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Depocillin for a foot abscess.

P

Percy123

Young Bun
Afternoon,

I was just wondering if anyone has experience with depocillin to fight an abscess, particularly in the hock?

Percy is currently on depocillin every 3 days and has been given a month's supply, with the plan to keep it longer term if needed. We also flush his foot daily and pack it with medical manuka. Does anyone know how long it'll take before we hopefully see some improvement? The abscess is limiting his mobility and he's very wobbly on his feet. He's only been on it for just over week, and after about 4-5 days his mobility went completely back to normal for about 2 days but now he's struggling again. I was hoping that it was the depocillin that was improving things but I'm not too sure?

He's also on metacam and Calpol twice daily for the pain. I'm due to see the vet again on Thursday as she applies local anaesthetic to the foot and gives it a good flush. I've also read that 3 day intervals may not be frequent enough to treat the abscess and daily injections are safe, is this something I should discuss with the vet?

Thanks
 
Yes, I would certainly discuss with your vet about the frequency of the injections. I had a rabbit with a cheek abscess, which I successfully treated with Depocillin injections. I think that was either every day or every other day. It certainly took several weeks before it finally resolved and I think this is not unusual.
 
I've the same experience as Omi - one rabbit on twice(?) a week depocillin, another on daily injections. Both were long term / rest of their lives - about a year. They were jaw abscesses in older rabbits. Treatment (surgery, flushing, meds) kept it all under control but didn't get rid of the infection. Both had a good quality of life. Depocillin injections were the easiest bit of the treatment. Just make sure that there's no antibiotic on the skin that can be licked off as it destroys gut bacteria if taken orally.

I basically had a bottle of depocillin at home, along with a box of syringes and needles, and an incinerator bin for used sharps.
 
Shimmer said:
I've the same experience as Omi - one rabbit on twice(?) a week depocillin, another on daily injections. Both were long term / rest of their lives - about a year. They were jaw abscesses in older rabbits. Treatment (surgery, flushing, meds) kept it all under control but didn't get rid of the infection. Both had a good quality of life. Depocillin injections were the easiest bit of the treatment. Just make sure that there's no antibiotic on the skin that can be licked off as it destroys gut bacteria if taken orally.

I basically had a bottle of depocillin at home, along with a box of syringes and needles, and an incinerator bin for used sharps.
Click to expand...
Thank you!

This may be a daft question, but did you have to inject straight into the abscess area, or on the back of the neck?
 
Injection is into the back of the neck - your vet / nurse will show you how to do it. You pull up the skin into a 'tent' and inject into that - but make sure the needle doesn't go right through the tent or into a blood vessel. You need a new needle each time. Draw up the depocillin with one needle and swap it for a fresh (ie sharp) one to inject. I used to prep a few days worth at a time and keep them capped and in the fridge, so you use and then dispose of one needle to draw up the daily syringes then put a fresh needle on for each daily (or whatever) injection. You need to get the right needles as Depocillin is quite thick stuff. The neck skin on some rabbits can also be quite tough. Sometimes needles can come off, so make sure they are firmly on when injecting. The rabbit must not be allowed to ingest any depocillin - wipe off any that has leaked. Just follow the steps through every time, just as you have been shown how to do it. Take your time and it will soon be routine.

Your vet should take back the sharps bin for disposal.
I found it cheaper to buy my own supply of syringes and needles from a suitable online supplier. Ask your vet which syringes and needles to use.
 
Shimmer said:
Injection is into the back of the neck - your vet / nurse will show you how to do it. You pull up the skin into a 'tent' and inject into that - but make sure the needle doesn't go right through the tent or into a blood vessel. You need a new needle each time. Draw up the depocillin with one needle and swap it for a fresh (ie sharp) one to inject. I used to prep a few days worth at a time and keep them capped and in the fridge, so you use and then dispose of one needle to draw up the daily syringes then put a fresh needle on for each daily (or whatever) injection. You need to get the right needles as Depocillin is quite thick stuff. The neck skin on some rabbits can also be quite tough. Sometimes needles can come off, so make sure they are firmly on when injecting. The rabbit must not be allowed to ingest any depocillin - wipe off any that has leaked. Just follow the steps through every time, just as you have been shown how to do it. Take your time and it will soon be routine.

Your vet should take back the sharps bin for disposal.
I found it cheaper to buy my own supply of syringes and needles from a suitable online supplier. Ask your vet which syringes and needles to use.
Click to expand...
Okay, perfect, thanks.

I'm keen to see the vet again tomorrow and discuss everything here, including the possibility of increasing the frequency of meds and also why they seemed to be working for about 2 days and now his mobility has taken a step back again (if it was in fact the meds that did that)
 
Shimmer said:
I've the same experience as Omi - one rabbit on twice(?) a week depocillin, another on daily injections. Both were long term / rest of their lives - about a year. They were jaw abscesses in older rabbits. Treatment (surgery, flushing, meds) kept it all under control but didn't get rid of the infection. Both had a good quality of life. Depocillin injections were the easiest bit of the treatment. Just make sure that there's no antibiotic on the skin that can be licked off as it destroys gut bacteria if taken orally.

I basically had a bottle of depocillin at home, along with a box of syringes and needles, and an incinerator bin for used sharps.
Click to expand...
Just re-reading your reply- was flushing a daily thing for the continuation of your buns life? Or was it a case of flushing up until the point of fully healing after surgery? If that makes sense? Basically, he had surgery about a month ago now, and we've been flushing daily the best we can, and sometimes the vet reopens the operated area slightly so we can continue as they do heal quite quickly! Is that something we're going to need to continue with?

Thanks
 
Flushing out is needed until the wound heals properly from the inside. If you leave it, it will close over externally and probably fill up with infection again before the hole has healed with normal tissue and you are back to where you started. Rabbit abscesses are much more difficult to deal with as they encapsulate, and the antibiotics don't penetrate the capsule very well - so it's a matter of keeping the amount of infected matter down to a minium to allow it to heal properly. Depocillin will also help to stop the infection spreading - in rabbits, there's a chance of it seeding elsewhere and generating more abscesses. In the foot, it can also infect the leg bones. Producing new rabbit tissue cells is a much slower process than bacteria multiplying to generate the infection and the resulting puss. You are trying to redress the imbalance.
 
Ugh it's so tough! I love him so much and it's breaking my heart seeing him struggle with his mobility. Last week for about 2-3 days his movement went back to completely normal. It's just so frustrating.

Thank you so much for the information. I'm looking forward to getting him back to the vet tomorrow
 
Sending more vibes for you and your bunny. Was he normal right after surgery or vet flushing when vet may have injected a local anesthetic into his foot?
If he was normal a few days after new antibiotics I would ask vet about increasing frequency or dosage.
 
bunny momma said:
Sending more vibes for you and your bunny. Was he normal right after surgery or vet flushing when vet may have injected a local anesthetic into his foot?
If he was normal a few days after new antibiotics I would ask vet about increasing frequency or dosage.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your kind words. It wasn't right after, no. In fact he started looking a bit better leading up to the second injection of meds, and then much better the following day and about 2 days after. I'm definitely going to speak to the vet tomorrow about possibly increasing the frequency of depocillin
 
Omi said:
How did Percy get on at the vets?
Click to expand...
Was good! She flushed the abscess and made another incision to make it easier for me to continue flushing, plus she agreed about increasing the frequency of meds to every 2 days with a possibility to every day. She just a little apprehensive about the penicillin because of how toxic it is if ingested, but she's shown me how to give it to him - pretty much word for word to how shimmer explained it.

This morning he was looking quite bright on his foot but after quite an intense flushing at the vet, plus another one from myself this evening, including the manuka, he's sore on it again, so I'm hoping tomorrow he'll be a bit more comfortable
 
I'm glad it went well. I agree with Shimmer that it does become quite routine managing the injections. Yes, he will obviously be quite sore this evening, but hopefully the increased dose will result in improvement for him.
 
Thank you all so much for your help, advice and concern. It's such a great community here and it's helping me go into the vet appointments with new ideas and suggestions. I really hope it pays off. Percy is 10 now and he's been through so much, including a bout of gut stasis 3 years ago and also losing his mate before that. I shall keep you updated, and no doubt come back with my questions.

I'm currently stood in the garden with him, while replying to you, in pitch black, so he can have his evening grass supper and a wee before bringing him back inside for a cuddle
 
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I is promising that he was looking bright before the incision/flushing and good the vet agreed to more frequent injections.
Sending lots of positive vibes for you and your special bunny.
 
Last edited:
Awww he sounds a real sweetie. I really hope his adjusted meds & easier to flush site works for him. I used to give my bun her metacam then wound clear 30 mins later
 
Hey, just an update. Going to try and get Percy in for an appointment tomorrow when the vet opens again. We've noticed that the muscle (I guess his thigh) above where the abscess is, has swollen. Absolutely gutted and fearing the worst. He's 10 years old now so probably too old to amputate. Not seeing much improvement with the depocillin (granted that it's only been 3 days since the increase frequency). He's still very bright in himself and currently devouring a hay ring that has a few other treats mixed in. Just very heartbroken at the moment
 
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