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Has anyone seen a wound like this on a rabbits dewlap *graphic photo*

Laura10101

Laura10101

Warren Scout
Hi,

My rabbit is Daisy a free range house rabbit so we see her all the time and yesterday she was eating, pooing and acting normal. I went to give her her pellets in the evening and notice a bit red patch on her dewlap. We lifted her and she had a big tear in the skin under her dewlap and the area was bald. She had some blood smeared on her face as well. I gave her the pellets and she started eating fine.

We phoned the emergency vet and took her there straight after I noticed it. It was Glasgow university small animal hospital so they seemed pretty knowledgable. They think it's maybe been an abscess or some kind of skin infection that has burst. When they pulled the wound open nothing came out it but it was definitely a bit hollow inside. Daisy had a small abcess before and it didn't look anything like that and there was no thick pus visible anywhere. I've searched my house and couldn't find and blood etc in the carpets.

She was given pain relief, antibiotics and some solution to clean it out with. Has anyone seen anything like this before or know what could have caused it? The photo was taken this morning after it had been cleaned out and the area has been shaved by the vet.



Thanks,
Laura
 
Laura10101 said:
Hi,

My rabbit is Daisy a free range house rabbit so we see her all the time and yesterday she was eating, pooing and acting normal. I went to give her her pellets in the evening and notice a bit red patch on her dewlap. We lifted her and she had a big tear in the skin under her dewlap and the area was bald. She had some blood smeared on her face as well. I gave her the pellets and she started eating fine.

We phoned the emergency vet and took her there straight after I noticed it. It was Glasgow university small animal hospital so they seemed pretty knowledgable. They think it's maybe been an abscess or some kind of skin infection that has burst. When they pulled the wound open nothing came out it but it was definitely a bit hollow inside. Daisy had a small abcess before and it didn't look anything like that and there was no thick pus visible anywhere. I've searched my house and couldn't find and blood etc in the carpets.

She was given pain relief, antibiotics and some solution to clean it out with. Has anyone seen anything like this before or know what could have caused it? The photo was taken this morning after it had been cleaned out and the area has been shaved by the vet.



Thanks,
Laura
Click to expand...

I looked at the pic before I read your post, and I immediately thought - abscess that's burst and she's cleaned it up. Have they advised you to clean it and put Manuka Honey in there to heal it? That would be safe whatever it was .... Once it's healed you could keep an eye on the area. It would possibly have been difficult to spot an abscess in a lady's dewlap area ...
 
The vet gave us something called hibiscrub to clean it with. The only reason I'm not sure about it being an abcess is because last time she had one I remember how thick and sticky the pus was when the vet tried to clean it and I'm not sure if Daisy would have been able to clean her dewlap very well by herself. I watched the vet as she looked inside the wound and it was completely clean with just a few drops of blood. I might try cleaning it with leucillin spray. That worked really well last time.
 
Laura10101 said:
The vet gave us something called hibiscrub to clean it with. The only reason I'm not sure about it being an abcess is because last time she had one I remember how thick and sticky the pus was when the vet tried to clean it and I'm not sure if Daisy would have been able to clean her dewlap very well by herself. I watched the vet as she looked inside the wound and it was completely clean with just a few drops of blood. I might try cleaning it with leucillin spray. That worked really well last time.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I wondered because of the thickness of the pus. However, she could also have been grooming it hard with her front paws, and drawn blood from the inside of the cavity.

Where was her last abscess?
 
Her last abcess was on her cheek beside her whiskers. It started as a hard lump and I took her to the vet and they squeezed it and cleaned it. Luckily that one cleared up completely within a week. I just don't know what I'm dealing with this time! The vet said the skin was damaged and there was no point stitching it up at the moment but I'm going to book my vet for a weeks time and see what they have to say. Hopefully it will have started healing by then. Its definitely a lot whiter and more shrivelled than last night. She is also running around stretching the wound (trying to steal toast off the table!) so it doesn't seem to be hurting her.
 
Laura10101 said:
Her last abcess was on her cheek beside her whiskers. It started as a hard lump and I took her to the vet and they squeezed it and cleaned it. Luckily that one cleared up completely within a week. I just don't know what I'm dealing with this time! The vet said the skin was damaged and there was no point stitching it up at the moment but I'm going to book my vet for a weeks time and see what they have to say. Hopefully it will have started healing by then. Its definitely a lot whiter and more shrivelled than last night. She is also running around stretching the wound (trying to steal toast off the table!) so it doesn't seem to be hurting her.
Click to expand...

I'm glad it's not painful! The wound needs to heal from the inside out, that's the purpose of twice daily cleaning and (I would use) a smearing of Manuka Honey to disinfect and promote healing. Keeping it open is essential in order to let the inside heal, and not scab over and make another pocket of infection in there.
 
Hi! It's been 4 days since I posted my first photo of Daisy's wound- does it look like its getting any better now? I've never treated a wound like this so I've no idea what to expect or what I'm looking for.




Thanks,
Laura
 
Hi Laura,

Sorry to hear about Daisy. Rabbit abscesses can be a nightmare! I really would second mighty max's recommendation for manuka honey - I've had excellent success with it.

I'm no expert but I'm thinking the wound looks a bit gunky ??but its hard to tell from a photo.
 
I took the photo just after cleaning it so it was a bit wet. I think the yellow bits towards the left are skin and I'm scared to pull them! We have the vet on Wednesday for another check but I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to help before then.
 
There are many many people much better qualified on here to advise than me but I have dealt with a few rabbit abscesses. With mine I've always been told not to let the wound heal or scab until absolutely all pus has gone - that's a benefit of manuka as it sits in the cavity & is naturally healing & antiseptic. Its not unusual to loosen scabs & gently feel squeeze around the area to ease any pus out & then flush. Can you feel any swelling where the wound was? Is it smelly?

I always give pain relief 20 mins before wound cleaning. Bunnies are surprising tolerant of all this (mine have been anyway)
 
I don't think it's smelly and when we took her to the vet there was no pus in it at the time which is why they couldn't say for definite if it was an abcess or not. I don't want to stress her out by lifting her again tonight so I will have another look tomorrow and maybe press it a bit to see what happens. Thanks for you advice- I really appreciate it 😀
 
Laura10101 said:
I don't think it's smelly and when we took her to the vet there was no pus in it at the time which is why they couldn't say for definite if it was an abcess or not. I don't want to stress her out by lifting her again tonight so I will have another look tomorrow and maybe press it a bit to see what happens. Thanks for you advice- I really appreciate it ��
Click to expand...

You're welcome - sorry I can't help more. I reckon I might bring the vet app forward or ask nurse vet to review it. Good luck. Keep us posted
 
Laura10101 said:
I don't think it's smelly and when we took her to the vet there was no pus in it at the time which is why they couldn't say for definite if it was an abcess or not. I don't want to stress her out by lifting her again tonight so I will have another look tomorrow and maybe press it a bit to see what happens. Thanks for you advice- I really appreciate it 😀
Click to expand...

How is Daisy's abscess now? Has it healed up?
 
Daisy's abcess did heal. She has to get put to sleep about a month ago because of other health problems though :-(
 
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