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cleaning minor cuts/grazes?

aaammmyyy

aaammmyyy

Mama Doe
hey:wave:

when i was cleaning Bellas shed out earlier on i was switching out her toys and it seems shes managed to sharpen one of her jingly balls:lol:
shes only just started doing this and i've put the ball in the bin, even though it was only minor.

i checked her over to make sure that she didn't hurt herself on it and she has a tiny graze/cut - not bleeding or anything but still there, not enough to go to the vets for or anything.

i read in a rabbit book a few years back about mixing warm water with some salt and it makes a saline like solution that you can just wash the cuts so they don't get infected at home
obviously everything in books isn't accurate so thats why im here asking :thumb:

can i use that or is there another home remedy solution that i can use, just to clean it up to be on the safe side so that it doesn't get infected or to help it heal quicker?

Thanks
:wave:
 
You can use salt water, it's perfectly safe. One teaspoon of salt in half pint of water. Once bathed with the salt water, rinse with plain water as the salt can irritate the skin if left. If the wound is not open (as in, if the skin is not broken) however, you will probably find that it is not necessary. Rabbit skin is good at knitting together!
 
Cooled boiled water, with salt in it (as much as u like I think).
When rupert fell from 6ft shelf in shed he grazed his lip and this is whAt the vet said to do x
 
Thank you both!:)

Its slightly open but not bad, It just looks a bit sore-she was also playing in the mud yesterday before I realised she had cut her leg, so id rather be safe than sorry and clean it just for the peace of mind! :)

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You do need to be careful with the amount of salt you ideas you want an isotonic solution (ie, the concentration of the salt water should match that of the body). If too strong the salt will draw moisture from the tissues in the wound and wounds need a moist environment for optimum healing. It will also damage new cells that are 'filling in' the wound. Also, salt can be very irritating to the skin and can be sore when bathing if the solution is too strong.
 
To be perfectly honest with you if it's only a minor cut then I'd leave it alone and just keep your eye on it. You may stress her out trying to bathe it and if you do happen to put too much salt in the water/water too warm, it might sting. We don't clean other wounds i.e. when they've been neutered, so why clean tiny cuts? Rabbits, like dogs, will lick their wounds and thus heal themselves. Keep your eye on it but let nature take its course, is my advice.
 
I did end up cleaning it, but I used very minimal salt because I looked at her cut and upon underneath the fur it was quite grubby where shes been playing in the mud but I just cleaned the surrounding area so that none of the mud gets into the cut, its looking alot better today too :)

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