Nena's jaw/tooth root abscess

Today I noticed Nena was down about 100-150g, so I decided to feel her jaw where her tooth root abscess was. I think I can feel a slight lump on the one side and my mom can feel it too. This is her old thread about her tooth root abscess: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...bscess)-Final-U-D-December-she-s-still-fine-)

Are there any other reasons that she could have a lump on her jaw that doesn't appear to hurt when poked, apart from an abscess? I have an appointment with Marie Kubiak @ Manor Vets in Edgbaston on Thursday.

I'm so hoping that it's something minor. Even if it isn't minor, at least she's in a much better physical condition than she was when I noticed her first abscess...

Is the lump in the same place as the initial abscess ? If so it may just be scar tissue. Or it could be that there is tooth root elongation going on which may or may not involve another abscess. At least you know you are in expert hands with Marie. Please say 'Hi' to her for me

I can't offer any advice but wanted to send some vibes for Nena. I really hope it's not a recurrence. She's such a sweetie. xxxx

Thank you both for your vibes/advice Just checked through one of my old threads and found that it was the left side that the abscess was on, and I just went to check Nena and it seems to be on the left side again. Nena wasn't particularly happy for another poking session though! It's definitely much smaller than before, but it feels the same to me in terms of consistency... although it has been 6-8 months since she had it, so I could be completely mistaken. I haven't routinely felt her jaw since it went down so it could definitely be scar tissue remaining from before, especially since she had drains inserted etc so quite a bit of trauma on top of the large swelling.

Tooth elongation scares me My last vet said Nena's teeth are growing very close to the mandible, closer than they should be, and that affected her decision not to exise the tooth/abscess before as she felt she was almost guaranteed to break her little jaw - especially because it was the furthest back tooth that was affected. Marie Kubiak may feel differently though, and I'm sure I'll trust her judgement.

I sort of hope it's an abscess rather than tooth elongation too as we managed to successfully treat the abscess, or at least stop it recurring for 8 months, whereas tooth elongation is new ground. I also fear that tooth elongation and the associated problems may be painful, whereas Nena didn't seem to suffer any or much pain from the abscess last time.

I'm worried

Oh no

At least she is gonna be seen by an expert. Hope it is nothing sinister xx Vibes xx

Kermit said:

Oh no

At least she is gonna be seen by an expert. Hope it is nothing sinister xx Vibes xx

Click to expand...

Thank you I'm very pleased to be under the care of Marie Kubiak, although I haven't seen her yet! Her reputation precedes her!

It's been 28 weeks since Nena was given the all clear to stop her ABX on 5th August, and 34 weeks since she had drains inserted into the abscess. Even if the abscess is back, it's not bad going. I'm not looking forward to the drive to the vets tomorrow! I've never been there before. Google maps predicts 30 mins, but since I'm driving into Birmingham I'll leave an hour before the appointment!

So I saw Marie today who determined that the lump didn't feel like scar tissue etc, and upon taking a little biopsy with a needle it was confirmed that the abscess has returned. I knew it would eventually as we hadn't removed it, just drained it, but I'm bummed out for poor Nena!

Marie wants to do surgery which I'm 100% for. There are risks, but Nena can't keep having it come back for years on end - it's not fair. Surgery will be to remove the offending tooth/teeth; remove the abscessed/infected tissue; and clean it all out well. Luckily the tooth root is positioned towards the outside of the skull rather than inside the mouth, so it means Marie won't have to go up underneath the skull where all the major nerves/blood vessels are. The hole will be kept open for 5-6 weeks and we'll put manuka honey/antibiotics in it to clean it all out properly and really kill all the bacteria off for good hopefully. I'm not looking forward to that as Nena hated being cleaned up last time!

I've got metacam in the meantime for the pain, and zithromax to help start to kill off some of the bacteria in the surrounding tissues before Tuesday.

Quite worried as obviously the jaw is so delicate, but Marie knows what she's doing and it's the right thing I feel. I'm going to try to let them both out for supervised free range time every day before Tuesday... if something goes wrong, at least she's had a really good few days beforehand. Neither bunny is talking to me atm!

That is rubbish that is came back, I freaking hate abscesses

Hope that Marie gets all of it away and the wee one recovers well.

Kermit said:

That is rubbish that is came back, I freaking hate abscesses

Hope that Marie gets all of it away and the wee one recovers well.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I'm so gutted for Nena! She doesn't deserve all of this just because she has a wonky mouth

Damn abscesses :evil:

I really hope that her surgery goes well next week.

Jack's-Jane said:

Damn abscesses :evil:

I really hope that her surgery goes well next week.

Click to expand...

Thank you. She's in the best hands. It's more the aftercare I'm worried about - Nena tolerates medicine, poking and prodding... but she does not like being cleaned! She's gonna hate me by the end of it

Oh gosh I was really hoping this was going to be something easily sussed. I'm so sorry.
Sending (((((((((massive vibes)))))))) for Nena that her surgery and recovery go well and she forgives you quickly for all the maintenance afterward. I'm pretty sure she can be bribed with some favorite treats.
You have a brilliant vet on the case. I'm actually so jealous that you folks have Marie, she sounds fantastic.

Lots of positive vibes for Nena xx

I'm sorry she has the abscess back. I wish you all the best for her with the surgery and treating it afterwards x

Oh no, really sorry to hear Nena's abscess has returned. Sending her millions of vibes. Hope the surgery goes well.

Thanks everyone. I'm really quite worried about the aftercare I'm hoping it's the least invasive of the aftercare procedures... I really doubt she'd be happy to let me pack the wound with honey covered strips of dressing. Don't think that's really feasible anyway due to where it is, but she definitely wouldn't stand for that! I wanted to let her out for a run around every day between the vets on Thursday and the operation on Tuesday but the weather has been terrible, so I've only been able to let her out on Thursday. I'll let her out tomorrow too and hopefully Monday also

Adding my vibes for Nena. xx

Lots of vibes for Nena.

My Poppy had on-going tooth problems and I was convinced she would eventually get an abcess and I lived in constant fear of it (she never did and died very suddenly in the end), but I can sympathise because it is a constant worry. I used to dread looking in and checking Poppy's mouth incase I found something.

Best of luck for the op, you are very lucky in that you have one of the best vets to do the job

Thanks both I'm packing their little box of stuff to take to the vets... I'm not sure when they'll be home, so I'm not sure how much to pack! It's been a long time since I've had to pack an overnight bag for them

Janey said:

Lots of vibes for Nena.

My Poppy had on-going tooth problems and I was convinced she would eventually get an abcess and I lived in constant fear of it (she never did and died very suddenly in the end), but I can sympathise because it is a constant worry. I used to dread looking in and checking Poppy's mouth incase I found something.

Best of luck for the op, you are very lucky in that you have one of the best vets to do the job

Click to expand...

It's very scary isn't it? That threat of it is horrible.

I think that even if the worst happens on the operating table tomorrow, I'll know that it was the right choice for Nena. She deserves to not have the abscess hanging over her head, and in the vets words 'this is the only chance at curing the problem' - otherwise it's just going to keep coming back and that's not fair on her. Even if it's a year between every re-occurrence, it's still a lot of veterinary treatment fairly frequently and if there's a chance at curing it it's worth taking.

Even if this is cured she still has her wonky mouth, but at least this problem will be cured hopefully. She's been adorable today though, so naturally I'm very worried The last few days I've noticed her eating slowly and today she spat out some of her pellets as she was finding it too hard to chew for some reason. I gave her some recovery food & baby food to make up for the pellets that she couldn't eat. Hopefully she'll be a bit more comfortable in her mouth in a few days or a week or so. Still dreading the aftercare, she's not gonna like it one bit!

I am so lucky to have Marie so close. I didn't realise she was this close when someone first mentioned her when Nena first got poorly last year! I'm sad that my old vet has left the practice as she was great with Nena but it was a bit of a blessing in disguise as Marie is willing to do the surgery

Fingers crossed for tomorrow. xxx