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Abscess and ops

H

Hope

New Kit
so Dream is in the PDSA having some teeth sorted, i thought it was just an abscess and curling back tooth as per my private vet mentioned and quoted me about £400 which i don't have. So pdsa have put him under and just rang to say it's pretty much all his teeth and one is growing under his eye and it's kinder to let him be pts due to his age and they can't do it all under ga in one go. Then said they only cover one operation there and he'll need another 4-5 ops!?!? i had 5 minutes to make a decision on this, so i said do what you can and i'll find a vet where i can take him that will allow me to pay in installments, i really can't see him needed that many more for his teeth as i said take the teeth out, but she said it's the roots causing the problem not the teeth. Sounded a bit miffed with me to be honest as she has other operations to do and will have to work the outside in, he is approx 11-13 yrs. But i couldn't just give in, she said his abscess is thick to, which they all are. Have i done the right thing? xx
 
Hello

I am very sorry to hear how advanced your poor Rabbit's Dental Disease is. I am also sorry that the Vet did not appear to be very empathetic in her attitude to you when discussing the prognosis.

Sadly Rabbit Dental disease that is as advanced as your Rabbit's sounds to be is always going to require a lot of treatment and often this can only buy the Rabbit more time rather than cure the chronic and progressive disease process. I cant comment on if you have done the 'right thing' as what decision is 'right' for one Rabbit will not be so for another Rabbit facing similar problems. All I will say is that I would not want to subject a 12-13 year old Rabbit in my care to repeated surgical procedures. I would almost certainly opt for palliative care- ie good pain relief and possibly long term antibiotics plus lots of TLC. As long as the Rabbit was happy within himself, pain free and able to eat I personally believe this to be acceptable. But when the time came (which it would) when the Rabbit was no longer 'coping' I would want him to have a peaceful and dignified passing.

I hope that you find a Vet more able to offer you a more empathetic explanation of the specific situation your Rabbit is facing and enable you to make a decision that you will then feel more confident about.

Here is some information about Dental Disease and the big challenges it can present :

http://www.manorvets.co.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/dental dz(1).pdf
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Hello

I am very sorry to hear how advanced your poor Rabbit's Dental Disease is. I am also sorry that the Vet did not appear to be very empathetic in her attitude to you when discussing the prognosis.

Sadly Rabbit Dental disease that is as advanced as your Rabbit's sounds to be is always going to require a lot of treatment and often this can only buy the Rabbit more time rather than cure the chronic and progressive disease process. I cant comment on if you have done the 'right thing' as what decision is 'right' for one Rabbit will not be so for another Rabbit facing similar problems. All I will say is that I would not want to subject a 12-13 year old Rabbit in my care to repeated surgical procedures. I would almost certainly opt for palliative care- ie good pain relief and possibly long term antibiotics plus lots of TLC. As long as the Rabbit was happy within himself, pain free and able to eat I personally believe this to be acceptable. But when the time came (which it would) when the Rabbit was no longer 'coping' I would want him to have a peaceful and dignified passing.

I hope that you find a Vet more able to offer you a more empathetic explanation of the specific situation your Rabbit is facing and enable you to make a decision that you will then feel more confident about.

Here is some information about Dental Disease and the big challenges it can present :

http://www.manorvets.co.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/dental dz(1).pdf
Click to expand...

Thank you :)
He was still eating with me, i will be seeking advice from another vet also, obviously if it was the case of operations every other week as she was insinuating i would not subject him to that. I just felt as if she was exaggerating the diagnosis. I just couldn't bare to not give him a chance, and i felt so guilty as i told him i'd see him soon, i know it sounds silly but i didn't realise how awful his teeth were, which i also feel guilty about. I am going to give them a ring now to see how he's going x
 
Hope said:
Thank you :)
He was still eating with me, i will be seeking advice from another vet also, obviously if it was the case of operations every other week as she was insinuating i would not subject him to that. I just felt as if she was exaggerating the diagnosis. I just couldn't bare to not give him a chance, and i felt so guilty as i told him i'd see him soon, i know it sounds silly but i didn't realise how awful his teeth were, which i also feel guilty about. I am going to give them a ring now to see how he's going x
Click to expand...

I hope that he is as comfortable as possible and that you can locate a Vet willing to provide you with a few options about what to do next. It is obvious that you care about your Rabbit a great deal and you are doing all you can to try to help him.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
I hope that he is as comfortable as possible and that you can locate a Vet willing to provide you with a few options about what to do next. It is obvious that you care about your Rabbit a great deal and you are doing all you can to try to help him.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed, i do love him to bits he's a little fighter, the vet has just rang me and Dream has come round fine, got a massive hole in his cheek but still has some abscess's down near his ear area? but he's not eaten so far. Picking him up tomoz and taking it from there, they will also give me idodine to clean it with xx
 
Hope said:
Fingers crossed, i do love him to bits he's a little fighter, the vet has just rang me and Dream has come round fine, got a massive hole in his cheek but still has some abscess's down near his ear area? but he's not eaten so far. Picking him up tomoz and taking it from there, they will also give me idodine to clean it with xx
Click to expand...

Bless him, what a brave lad he is. Do make sure that the Vet also provides you with pain relief to give him daily and I suspect he needs to be on antibiotics too.
 
Hope said:
Fingers crossed, i do love him to bits he's a little fighter, the vet has just rang me and Dream has come round fine, got a massive hole in his cheek but still has some abscess's down near his ear area? but he's not eaten so far. Picking him up tomoz and taking it from there, they will also give me idodine to clean it with xx
Click to expand...

I do hope you can make Dream as comfortable as possible, poor boy :cry:

Manuka Honey is also very good for cleaning an abscess wound - you can use it with a cotton wool bud really gently.
 
Unfortunately Dream was put to sleep yest morn. The vet had called in the morning to say he still hadn't eaten and the problem was more extensive than first thought. So said the kindest thing was to let him go. So we bombed it up there so i could be with him, he was on a drip, and had lots of pain relief which was like morphine which they said wasn't working and he'd need pain relief a lot in the day which i couldn't administer. And he was nudging me on the table, and the nurse had the injection ready and i asked to see the xrays. But she said the vets were very busy but went and got one for me. and she said two different vets had seen him and his roots were all ingrowing weirdly, and he'd have to go through lots of ops and have parts of his jaw removed and eye socket as the teeth or roots had punchered there. He was in pain with the area under his eye not the hole, it did take me 30mins to make the decision as he was such a strong little guy i just couldn't say yes right away. The vet did say i could take him to a specialist where they could care for him all day everyday but they'd still say why have you brought him here his condition is too bad etc. No idea how true that is, i blame myself for not noticing sooner, and i didn't want to let him go, and i miss him like mad, i had it all set in my mind how i was going to change everything to make sure it didn't happen again etc. I still remember posting him and his girl friend on here back in 2006, no idea where all my posts have gone so i can't even back track to old pics or anything. I don't think i can ever have another one. Thank you for all the advice xx
 
Hope said:
Unfortunately Dream was put to sleep yest morn. The vet had called in the morning to say he still hadn't eaten and the problem was more extensive than first thought. So said the kindest thing was to let him go. So we bombed it up there so i could be with him, he was on a drip, and had lots of pain relief which was like morphine which they said wasn't working and he'd need pain relief a lot in the day which i couldn't administer. And he was nudging me on the table, and the nurse had the injection ready and i asked to see the xrays. But she said the vets were very busy but went and got one for me. and she said two different vets had seen him and his roots were all ingrowing weirdly, and he'd have to go through lots of ops and have parts of his jaw removed and eye socket as the teeth or roots had punchered there. He was in pain with the area under his eye not the hole, it did take me 30mins to make the decision as he was such a strong little guy i just couldn't say yes right away. The vet did say i could take him to a specialist where they could care for him all day everyday but they'd still say why have you brought him here his condition is too bad etc. No idea how true that is, i blame myself for not noticing sooner, and i didn't want to let him go, and i miss him like mad, i had it all set in my mind how i was going to change everything to make sure it didn't happen again etc. I still remember posting him and his girl friend on here back in 2006, no idea where all my posts have gone so i can't even back track to old pics or anything. I don't think i can ever have another one. Thank you for all the advice xx
Click to expand...

I am so very sorry :cry: I honestly think that letting him go was the only option. I doubt that the Vets caring for him would exagerate his condition and I am as sure as I can be that even the best Rabbit Specialist Vet in the country would not attempt such drastic surgery. To be honest I would not even consent to it on a much younger Rabbit.

You gave your Rabbit a final compassionate gift, a dignified passing to prevent further suffering. I would have done exactly the same thing myself

RIP Dream xx
 
Hope said:
Unfortunately Dream was put to sleep yest morn. The vet had called in the morning to say he still hadn't eaten and the problem was more extensive than first thought. So said the kindest thing was to let him go. So we bombed it up there so i could be with him, he was on a drip, and had lots of pain relief which was like morphine which they said wasn't working and he'd need pain relief a lot in the day which i couldn't administer. And he was nudging me on the table, and the nurse had the injection ready and i asked to see the xrays. But she said the vets were very busy but went and got one for me. and she said two different vets had seen him and his roots were all ingrowing weirdly, and he'd have to go through lots of ops and have parts of his jaw removed and eye socket as the teeth or roots had punchered there. He was in pain with the area under his eye not the hole, it did take me 30mins to make the decision as he was such a strong little guy i just couldn't say yes right away. The vet did say i could take him to a specialist where they could care for him all day everyday but they'd still say why have you brought him here his condition is too bad etc. No idea how true that is, i blame myself for not noticing sooner, and i didn't want to let him go, and i miss him like mad, i had it all set in my mind how i was going to change everything to make sure it didn't happen again etc. I still remember posting him and his girl friend on here back in 2006, no idea where all my posts have gone so i can't even back track to old pics or anything. I don't think i can ever have another one. Thank you for all the advice xx
Click to expand...

I am so sorry. Please don't blame yourself. You just can't know everything know matter how hard you try.

I am so glad you took time to think about letting him go. Now you know it was the right thing to do, as you had time to consider the options. That was very kind towards him.

Wishing you all the very best xx

Run free Dream ... no more pain. Just a wonderful life ahead :love:
 
Hope said:
Unfortunately Dream was put to sleep yest morn. The vet had called in the morning to say he still hadn't eaten and the problem was more extensive than first thought. So said the kindest thing was to let him go. So we bombed it up there so i could be with him, he was on a drip, and had lots of pain relief which was like morphine which they said wasn't working and he'd need pain relief a lot in the day which i couldn't administer. And he was nudging me on the table, and the nurse had the injection ready and i asked to see the xrays. But she said the vets were very busy but went and got one for me. and she said two different vets had seen him and his roots were all ingrowing weirdly, and he'd have to go through lots of ops and have parts of his jaw removed and eye socket as the teeth or roots had punchered there. He was in pain with the area under his eye not the hole, it did take me 30mins to make the decision as he was such a strong little guy i just couldn't say yes right away. The vet did say i could take him to a specialist where they could care for him all day everyday but they'd still say why have you brought him here his condition is too bad etc. No idea how true that is, i blame myself for not noticing sooner, and i didn't want to let him go, and i miss him like mad, i had it all set in my mind how i was going to change everything to make sure it didn't happen again etc. I still remember posting him and his girl friend on here back in 2006, no idea where all my posts have gone so i can't even back track to old pics or anything. I don't think i can ever have another one. Thank you for all the advice xx
Click to expand...

Dear Hope,

Based on your prior post, he was eating and coping prior to his surgery so it is understandable that you did not realize his problem was so extensive. Even after the vet's first call you wanted to give him a chance even though it did not end how you expected. I know you feel like you should have noticed it sooner, but rabbits hide things well and he was coping well. He was lucky to have such a loving person to care for him and to let him go when the time came.

I have been through some difficult times where I felt like you do now and say I can never get another pet. After some time, I meet a bunny in need of a good home. At first I am nervous about caring for a new pet, then I see a new personality emerge and it makes me smile.
 
I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. :cry: Bunnies can be such troopers, they muddle through things we wouldn't dream of and it sounds like he was so very blessed to live a good life such a long time with you. :love: I think you did absolutely the right thing in letting him go, as terribly hard as I know it must have been. ((((((Huge hugs))))))
Binky free, Dream, please watch over your loved ones from the Rainbow. xxxx
 
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