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Abscess :-(

C

cheryl21

Warren Scout
I found a lump on Stella's left cheek last Thursday night. She was completely fine, eating etc as normal and it didnt seem to hurt her. I took her straight to the vet on Friday and they kept her for the day to try to drain the abscess and remove the offending tooth.

The vet said the draining went well but unfortunately they couldnt remove the tooth.

She came home on friday night and is doing well - she is eating, drinking and pooing normally now and seems fine in herself - she is no stranger to GA's due to a history of dental issues!

The vet said that it is likely the abscess will come back and, being a dental nurse (humans not rabbits!!!), I know this is the case.

I was just wondering of anyone can offer any advice? I took her back for a check last night and they said she was healing well but that the lumo would never go down completely due to her soft tissue developing a thick wall, which apparently is normal?

Does anyone else have a bun with a similar problem? what can I expect?

Poor Stella, she's had terrible dental problems :cry:
 
Did the vet say why the tooth couldn't come out?
My Bobby (now at the Bridge) had a tooth root abcess, which we had to drain and flush out. He was very good about it though, and it bothered me more than it bothered him.
He had the tooth and corresponding upper tooth removed, and managed to get on very normally for a while.
 
They just said it wouldn't budge. Think it was bothering me more than her too! I just wondered how long usually before it may need draining again? Vet said if they have to do that, they would try to extract the tooth again but I hate her having to go through this. She's only 3 and has had dental problems since she was 1. Feel sad for her :cry:
 
Awww, bless her. It varied very much with Bobby, from 2 weeks to 3 months. However, he didn't mind the abcess being drained whilst he was awake, so we did that rather than a GA every time.
 
That would be good, I think she'd be ok with that too. As much as I'd hate her to have to go through it, it must be better than regular GAs. The vet said hopefully we could combine it with having her molars done (which at the moment is every 6-8 months.

Do you think it would be better to have the tooth out? Would hat definarely get rid of he abscess?

Poor Stella :cry:
 
The abscess has a better chance of being cured if the tooth comes out, but it's often not possible unless the tooth is loose, especially if the jaw bone is brittle due to infection.

The best thing for incurable jaw abscesses is to treat aggressively with antibiotics that can penetrate bone infection. This will either be systemically by subcutaneous injection or by using an antibiotic impregnated implant in the abscess site (your vet will be able to tell you if the latter is possible...it can't be done if the abscess drains into the mouth).

A culture and sensitivity test on the bacteria will tell you what bacteria you are dealing with...some are much harder to treat than others.

On a positive note...abscesses don't seem to bother rabbits as much as they do humans as long as the active infection is controlled. I have 2 rabbits with incurable jaw abscesses here, and both are doing fine :D
 
abbymarysmokey said:
.... by using an antibiotic impregnated implant in the abscess site.....

On a positive note...abscesses don't seem to bother rabbits as much as they do humans as long as the active infection is controlled. I have 2 rabbits with incurable jaw abscesses here, and both are doing fine :D
Click to expand...

That's good to hear. When I first noticed the lump she wasn't bothered! She was eating ok, which I monitor closely because of her teeth, and se didn't seem to be in any pain.

The vet did say there was an anti-biotic chip inside her cheek and she has two incisions on her cheek to help in drain.

She seems to be fine now - and apart from half her fur missing on her face, you couldn't tell she's been poorly.

Do your buns have to have theirs drained regularly or do they get antibiotics?

Thanks
 
Tinkerbell had a large abscess removed and the vet said the prognosis was "shaded".

The lump never went completely but it also never got as large again.

She coped really well :D
 
cheryl21 said:
Do your buns have to have theirs drained regularly or do they get antibiotics?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately both mine came to me with old abscesses. The infection had already eaten away at their jaw bone and consequently they have most of their lower teeth missing and boney growths along the jaw line. When abscess gets to this stage there isn't really much point in continually opening it up to drain it, so mine are just on antibiotics (via subcutaneous injection) to stop the infection spreading.

One tip you might find useful is that if your rabbit shows signs of pain (i.e. teeth grinding, lethargy or reluctance to eat, etc) don't presume it's necessarily the abscess causing her pain...it's more likely to be dental issues because the infection makes teeth come loose or break off at the gumline.
 
abbymarysmokey said:
One tip you might find useful is that if your rabbit shows signs of pain (i.e. teeth grinding, lethargy or reluctance to eat, etc) don't presume it's necessarily the abscess causing her pain...it's more likely to be dental issues because the infection makes teeth come loose or break off at the gumline.
Click to expand...

She has her molars done every 6-8 months so the vet said they would check her every time but to take her back if I notice any changes.

Feel so sorry for her, poor bun :cry:
 
My old bun had this problem several times (like yours because of a tooth problem). Vet had to open and drain each time and then eventually (when she was nearly eight) he was able to remove the tooth as it had become loose. As you can imagine at the time I was in a right panic because of her age. However she went on to live nearly another two years, so it was worth it. Obviously if the tooth could be removed the sooner the better, but I know that is not always possible. Good luck to your bun x
 
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