since so not been stable enough to take it out. I'm scared it could be a reoccuring problem afterwards if it is?

I just seem to worry about both of them constantly :(
 
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