Scab on abscess

[lovewing]

Hi, I just joined this forum to post this question.

My rabbit Coco has an abscess on his face, which I already went to the vet for and he's currently on antibiotics, and they have been working since it's getting smaller. But i've noticed that there is a a scab that's gotten pretty big.

Should I be worrying about it and contact the vet? He's has had a scab before that healed with in a weak, but I worry about this one since it's on an abscess and I'm a little worried it might cause it to burst, making it harder to treat and to get surgically remove if that happens.

 

[MightyMax]

Hi, I just joined this forum to post this question.

My rabbit Coco has an abscess on his face, which I already went to the vet for and he's currently on antibiotics, and they have been working since it's getting smaller. But i've noticed that there is a a scab that's gotten pretty big.

Should I be worrying about it and contact the vet? He's has had a scab before that healed with in a weak, but I worry about this one since it's on an abscess and I'm a little worried it might cause it to burst, making it harder to treat and to get surgically remove if that happens.

Hi there and welcome to RU :wave:

Usually with abscesses the trick is to keep them open so you can clean them out twice daily. I also use medical grade Manuka Honey in the abscess cavity which disinfects and aids healing.

I'm not sure what stage you're at, or what advice your vet has given you. However, if this were my rabbit and I was following the cleaning regime, then I would very carefully remove the scab to continue draining the wound of pus.

I hope that helps you a bit? x

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Hi, I just joined this forum to post this question.

My rabbit Coco has an abscess on his face, which I already went to the vet for and he's currently on antibiotics, and they have been working since it's getting smaller. But i've noticed that there is a a scab that's gotten pretty big.

Should I be worrying about it and contact the vet? He's has had a scab before that healed with in a weak, but I worry about this one since it's on an abscess and I'm a little worried it might cause it to burst, making it harder to treat and to get surgically remove if that happens.

Hello

I would take your Rabbit back to the Vet for him.her to take another look at the abscess. Sometimes there can be a lot more going on below the surface and only a full examination will ascertain if there is now any inward tracking of infection. I would certainly not attempt to do anything with the scab/abscess myself without consulting a Vet again, that would potentially cause more problems.

You dont mention exactly where on the face the abscess is ? The location being relevant as some facial abscesses can be associated with tooth root infections.

As I mentioned, my first course of action would be to consult the Vet again at the earliest opportunity and obtain qualified advice as to the best way to deal with the abscess.

This link may be informative :

* SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES ON THIS LINK*

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Abscess/skin_abscess.htm

 

[lovewing]

Hi there and welcome to RU :wave:

Usually with abscesses the trick is to keep them open so you can clean them out twice daily. I also use medical grade Manuka Honey in the abscess cavity which disinfects and aids healing.

I'm not sure what stage you're at, or what advice your vet has given you. However, if this were my rabbit and I was following the cleaning regime, then I would very carefully remove the scab to continue draining the wound of pus.

I hope that helps you a bit? x

Thank you! I'm going to contact my vet later tonight to ask him if he can check it out, also ask if I can treat it at home with medical grade Manuka Honey.

I'd post photos of him to show, but I'm at school right now and try to post it tonight instead.

 

[lovewing]

Hello

I would take your Rabbit back to the Vet for him.her to take another look at the abscess. Sometimes there can be a lot more going on below the surface and only a full examination will ascertain if there is now any inward tracking of infection. I would certainly not attempt to do anything with the scab/abscess myself without consulting a Vet again, that would potentially cause more problems.

You dont mention exactly where on the face the abscess is ? The location being relevant as some facial abscesses can be associated with tooth root infections.

As I mentioned, my first course of action would be to consult the Vet again at the earliest opportunity and obtain qualified advice as to the best way to deal with the abscess.

This link may be informative :

* SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES ON THIS LINK*

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Abscess/skin_abscess.htm

Thank you for the reply!

I'm going to contact the vet tonight about it. Also the abscess is just right under his jaw, and not associated with a tooth infection (thankfully.

 

[MightyMax]

Thank you! I'm going to contact my vet later tonight to ask him if he can check it out, also ask if I can treat it at home with medical grade Manuka Honey.

I'd post photos of him to show, but I'm at school right now and try to post it tonight instead.

I knew you were on the case with your vet

Good luck xx I hope it gets better very soon!

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Thank you for the reply!

I'm going to contact the vet tonight about it. Also the abscess is just right under his jaw, and not associated with a tooth infection (thankfully.

You are welcome. Hope the Vet can help x

 

[MightyMax]

Thank you! I'm going to contact my vet later tonight to ask him if he can check it out, also ask if I can treat it at home with medical grade Manuka Honey.

I'd post photos of him to show, but I'm at school right now and try to post it tonight instead.

I'd love to see some photos

 

[lovewing]

I'd love to see some photos

Here's a photo from the front

And one here to show the scab

(A slight warning for soft gore just in case)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-P2KF1nC02ydU9fblNqd01QeU0

 

[MightyMax]

Here's a photo from the front

And one here to show the scab

(A slight warning for soft gore just in case)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-P2KF1nC02ydU9fblNqd01QeU0

Did the abscess burst on it's own, or did the vet lance it to drain the pus?

 

[lovewing]

Did the abscess burst on it's own, or did the vet lance it to drain the pus?

It hasn't burst and we haven't done surgery on it to drain it yet to try and see if the antibiotics can work to get ride of it first or to reduce the size before draining. Which why I'm mainly worried about the scab since I don't know where it came from. I'm assuming maybe he hurt himself inside of his cage during the night or from scratching it, but I don't know if it's going to make the abscess worse which would be tragic since the antibiotics alone seemed to be healing it fine.

 

[MightyMax]

It hasn't burst and we haven't done surgery on it to drain it yet to try and see if the antibiotics can work to get ride of it first or to reduce the size before draining. Which why I'm mainly worried about the scab since I don't know where it came from. I'm assuming maybe he hurt himself inside of his cage during the night or from scratching it, but I don't know if it's going to make the abscess worse which would be tragic since the antibiotics alone seemed to be healing it fine.

It may be your vet uses a different protocol, but the savvy vets here usually either surgically excise an abscess, or else lance and drain it and keep it open to clean it and heal.

What antibiotics are you using? We've found that injectable penicillin works best.

I guess you're right - he may have caught it on something, or scratched it himself ...

 

[lovewing]

It may be your vet uses a different protocol, but the savvy vets here usually either surgically excise an abscess, or else lance and drain it and keep it open to clean it and heal.

What antibiotics are you using? We've found that injectable penicillin works best.

I guess you're right - he may have caught it on something, or scratched it himself ...

He's taking baytril antibiotics pills, and he takes them twice a day (one in the morning and the other at night).

 

[Jack's-Jane]

He's taking baytril antibiotics pills, and he takes them twice a day (one in the morning and the other at night).

I could only get one image to show up but it does look quite nasty. I assume that your Vet ascertained that the infection is definitely confined to just soft tissue ?
Has the Vet mentioned using a different antibiotic ? With abscesses Baytril alone may not be sufficient, especially if only given orally. Usually an injectable penicillin type antibiotic is used. The use of antibiotic impregnated beads is sometimes an option too

http://www.rabbitadvocates.org/newsletters/Spring_13.pdf

 

[lovewing]

I could only get one image to show up but it does look quite nasty. I assume that your Vet ascertained that the infection is definitely confined to just soft tissue ?
Has the Vet mentioned using a different antibiotic ? With abscesses Baytril alone may not be sufficient, especially if only given orally. Usually an injectable penicillin type antibiotic is used. The use of antibiotic impregnated beads is sometimes an option too

http://www.rabbitadvocates.org/newsletters/Spring_13.pdf

no the vet hasn't mentioned any other antibiotic besides baytril

 

[MightyMax]

no the vet hasn't mentioned any other antibiotic besides baytril

Baytril isn't actually effective for rabbit abscesses, as it doesn't penetrate the abscess capsule.

I have used injectable penicillin for many years on abscessed rabbits, with great success. It's perhaps something to discuss with your vet?

 

[lovewing]

Baytril isn't actually effective for rabbit abscesses, as it doesn't penetrate the abscess capsule.

I have used injectable penicillin for many years on abscessed rabbits, with great success. It's perhaps something to discuss with your vet?

The abscesses has seemed be gotten smaller ever since he's been taking the baytril, but the process does seem to be very slow and I'll be sure too look into penicillin and discuss it with my vet. Thank you for the help.^^

If there any new updates, I'll post them again here.

 

[MightyMax]

The abscesses has seemed be gotten smaller ever since he's been taking the baytril, but the process does seem to be very slow and I'll be sure too look into penicillin and discuss it with my vet. Thank you for the help.^^

If there any new updates, I'll post them again here.

Thank you Lovewing

I can't say strong enough how important that injectable penicillin has been in saving the lives of very many rabbits. It's cheap and effective. Without it I have always found an abscess to recur.

Good luck !! xx

 

[lovewing]

Some Up Updates From the Past Few Weeks
• We've moved onto the injectable penicillin but it still didn't fully remove the abscess sadly
• We are planning on going through a removal surgery. (Coco's is still going to be on penicillin though as he carry through to his removal)

Thank you again for all you help!

 

[Omi]

Sending vibes for Coco. I hope his operation goes smoothly and he makes a full recovery.