Abscesses

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody out there has had any experiences of a Retrobulbar abscess (one behind the eye) or any other abscesses. I would like to know what treatment was given & what the prognosis was, also how recent ago it was.
Is there anyone out there who currently has a bunny who is living quite happily with an abscess? If so what maintenance plan is it on?

Unfortunately, I have had two of my bunnies hit by abscesses & it looks like I am going to have some hard decisions to make. I haven't had a serious abscess hit my bunnies in 20 years so two in the space of one week has been rather crushing. Any info would be most appreciated just in case there is something that might save mine.

They've both had the abscesses lanced & drained & are currently on Penicillin.

Thanks,

TurboBunny said:

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody out there has had any experiences of a Retrobulbar abscess (one behind the eye) or any other abscesses. I would like to know what treatment was given & what the prognosis was, also how recent ago it was.
Is there anyone out there who currently has a bunny who is living quite happily with an abscess? If so what maintenance plan is it on?

Unfortunately, I have had two of my bunnies hit by abscesses & it looks like I am going to have some hard decisions to make. I haven't had a serious abscess hit my bunnies in 20 years so two in the space of one week has been rather crushing. Any info would be most appreciated just in case there is something that might save mine.

They've both had the abscesses lanced & drained & are currently on Penicillin.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

Hello

I have dealt with numerous abscesses in Bunnies over the last 20+ years. The treatment really is based on the individual case. It depends on the location of the abscess, the overall health of the Bunny, the financial constraints of the care giver (harsh, but not everyone has Insurance or a bottomless pit of money).

There are surgical options alongside systemic antibiotics and analgesia. The type of surgery would depend on the type/location of abscess. With a retrobulbar abscess enucleation may be the only option. Rabbits can live a perfectly happy life with just one eye.

Dental abscesses can be extremely challenging and if infection has also penetrated the bone (osteomyelitis) the prognosis is guarded at best. The same can be said for middle/inner ear abscesses and ear base abscesses. These conditions being more common in Lop Eared Rabbits.

You may already have see these links :

https://haleveterinaryhospital.co.uk/eye-abscesses/

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Treatment/Facial/abs_dental.htm

https://avianandexoticvets.com/management-of-dental-abscesses-in-rabbits/

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

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html

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

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Surgery/Ear/ear_resection.htm

What specific type of abscesses do your Rabbits have ?

Hi,

Thanks for your reply & the links, which I will have a good read of. You've guessed that I have done a lot of research. That is why I am hunting for experiences!
Annie my Dwarf Lop has a Retrobulbar Abscess, if the Penicillin doesn't work then another op to do as you suggest, a enucleation is the next step. I am just worried that the success rate is possibly not great & I don't want her to spend her last weeks in pain & stressed. At the moment she also has antibiotic beads in the cavity but after the op to lance & drain it even with the beads & injections the abscess is back albeit smaller. I just wonder why would the enucleation make it succeed? Is it that more of the capsule etc can be taken out?
Teddy my Flemish Giant has an abscess on his right side below his jaw, the vet found a grass seed in the abscess when he lanced & drained it. The big problem with his abscess is it has gone deep into his tissue, so much the vet couldn't cut away all the necrotic tissue. His abscess wound has been left open & it was 10 days after his op that I got some pus out but have had none since, which doesn't make sense to me, once I saw the pus I thought every clean I would get more out. Both of them had X rays to clarify their teeth positions & both the roots & teeth all look fine. I am up for doing all I can but I just don't want to cause them unnecessary suffering for little chance of success.

As far as I know there wasn't any bone penetration & both rabbits are very well in themselves.

I've only got experience of jaw abscesses. As yours was quite likely due to the foreign body, hasn't spread and the teeth are Ok, I hope that your vet has given an optimistic outcome. If the capsule still contains pus / infection, there's a chance it may need further surgery. With the open wounds on my 2 rabbits, I flushed the wound daily using hibiscrub and a 1ml syringe (may have been twice daily - it was a few years ago) and then packed out the wound with medical grade manuka honey (available in tubes online). The honey helps to pull out the infection and allows it to heal properly. It is well worth doing.

Both rabbits were on injected depocillin (daily or every other day) long-term, but they had complicated bone involvement. They also had metacam daily. Both of my rabbits were totally unconcerned by the treatment they had, and had good quality lives for around another 18 months after diagnosis - which was pretty good, considering they were on (rabbit specialist vet) FHB's 'odd cases' list.

As open wounds are a magnet for flies and potentially for flystrike, so I was recommended F10 germicidal wound spray with insecticide (readily available online) - it can be used on open wounds on rabbits on a daily basis (check current usage recommendations, though). Again, I found this invaluable as an extra layer of protection.

Yes my bun had one behind her eye which was removed (she was already blind in that eye). It actually returned requiring a second op, this time the eye cavity was just left open. I just cleaned it twice daily til it healed .

I second the use of manuka honey alongside standard treatment, its really helped with the same bun of mine who had dental abscess much later in life

Wishing your rabbits well, what bad luck to have 2 abscesses to deal with at the same time

Thanks for the replies & sharing your experiences. The honey sounds well worth a shot. My Flemish giant does have the complication that the abscess had gone very deep into his tissue. I bought a mosquito net for him to keep the flies away. It's just a living hell at the moment with both of them & the prognosis isn't good for either. However, having just read the Bicillin study from Insp. Morse's links, I now feel there is hope.

Thank you for the well wishes, we need all we can get.

TurboBunny said:

Thanks for the replies & sharing your experiences. The honey sounds well worth a shot. My Flemish giant does have the complication that the abscess had gone very deep into his tissue. I bought a mosquito net for him to keep the flies away. It's just a living hell at the moment with both of them & the prognosis isn't good for either. However, having just read the Bicillin study from Insp. Morse's links, I now feel there is hope.

Thank you for the well wishes, we need all we can get.

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Just to say that Bicillin is not available in the UK. But other injectable Penicillins are x

Thanks for letting me know about the Penicillin.

My bunny had an abscess behind her eye when she was around 7 months old. My husband stood on her -_- so she was on a lot of medication and was behind syringe fed so it was a combination of a lot of things.
I took her to a not-so-rabbit-savvy vet who said she would either need to be put down or they could try to remove the eye.
I didn't do either of those things (for fear of losing her) and washed it with hot compresses and manuka honey. Eventually, the abscess burst and quite a lot of pus came out of her eye. The swelling reduced and she is now blind in that eye but is now coming up to 5 years old, so very happy I didn't listen to the vet!
Not sure if that will help but just a positive story of how they can survive it

Thanks Maddie, it was good to hear a positive story. Been so busy with my patients didn't have time for a reply. Pleased to say the abscesses are reducing but still an anxious time.