*UPDATE -It's an abscess* Facial swelling - amongst other things! Nobivac reaction?

treacletrim said:

Hey everyone,

Quite a mixed post regarding my little bun Conker who is proving to have some bad luck at the minute with his health! I'd just be interested to hear if other people have encountered similar...

To start with, Conker is approx 3.5 years old and is suspected to have EC. He has never been blood tested, but was rescued with slight head tilt. He was treated for EC and an ear infection after being rescued which made no difference. He has also since developed a little hind leg weakness, but otherwise leads a very happy, active and mischievous life. He has never had health issues in the 2 years I've had him.

Aware of the fact that he could be immune system compromised because of EC, I always give him a week's course of echinacea in the run up to his vaccinations. Which I did in the run up to his Nobivac booster which he had on 4th July. He had a full health check and everything was great, including his teeth which have always been perfect!

Conker was fine the couple of days after this vaccine, but then seemed a little subdued and just not his usual naughty self, although was eating / drinking / toileting fine. However on 10th July he really wasn't well; appearing very spaced out, listless and sat hunched in pain. His hind leg weakness was also slightly more pronounced. He ate a little but wouldn't drink. I got him to the vets that day and he was checked over. Nothing was obvious as to the cause but he had very few gut sounds, so he has been treated for stasis since then. We are of course in the middle of a UK heatwave so I wondered if this was partially the cause. Thankfully he has responded well, and is now back to his usual eating / drinking / naughty self, and his hind leg weakness has improved.

I'd hoped that was the end of it, but now he has a swollen face on one side I noticed it a couple of days ago and thought I was imagining it, until my husband commented on how his face looked swollen. It's his left cheek (his 'down' side with his slight head tilt), and is indeed noticeable. I have thoroughly felt Conker's cheek and cannot feel any squishyness, or a lump of any sort. He is clearly not in any pain with it (although still on a low metacam dose following stasis) as he will happily let me press all around the area, and even loaf and tooth purr as I'm doing it!

I will of course get him checked at the vets for this, and am so worried he has an abscess somewhere. However in the absence of any apparent lump, and the fact that his teeth are so good I don't know what to think.

Has anyone any similar experiences? It just seems since his Nobivac booster he's had nothing but bad luck, despite never reacting to it previously.

Many thanks xx

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treacletrim said:

Hey everyone,

Quite a mixed post regarding my little bun Conker who is proving to have some bad luck at the minute with his health! I'd just be interested to hear if other people have encountered similar...

To start with, Conker is approx 3.5 years old and is suspected to have EC. He has never been blood tested, but was rescued with slight head tilt. He was treated for EC and an ear infection after being rescued which made no difference. He has also since developed a little hind leg weakness, but otherwise leads a very happy, active and mischievous life. He has never had health issues in the 2 years I've had him.

Aware of the fact that he could be immune system compromised because of EC, I always give him a week's course of echinacea in the run up to his vaccinations. Which I did in the run up to his Nobivac booster which he had on 4th July. He had a full health check and everything was great, including his teeth which have always been perfect!

Conker was fine the couple of days after this vaccine, but then seemed a little subdued and just not his usual naughty self, although was eating / drinking / toileting fine. However on 10th July he really wasn't well; appearing very spaced out, listless and sat hunched in pain. His hind leg weakness was also slightly more pronounced. He ate a little but wouldn't drink. I got him to the vets that day and he was checked over. Nothing was obvious as to the cause but he had very few gut sounds, so he has been treated for stasis since then. We are of course in the middle of a UK heatwave so I wondered if this was partially the cause. Thankfully he has responded well, and is now back to his usual eating / drinking / naughty self, and his hind leg weakness has improved.

I'd hoped that was the end of it, but now he has a swollen face on one side I noticed it a couple of days ago and thought I was imagining it, until my husband commented on how his face looked swollen. It's his left cheek (his 'down' side with his slight head tilt), and is indeed noticeable. I have thoroughly felt Conker's cheek and cannot feel any squishyness, or a lump of any sort. He is clearly not in any pain with it (although still on a low metacam dose following stasis) as he will happily let me press all around the area, and even loaf and tooth purr as I'm doing it!

I will of course get him checked at the vets for this, and am so worried he has an abscess somewhere. However in the absence of any apparent lump, and the fact that his teeth are so good I don't know what to think.

Has anyone any similar experiences? It just seems since his Nobivac booster he's had nothing but bad luck, despite never reacting to it previously.

Many thanks xx

Click to expand...

treacletrim said:

Thank you MightyMax and Jacks-Jane for your comprehensive replies.

We have an appointment with a rabbit savvy vet tonight, so we will see how we get on. Conker still has a swollen cheek but it certainly hasn't gotten any worse since I originally posted, thankfully.

It seems an abscess is the most likely scenario, so I am bracing myself for that outcome.....I'm quite daunted by the prospect of that as I know its a long slog to sort them out. But we'll see what the vet says.

It isn't stopping him being an absolute terror though :thumb:

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treacletrim said:

Thank you MightyMax and Jacks-Jane for your comprehensive replies.

We have an appointment with a rabbit savvy vet tonight, so we will see how we get on. Conker still has a swollen cheek but it certainly hasn't gotten any worse since I originally posted, thankfully.

It seems an abscess is the most likely scenario, so I am bracing myself for that outcome.....I'm quite daunted by the prospect of that as I know its a long slog to sort them out. But we'll see what the vet says.

It isn't stopping him being an absolute terror though :thumb:

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treacletrim said:

Hi peeps.

Well we are back from the vets, and sadly Mr Conker does have an abscess. The vet could feel it and move it, like it wasnt attached to his jaw or anything. It appears to be caused by a small wound in his mouth as opposed to bad teeth/roots/ears in loppy buns (I hope that's a good thing) as she saw one and squeezed a teeny bit of pus out. No apparent signs of ear infection etc.

He goes in for surgery to drain it tomorrow and then we begin the rigmarole of cleaning etc. Thankfully my vet is great, has already recommended depocillin as opposed to baytril, and medical grade manuka honey etc., all the things I'd hoped to hear after doing a bit of research myself.

Please send all your well wishes to my boy, he is my world. He is a teeny 1.8kg with head tilt, but one of the most determined little buns I know.

I'm worried sick xxx

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mini lop1 said:

How did the op go today?

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treacletrim said:

Well....

events took an unexpected turn for our little lad, which is very worrying and slightly confusing!

Conker didn't manage to have the full procedure as it turned out to be more complex than the vet expected, and beyond her / their comfort zone.

As I said, at the initial consultation Conker was found to have a small wound in his mouth. When under GA the wound on his gum was found to be half cm across, and absolutely packed with grass, food, and pus (yuk!). Goodness knows how this has happened! When the area below his eye was pressed, LOTS of pus came out of this mouth wound, so thankfully they managed to drain that quite successfully. However....this doesn't appear to be linked to a swelling on the outside of his face. Another one can now be felt under his jaw / going up towards his ear base. The vet could have started to explore this surgically but felt it was beyond her capabilities and risked damaging some of his facial nerves. I'm a little disappointed in the outcome having hoped it would be straight forward, but appreciate the vets honesty. She called me during the procedure, and she has recommended / referred Conker to a specialist, who we have an appointment with on Monday morning. She could have carried on but felt it wouldn't have gotten to the root of the issue, which I respect.

The location of the unresolved abscess suggests tooth root, but some of it is not adding up to a typical case as Conker has shown no other symptoms to suggest this. But it can't be ruled out.

An x ray hasn't been done yet as the vet knows the specialist will want to do one, so I won't get charged twice. He had bloods done which showed nothing particularly untoward.

So Conker has had some depocillin and is still on metacam until Monday. He is eating / drinking, fine in himself, and wondering what all the fuss is about.

Feeling very worried, and annoyed that his insurance won't cover it but hey ho, anything for my babies!

Will post an update next week once we know a little more x

Click to expand...

treacletrim said:

Well....

events took an unexpected turn for our little lad, which is very worrying and slightly confusing!

Conker didn't manage to have the full procedure as it turned out to be more complex than the vet expected, and beyond her / their comfort zone.

As I said, at the initial consultation Conker was found to have a small wound in his mouth. When under GA the wound on his gum was found to be half cm across, and absolutely packed with grass, food, and pus (yuk!). Goodness knows how this has happened! When the area below his eye was pressed, LOTS of pus came out of this mouth wound, so thankfully they managed to drain that quite successfully. However....this doesn't appear to be linked to a swelling on the outside of his face. Another one can now be felt under his jaw / going up towards his ear base. The vet could have started to explore this surgically but felt it was beyond her capabilities and risked damaging some of his facial nerves. I'm a little disappointed in the outcome having hoped it would be straight forward, but appreciate the vets honesty. She called me during the procedure, and she has recommended / referred Conker to a specialist, who we have an appointment with on Monday morning. She could have carried on but felt it wouldn't have gotten to the root of the issue, which I respect.

The location of the unresolved abscess suggests tooth root, but some of it is not adding up to a typical case as Conker has shown no other symptoms to suggest this. But it can't be ruled out.

An x ray hasn't been done yet as the vet knows the specialist will want to do one, so I won't get charged twice. He had bloods done which showed nothing particularly untoward.

So Conker has had some depocillin and is still on metacam until Monday. He is eating / drinking, fine in himself, and wondering what all the fuss is about.

Feeling very worried, and annoyed that his insurance won't cover it but hey ho, anything for my babies!

Will post an update next week once we know a little more x

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