Hi,
I have a 6 year old house rabbit called jasper. I noticed a large lump under his chin yesterday. From reading online, i realised this was an abscess and was upset to see the prognosis.
I took him to the vets this morning and the vet told me that the abscess was large and the infection had most probably spread to his jaw bone. She told me the options were not good. He could either be operated on, have the wound cleaned and infection site x-rayed to see how bad it is or be put to sleep.
She told me the operation is major surgery and due to his age it would be unlikely he would recover. He would be left with a open wound that i would have to clean twice daily by putting a cotton bud inside and scraping the puss out. He is very headstrong and hates being messed around with.
She also said it would be unlikely he would fully recover, would need to return to the vets regularly (which stresses him out massively) and would have re-occurring abscesses.
She basically made out that putting him to sleep would be the kindest option.
I really don't know what to do. I love my bunny to bits and dont want to be without him. He seems fine in himself but i was told this will only be the case for around 1 week. I dont want him to suffer and just want to do the best by him.
i have read studies about bicillin being injected directly into the abscess and how affective this treatment is. It appears to only be in usa and canada though. Has anyone heard of this in the uk? Can anyone offer any advice about what i should do??
Many thanks
J
I have a 6 year old house rabbit called jasper. I noticed a large lump under his chin yesterday. From reading online, i realised this was an abscess and was upset to see the prognosis.
I took him to the vets this morning and the vet told me that the abscess was large and the infection had most probably spread to his jaw bone. She told me the options were not good. He could either be operated on, have the wound cleaned and infection site x-rayed to see how bad it is or be put to sleep.
She told me the operation is major surgery and due to his age it would be unlikely he would recover. He would be left with a open wound that i would have to clean twice daily by putting a cotton bud inside and scraping the puss out. He is very headstrong and hates being messed around with.
She also said it would be unlikely he would fully recover, would need to return to the vets regularly (which stresses him out massively) and would have re-occurring abscesses.
She basically made out that putting him to sleep would be the kindest option.
I really don't know what to do. I love my bunny to bits and dont want to be without him. He seems fine in himself but i was told this will only be the case for around 1 week. I dont want him to suffer and just want to do the best by him.
i have read studies about bicillin being injected directly into the abscess and how affective this treatment is. It appears to only be in usa and canada though. Has anyone heard of this in the uk? Can anyone offer any advice about what i should do??
Many thanks
J