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Abscess Treatment

GrunBunMum

Warren Scout
We've been in battle with an abscess with Elsie for over a month now

She was only Sulfatrim at first whilst in boarding to try keep it at bay until we returned from holiday. During this time it burst open twice and healed again. Prior to our holiday we had her in for X Rays which showed badly infected tooth roots and jaw

2 Weeks ago we had her in for GA and for them to try pull the teeth (back 2 molars) and clean out the abscess. They failed to get the teeth out saying it was too risky on the jaw. They cleaned as much of the abscess out as possible and left open for us to flush and pack with honey and moved onto batryril along with metacam

2 weeks on and it is no better, its still open and pus is just building up seeping out each time we come to flush it. More puss is forming each time. Our vet is a exotic specialist but is newly trained

Current situation is, she is packing it with antibiotic dressing and putting it in right to the bone to kit the infection direct then stitching it in. She did have a depocillin injection Friday but today when we removed the dressing it was worse than ever before (possibly cause its been in there since Friday) No other meds apart from metacam is being given

Our vet is now saying its far to advanced for any drugs to do anything. I really want to trust our vet but I'm not convinced we are hitting it with the best treatment. She is booked in for another clean out Thursday but she is basically saying there is nothing
 
I’m so sorry you are going through this :cry: is your vet rabbit savvy? If you aren’t sure then asking to be referred for a second opinion might be worth a try. I can’t offer any advice as I’ve no experience of this, but I’m sending lots of vibes xx
 
I’m so sorry you are going through this :cry: is your vet rabbit savvy? If you aren’t sure then asking to be referred for a second opinion might be worth a try. I can’t offer any advice as I’ve no experience of this, but I’m sending lots of vibes xx

Here are her letters, BVMS MRCVS GpCertExAP

She is newly qualified as a exotic pet specialist, she has treated abscess's before both successfully and not so. I do worry that's she's not got the experience behind her though. She isn't happy putting Elsie on depocillin as the culture came back negative. We have always treated abscess's with depocillin, although it hasn't stopped this one coming back.
 
Depocillin injections (daily or every other day) and anti-inflammatories (daily) are the standard treatment mine had for jaw abscesses / infection. This was long term treatment until the end of their lives (many months later).

Both rabbits had a surgical external drainage point (ie through the cheek or under the jaw) which was kept open for as long as possible and flushed out twice a day so that it healed from the inside outwards. It is a long, slow job.

Molars can't just be pulled out. I think FHB (vet) used to kill the roots by injection (no idea what was used) if needed. Mine lost several teeth as they just fell out.

I think I would be asking for another opinion from an exotics specialist - at the very least, ask your vet to phone someone for further advice.
 
Here are her letters, BVMS MRCVS GpCertExAP

She is newly qualified as a exotic pet specialist, she has treated abscess's before both successfully and not so. I do worry that's she's not got the experience behind her though. She isn't happy putting Elsie on depocillin as the culture came back negative. We have always treated abscess's with depocillin, although it hasn't stopped this one coming back.
I was going to ask if a culture had been done. If that came back as negative for depocillin (meaning it wouldn't kill the bacteria) then I'd agree that it wouldn't be the best antibiotic to use, even though it's often the 'go to' for abscesses.

Did the culture show which antibiotics would be suitable?

Abscesses can be nasty, with Alfie it was a case of keeping the wound as open as possible (our vet had to actually stitch an opening because it wanted to close up so fast) and lots of cleaning.
 
The culture came back saying there was no "live" bacteria.
We have treated every other abscess with depocillin and flushing. This was through a different vet though.
She is a exotic specialist, but, only just qualified. I want to trust her but she is convinced depocillin will not work and everywhere you read it what treats it the best.
Can I damand we try it?
 
If your rabbit was already on any antibiotic treatment, a culture result may not be reliable.
There may be some combination antibiotics available.
Can your vet talk to eg Frances Harcourt Brown? I know she no longer runs any surgeries, but it may be worth an email from your vet.
 
I think it's worth discussing trying meds and I agree with Shimmer that it might be worth also asking if she's able to discuss your rabbit's case with someone like FHB.

Obviously exotics vets learn a lot to gain the qualifications but they must learn so much from 'on the job' experience too so there'd be no shame in her wanting to pick someone else's brain.

With Alfie, depocillin didn't help at all but we had good results with septrin. I'm not saying that's what you should try but just that there isn't always a 'one size fits all' solution.
 
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