10 year old with abscess

Hello

I’d really appreciate some advice please.

I have a 10 year old perfect tiny lady who I rescued when she was 6 months old. She had been through the wars and is the toughest little beast.

She developed a lump on her shoulder which very quickly grew in size. A trip to the vets revealed it was an abscess and unlikely to cause her much bother. Due to her age, surgery was ruled out.

Fast forward a few months and it is now the size of a small egg and ulcerated. A trip to the vets advised removal or PTS.

She is a really healthy and happy little thing. Her appetite is fantastic and she’s completely normal, other than having this thing attached to her that makes her wobbly and risks serious infection.

I’m terrified to put her in for the op and her not return when she’s so happy and feisty in herself.

Has anyone experienced success with their elderly buns having operations?

Is it definitely an abscess and if so was she put on antibiotics even though surgery was ruled out ?

Hi Inspector

We were told it is definitely an abscess as the vet attempted to drain it and couldn’t get anything out. She wasn’t given anything on the first visit.

Once it ulcerated we were given antiseptic shampoo to keep the opening clean but no antibiotics.

We were told if they were to give her antibiotics, it would be continuous which they wouldn’t advise.

Vet said there was a lot of skin between the shoulder and abscess so it should be a clean removal but obviously the risk is the anaesthetic.

Our usually rabbit savvy vet has retired and the nearest one is now over an hour away. We’ve approached different vets but all have waiting lists (due to the pandemic puppy buying frenzy) so we haven’t had a second opinion from outside our vet’s surgery. I think that’s adding to the anxiety.

Personally I would prefer to get the opinion of a Rabbit Savvy Vet as what you describe to have occurred so far sounds very odd to me.

I must admit I was taken aback when we went from ‘she’s fine and too old for surgery’ to ‘she’s very healthy so PTS or operate’.

I might see if we can get a video appointment with a rabbit savvy vet as a long journey would be very distressing for her. I’ve not had much luck so far though due to waiting lists.

Roughly what part of the U.K. are you in ?

Lincolnshire.

The one rabbit welfare recommended vet has a waiting list and the next closest to us (over an hour) also has a waiting list.

I’m waiting to hear back from another (over an hour away). I don’t want to leave her with an ulcerated abscess for too long but at the same time I’d like a second opinion and she does seem perfectly happy in herself.

Bun4Life said:

Lincolnshire.

The one rabbit welfare recommended vet has a waiting list and the next closest to us (over an hour) also has a waiting list.

I’m waiting to hear back from another (over an hour away). I don’t want to leave her with an ulcerated abscess for too long but at the same time I’d like a second opinion and she does seem perfectly happy in herself.

Click to expand...

I really hope that you are able to locate a Vet who is able to offer a reliable second opinion.

Hmm. I agree with Jane. The advice is a little odd. Abscesses in rabbits often require long term, sometimes lifelong, antibiotics. It's usually a depocillin type injectable one, given maybe daily or every other day. You can be shown how to do it at home. I'd not had any issues with the 2 rabbits I had on it for over a year for jaw abscesses. Ideally, the capsule should be removed surgically, the wound flushed daily and packed with medical grade manuka honey. Antibiotic cover would still be needed until it had fully healed.

I also had a cat with a large tumour (injection site carcinoma) in a similar area to your rabbit's. It was removed surgically a couple of times - there is a reasonable amount of skin there, and it didn't bother the animal. It was a fairly easy site to manage post-surgery as well. The second or third operation was when it ulcerated and was badly infected. I persuaded my vet to remove it as I wasn't prepared to PTS for an abscess that wasn't bothering an otherwise healthy, elderly (15yo?) cat - although it was a spectacular size by then, like a camel hump. I don't think she would have done it routinely, so I was glad she listened to me. He did well and died peacefully about 6 months later due to general old age.

For a rabbit, I would want someone who is used to operating on rabbits to have a look, so would advise to keep looking for a rabbit specialist vet.

Thank you Shimmer, that’s really helpful.

Ideally we would like to take our time, get a second opinion from a rabbit savvy vet and consider our options. The only thing that’s made me consider jumping into the operation is the thought that she’s uncomfortable and the vet suggesting PTS but, like I say, she seems very happy in herself.

As it may take a while to see a different vet, is there anything I can ask for in the meantime to help prevent infection?

We have the antiseptic shampoo and she does a very good job of keeping it clean but there’s obviously a big risk as it is an open wound.

I'm not sure what your antiseptic shampoo is.
I use diluted hibiscrub on wounds. You can use a 1ml syringe to flush out an open wound. I would also be wary of flystrike in an open wound - F10 germicidal wound spray with insecticide can be used on open wounds to reduce the risk of flystrike. It's readily available online. It is toxic to cats, so make sure they can't access the same area as the rabbit.

https://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/f10-ger...O7rpckK3xQVQqqrxhwPbEzFniNZFdWZBoCao4QAvD_BwE

Thank you.

The shampoo is called ‘Hibiscrub medical’ and we were advised to use it twice a day.

I’ll get some of the germicidal spray, thank you for the link.

She has the whole of our upstairs to herself (and husbun) so keeping the area clean and the cat away won’t be a problem.

We should be getting a call back from one of the far away savvy vets today so fingers crossed for some help and not to be put on another waiting list.

I just wanted to update the thread in case anybun is in this position in future (fingers crossed they won’t be).

We ended up going with a different vet, one that talked through our options and answered all of our questions. They could get her in much quicker than anywhere else we tried too (bloody waiting lists).

She was given a good check over beforehand and then had her operation. It went very well and she took her time to come around and out of her daze. We dropped her off at 9:00 and picked her up at 18:00. We were not expecting what happened when we got her home.

She hopped out of her carrier and waltzed over to her vegetables and devoured them. She sat on her hind legs and cleaned her face - something she hasn’t done for months due to the weight of the lump impacting her balance. Her husbun then cleaned her as she ate some dandelions and hay. She kept on eating like a starved dinosaur for the rest of the evening. Her poops were fantastic after we got through the first sticky pile too.

The next day she was the liveliest little thing, just like she was as a kit. She was interactive, buzzy and still had a ferocious appetite.

It’s been a few days now and she’s still the same. If it wasn’t for the huge stitched slice on her side I would be doubting she’d had anything done. She’s taking her medicine every day and is doing things she hasn’t done for a long time, clearly enjoying the freedom of not being weighed down by her lump.

It’s unbelievable how she’s bounced back and I know we’ve been very lucky. I regret not getting it done sooner as seeing her now has made me realise just how much it was impacting on every inch of her life.

Thank you all for your help. For anyone looking in future, Richard at LincVet did the surgery. The one rabbit savvy vet in Lincoln listed on the rabbit welfare site had a waiting list but were extremely kind and helpful.

I hope this helps others with elderly buns in the difficult position of considering surgery. We have been extremely lucky and hope you are too.

Oh what a wonderful update I am so pleased about this outcome.

Aw, it's wonderful to hear that her surgery went well and that she's feeling so much better now! It must be such a relief to all of you to have that lump gone. Thank you for letting us know how it went.

Brilliant update. Thank you. I hope she continues to bounce back.

Thankyou so much for taking the time to post this brilliant news. I hope she continues to live life to the full!

That's lovely to hear a happy ending for your girl. I'm thrilled.

Great news