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  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Please help

B

Bellatrix15

Warren Scout
I have just found a large lump on the side of my female french lop's neck. It looks like her dewlap has moved to the side but when I feel it it feels like a large hard lump under the fur. She is eating and acting normal. I have booked her in for an appointment first thing tomorrow but i feel sick with worry and can't stop crying. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
I'm sorry. Its impossible to say really without a vet exam but my first thought was an abscess - they can spring up really quickly. Its good she is eating & acting normally. I hope your vet appointment goes well x
 
joey&boo said:
I'm sorry. Its impossible to say really without a vet exam but my first thought was an abscess - they can spring up really quickly. Its good she is eating & acting normally. I hope your vet appointment goes well x
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Thank you. Anything I can do or anyway i can have a better idea if it is or not? If it is do you have any idea about treatment and prognosis? Sorry for all the questions, Bellatrix means so much to me.
 
Bellatrix15 said:
Thank you. Anything I can do or anyway i can have a better idea if it is or not? If it is do you have any idea about treatment and prognosis? Sorry for all the questions, Bellatrix means so much to me.
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The vet should have a good idea if it's an abscess, a cyst, or a tumour of some sort, so try not to worry about what might not be!

I won't go into all the treatment and nursing options here, but post again when the vet's come up with a (possible) diagnosis and what they will do about it :D
 
I don't think there is anything you can do before the vets appointment as it could be anything & your brave girl seems to be coping well. IF it is an abscess she will probably have it removed or drained surgically at your vets & after that they involve a lot of hands on care, flushing the cavity where it was twice daily, cleaning & packing with manuka honey. It can be quite hard work but they are remarkably good at coping with all the poking about (I suspect they know we are trying to help) . Many rabbits with abscesses recover fully, sometimes they return, sometimes they get the better of a bunny. My first bunny had an abscess (huge! came up in her dewlap area overnight & like with Bellatrix she seemed happy & ate well). She will probably be given injectable penicillin & metacam post proceedure.

Of course it may well be something altogether different. Try not to worry, treatment is so much more advanced these days, it needn't be a gloomy picture x
 
Thank you everyone. Is it a good idea to take Bellatrix's husbun Theodore to the vets to lessen the stress for both rabbits? I feel so sick about tomorrow!
 
sending vibes. I've done it both ways - taken two buns and taken just the one. I don't have any advice but I'm thinking of you.
 
Bellatrix15 said:
Thank you everyone. Is it a good idea to take Bellatrix's husbun Theodore to the vets to lessen the stress for both rabbits? I feel so sick about tomorrow!
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If Theodore isn't a total stress head, then I would take him as well.

The only time I don't take the partner, is if it would really stress them out to be travelling etc

I really hope you have a peaceful night. I'm thinking of you x
 
I've been to the vets. They took a sample from the lump and found pus so they know it's an abscess. Could be linked to back teeth thats branched and ballooned away from the jaw. I've been given Baytril and Metacam 0.3ml twice a day. I'm taking Bellatrix back to the vets on Saturday for them to see if the Baytril has caused the abscess to go down at all and then back in on wednesday for them to put her under anaesthetic to assess her teeth and possibly operate if they can clearly see what's wrong. It's more likely that she will have to go back for another operation in a couple of days after that depending on what they find on the Wednesday. How does this all sound to you? Can you offer me advice or any ideas of how you think this might go??
 
Bellatrix15 said:
I've been to the vets. They took a sample from the lump and found pus so they know it's an abscess. Could be linked to back teeth thats branched and ballooned away from the jaw. I've been given Baytril and Metacam 0.3ml twice a day. I'm taking Bellatrix back to the vets on Saturday for them to see if the Baytril has caused the abscess to go down at all and then back in on wednesday for them to put her under anaesthetic to assess her teeth and possibly operate if they can clearly see what's wrong. It's more likely that she will have to go back for another operation in a couple of days after that depending on what they find on the Wednesday. How does this all sound to you? Can you offer me advice or any ideas of how you think this might go??
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Ah, I'm sorry to hear this :(

However, I have treated many rabbit abscesses in the past, and almost all successful, so please be hopeful :D

I question how savvy your vet is to have given Baytril for an abscess, because it doesn't penetrate the abscess capsule and therefore will not help long term to eradicate the abscess.

There are a couple of good articles here:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/abscesses.htm

http://rabbit.org/abcesses-in-rabbits/

There are two primary ways to treat an abscess, in my experience:

1. To surgically excise the whole abscess capsule, if possible, and then make sure the cavity is kept open and clean, possibly using Manuka medical grade honey (25+) to pack the wound. Injectable penicillin or some other antibiotic, given regularly over a period of weeks/months.

Some vets will want to remove affected molars at this stage, but it may not be necessary given where your rabbit's abscess is?

2. As above, packing the wound and with the injectable antibiotic, but lancing and draining the abscess cavity instead of a deep operation, which is quite traumatic for the rabbit. As you know, getting them eating again afterwards is of prime importance.

Good luck. I hope you can get your vet on board with aggressive treatment as soon as possible.X
 
I just can't deal with this with everything else that is going on in my life. And I cancelled her insurance last month because I had to cancel all direct debits because my parents are moving away and I have to live on my own which I can't afford to do unless I cancelled them. I restarted the insurance yesterday but have now realised that that won't cover anything because I have to wait 14 days and today has cost £40 already. :cry:
 
MightyMax said:
Ah, I'm sorry to hear this :(

However, I have treated many rabbit abscesses in the past, and almost all successful, so please be hopeful :D

I question how savvy your vet is to have given Baytril for an abscess, because it doesn't penetrate the abscess capsule and therefore will not help long term to eradicate the abscess.

There are a couple of good articles here:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/abscesses.htm

http://rabbit.org/abcesses-in-rabbits/

There are two primary ways to treat an abscess, in my experience:

1. To surgically excise the whole abscess capsule, if possible, and then make sure the cavity is kept open and clean, possibly using Manuka medical grade honey (25+) to pack the wound. Injectable penicillin or some other antibiotic, given regularly over a period of weeks/months.

Some vets will want to remove affected molars at this stage, but it may not be necessary given where your rabbit's abscess is?

2. As above, packing the wound and with the injectable antibiotic, but lancing and draining the abscess cavity instead of a deep operation, which is quite traumatic for the rabbit. As you know, getting them eating again afterwards is of prime importance.

Good luck. I hope you can get your vet on board with aggressive treatment as soon as possible.X
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Thank you. They explained the 1st option to me saying that is what they would hope to do. I picked the vet based on recommendations on here that it is rabbit savvy and it is an exotics vet, so this worries me if Baytril may not be the best option. She seemed to be thinking that although it wouldn't help long term it is worth the chance that it could make it smaller before the operation?
 
Bellatrix15 said:
I just can't deal with this with everything else that is going on in my life. And I cancelled her insurance last month because I had to cancel all direct debits because my parents are moving away and I have to live on my own which I can't afford to do unless I cancelled them. I restarted the insurance yesterday but have now realised that that won't cover anything because I have to wait 14 days and today has cost £40 already. :cry:
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Bellatrix I'm so sorry about your insurance situation.

Can you ring them and chat it through with them somehow? It seems awful timing, I really feel for you xx
 
MightyMax said:
Bellatrix I'm so sorry about your insurance situation.

Can you ring them and chat it through with them somehow? It seems awful timing, I really feel for you xx
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Would they know on reception or would I talk to the vet? I thought it could be best to see what I can sort out and then talk to them about it on Saturday when I go?
 
And i've always been of the opinion with pets that all decisions should be made 100% in their interest. Do you think I am anywhere near the stage of having to choose putting Bellatrix to sleep over going through the operation that may not successful? Or am I thinking that the operation will be distressing than it will actually be?
 
Bellatrix15 said:
And i've always been of the opinion with pets that all decisions should be made 100% in their interest. Do you think I am anywhere near the stage of having to choose putting Bellatrix to sleep over going through the operation that may not successful? Or am I thinking that the operation will be distressing than it will actually be?
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Hi - I'm so sorry it sounds like you are having a worrying time with your bunny.

If it were me I would giving thought to a couple of areas....

The first one - If you have a bunny savy Vet they will be able to give you a measured prognosis but they may only be able to do this once they have carried out further investigations which could praps be done initially prior to making any decisions regarding operations - at worst they could investigate and phone you whilst she is being examined under GA or sedation and then the decision could be made to let your bunny go if appropriate.

The second one - From a finance stance you could talk to your vets regarding approx. cost for on going treatment once a diagnosis has been made - you may be able to work something out with your vets for monthly payments etc but at the end of the day as you say the decision should always be with the bunnies best interest at heart - if you feel you will struggle to provide the care the bunny needs then a pts option is far kinder than an animal in pain.

So sorry this must be very difficult for you.
 
:( I'm sorry you're so stressed & worried - lousy timing with the pet insurance too.

I'd always talk to the vet rather than reception as last time I tried that I was given poor advice. You could put it gently to them, you are friends with some very experienced rabbit owners who have said they've had good results with injectable penicillin & would the vet be happy to try this. Sadly I don't think baytril will have much impact either.

My bunny I spoke of earlier in this thread made a solid recovery & bounced back really quickly but as you know rabbits cope so differently with procedures, surgery etc. I don't think the operation is distressing, the abscess site will probably look terrible for a while post surgery.
 
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