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Abssess flushing...spoken to vet again

bunnymadhouse

Wise Old Thumper
Star has had an absses removed from his jaw .
He has an open wound on the side of his face which needs flushing out twice daily .

Our vet has told us to flush it twice daily with peroxide . She also said that we could use manuka honey on it .

my questions are ....

will flushing with peroxide be painful for him? :( it sounds barbaric(although very nessasary)

should we flush it AND use manuka honey .....
or do one or the other ?

Angie
 
I just had to use dermosol on Amy's abcess, it cleared up great in the end but it did take a while, no idea about the peroxide though sorry :?
 
Oh gawd well in my UNQUALIFIED opinion I would not use peroxide to flush a face abscess :? :shock: Lots of nerves that could be damaged I would have thought :?
I use a sterile saline solution for flushing head/jaw abscesses then fill the cavity with Manuka Honey.
You need to do it 3 times a day if poss. I have not found that the Bunnies I have treated have found the proceedure painful. If he does maybe you could speak with your Vet about an additional, shorter acting, pain relief to give an hour before you flush the abscess

Janex
 
ooh my vet put black stuff on Amy's once but I can't remember what it was called sorry :oops:
 
Angie - which vet did you get? With Flint's abscess (not facial), they told me to wipe it 2-3 times a day with boiled but cooled salty water, & keep it open.

I did the honey thing cos it was recommended on here.
 
I probably wouldn't use peroxide as I know its quite painful if you get it on your skin, so putting it in an abscess would be even worse. I would use dilute hibiscrub or sterile saline and use a syringe to flush it out as many times as possible a day, as you don't a scab forming and the pus needs to drain out.
I hope you bunny is better soon :D
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Oh gawd well in my UNQUALIFIED opinion I would not use peroxide to flush a face abscess :? :shock: Lots of nerves that could be damaged I would have thought :?
I use a sterile saline solution for flushing head/jaw abscesses then fill the cavity with Manuka Honey.
You need to do it 3 times a day if poss. I have not found that the Bunnies I have treated have found the proceedure painful. If he does maybe you could speak with your Vet about an additional, shorter acting, pain relief to give an hour before you flush the abscess

Janex

I would totally agree with Jane. As an ex veterinary nurse we always used a saline solution to flush abscesses, particularly one in a delicate area like the face. Even a dilute hibiscrub solution might irritate the tissues so I personally would stick with saline. Do it at least 3 times a day, more if you can manage.
 
I think the reason some vets recomend peroxide is because it breaks down the pus well, its supposed to be a week solution but when you flush it you can see it bubble and loosen the pus. Shouldnt think using that and the honey is a good idea do one or the other. To be honest i dont think the honey will do the trick on the face . It takes a long time to work and theres a great risk of it traveling to the bones. val
 
I think I've put this on a thread recently :? ..but the vet I have used for simalr problem actually gave me antibiotics to put into the open wound after cleaning...it did the trick and the bun, who was in a dreadful way, recovered fully and very quickly.
 
honeybunny said:
I think I've put this on a thread recently :? ..but the vet I have used for simalr problem actually gave me antibiotics to put into the open wound after cleaning...it did the trick and the bun, who was in a dreadful way, recovered fully and very quickly.

That's what I did with Libby's abscess. Although not on her head it was HUGE. She was on Penicillin Injections, Saline Wound flushes tds, Baytril DIRECTLY INTO WOUND and then Manuka Honey. She is all better now :D

Janex
 
well ive spoken to the vet again and she says it was a large abssess and peroxide will work best . She said (like val says) that it actualy breaks down the pus .

i dont know what to do.

i dont want to do anything to hurt poor Star and peroxide does seem barbaric ....but i do trust my vet ....who incidently has the advice of another vet who has extra training re rabbit vet care .
if i dont use the peroxide and things go wrong then ill never forgive myself.

She did say that i could use the manuka honey instead if i wanted ....but that she did not think it would work as well because of where the abssess is .

The peroxide is diluted 1ml to 10ml water

if i used salt water what would the ratio have to be ?
 
Personally I would go with what the vet says especially if she has spoken to Rebecca, as she is excellent with rabbits.

The vet obviously saw how bad the abscess was and has prescribed appropriate treatment.

I’m sure Adele used Peroxide to flush an abscess in conjunction with Manuka honey with success. :?

Louise
 
bunnymadhouse said:
well ive spoken to the vet again and she says it was a large abssess and peroxide will work best . She said (like val says) that it actualy breaks down the pus .

i dont know what to do.

i dont want to do anything to hurt poor Star and peroxide does seem barbaric ....but i do trust my vet ....who incidently has the advice of another vet who has extra training re rabbit vet care .
if i dont use the peroxide and things go wrong then ill never forgive myself.

She did say that i could use the manuka honey instead if i wanted ....but that she did not think it would work as well because of where the abssess is .

The peroxide is diluted 1ml to 10ml water

if i used salt water what would the ratio have to be ?

Well all I can say is what I would do and am not trying to tell you to go against professional advice
I still say I would not use peroxide on a face abscess. There are just too may neves in that area which could be damaged should the peroxide penetrate facial tissue.
I have only ever used a sterile saline solution obtained from a pharmacy but you can make up a solution of 1tsp salt to about half a pint of cooled boiled water. You need to make a fresh solution for every wound flush and thoroughly sterilise what you mix it in after each use.
Not only do I flush the abscess numerous times using a sterile syringe (new one EVERY time) but I also try to remove the lose necrotic (dead) tissue from within the abscess capsule before flushing again and the drying around the wound and applying Manuka Honey.

In no way am I saying you should not follow your Vet's advice. I am just saying I PERSONALLY would not use peroxide to flush the abscess

Janex
 
In no way am I saying you should not follow your Vet's advice. I am just saying I PERSONALLY would not use peroxide to flush the abscess

i know that Jane .

if i didnt want yours or other peoples opinion then i wouldnt ask :wink:

just wanted to gather as much info as poss then i could decide what to do . never had to deal with an abssess this bad before :? :(

Am going on the vets advice for now but will speak to her again when Star goes for his check on monday ...then take it from there .

Angie
 
I seem to recall that honey degrades to produce peroxide which is one of the reasons it is effective. But peroxide is very tissue caustic if used too strong. Hopefully the vet wants you to dilute it somewhat. Peter Guerney always recomended peroxide for flushng wounds on guinea pigs and he was very highly regarded.

I would use the preoxide if it is being recomended by a trustworthy vet.
 
Another reason I would not use Peroxide to flush a face/jaw abscess is incase the wound drained into the mouth aswell as outwards....

UNQUALIFIED opinion of course!! :D

Janex
 
Steve was telling my last night that when he had his tonsils out in the army he had to do peroxide gargles twice daily! :shock:

Louise
 
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