Abcess in foot-

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gentle giants

gentle giants

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, Illinois, USA
Ok, I discovered on my nightly bedtime bunny check that one of my Flemish does, Big Mama, was limping slightly. I picked her up and looked, and she has a swelling on the "ball" of her foot. It is red and softish. Do I need to drain this, and if so, what is the best way to do this? I don't know if I should take her to the vet or not. I would rather treat it myself if possible. Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Poor bunny! I would take her to the vet as soonas possible before it gets worse. They'll give you a better idea ofwhat exactly it is and how to treat it.

Good luck!
 
I wouldn't attempt to lance and drain ityourself. It may not necessarily be an abcess, but an actual swellingof the soft tissue. And if you lance may cause more harm than good ..Idef. think a quick once-over by the vet would be best. Or maybe if youcould post a picture so someone could take a look and give you theiropinion.
 
I agree with the above posts.  You'll want to have it checked by a vet.  Sore hocks  can lead to fatal systemic infections from staph and/or strep, so a broad spectrum antibiotic may also be in order. (Penn  G inject. is often used).  

I would also put plastic mats in the cage to help distribute the weight better.

Pam
 
If you have never dealt with an abscess before Iwould definately suggest a vet visit. When one of our catsgot an abscess for the first time we took him to the vet.After that we were able to handle them on our own but only because thevet showed us what to do and what to look for.
 
zakfoxmom wrote:
If you have never dealt with an abscess before I woulddefinately suggest a vet visit. When one of our cats got anabscess for the first time we took him to the vet. After thatwe were able to handle them on our own but only because the vet showedus what to do and what to look for.
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absessin cats are totally different , Cats imune systemsare not as fragile as a Rabbits ,Definately a vet trip . I wont mess withabsess in any animal , they can raceto quickly and the possability of deathis too much of achance to take .
 
Yeah, I had just about decided to take her tothe vet anyway. BTW, she shouldn't need a soft mat, she is on a woodfloor. The thing that surprised me is that the swelling is in a frontfoot, not the back one which is where I at least usually look first forsore hocks. I thought about posting a pic of it, but I don't think Icould take one. She does not like being picked up andturned over for me to examin her foot. This had to happen to the oneflemish doe I have that is hard to handle! A 17 and a half pound rabbitcan put up a lot of fight when she doesn't approve of what you'redoing! :shock:
 
It probably was caused by a injury, maybe a splinter? It will probably need to be surgically removed.

Ed
 
The following is a note from a breeder that was in Buck Jones' Rabbit Binder.

"Bunny abcesses are much harder to treat than humans. I say this fromexperience. With a human, you can usually drain it once and stick themon an antibiotic and it goes away. We have liquidy pus. A rabbit has acheesy kind of pus that doesn't just drain out easily. It has to beprobed and flushed out with a syringe. And the abcess may need to beopened and flushed for several days in a row until you get on top ofit. The rabbit will not like this! Even then, the germ can beat you inthe end and as soon as you stop antibiotics, it may go into the lungsand cause pneumonia or go into the bloodstreem and cause sepsis. Sorryto be pessimistic, but that is the truth of it. A small abcess you canovercome, but a larger deeper one is a problem."
 
gypsy wrote:
zakfoxmom wrote:
If you havenever dealt with an abscess before I would definately suggest a vetvisit. When one of our cats got an abscess for the first timewe took him to the vet. After that we were able to handlethem on our own but only because the vet showed us what to do and whatto look for.
Click to expand...
absess in cats are totallydifferent , Cats imune systems are not asfragile as a Rabbits , Definately a vet trip. I wont mess with absess in any animal, they can race to quickly andthe possability of death is too much of achance totake .
Click to expand...
I'm sorry. I didn't mean that in any way a rabbit is like acat. Iunderstand theyaredifferent. I was just trying to say that they should go tothe vet. I will pretty much always take ourkittiesto the vet it was just that we dealt with3 abscesses in sucha short period of time that we were able to handle it on our own.
 
The rabbit abscesses can be treated at home, butthe puss is very thick and the abscess have a tendency to encapsulatewith a hard, bacteria coating that often has to be surgicallyremoved. The fact that the foot infections in rabbits caneasily turn systemic further complicates matters and requiresantibiotic therapy.

At this point, I would get the rabbit on some type of rubber flooringto take some pressure off the feet. Heavy rabbits on woodflooring may still be susceptible to tissue break-down on the feet.

As zakfoxmom mentioned, those experiencedin dealing withrabbit abscess cangenerally treat the abscesses at home, butit's best to have the vet determine exactly what the swelling is beforeslicing it open.

When my daughter Steph was little, she had what appeared to be asmallboil on the side of her face. The doctorlooked at it, stated that it was an infected pimple and told me tolance it and drain it daily. This poor kid put up with havingthis messy hole in her face flushed daily without so much as awhimper. Turned out that it was actually a tumor that had tobe surgically removed.







Pam

 
pamnock wrote:
When my daughter Steph was little, she had what appeared to be asmallboil on the side of her face. The doctorlooked at it, stated that it was an infected pimple and told me tolance it and drain it daily. This poor kid put up with havingthis messy hole in her face flushed daily without so much as awhimper. Turned out that it was actually a tumor that had tobe surgically removed.

Pam
Click to expand...
Oh goodness, Pam. Poor Stephanie. And I guess it wasn't any fun for you either!

Jan
 
Ok, here is an update on Big Mama. I took her tothe vet yesterday, and I felt a little silly because the swelling onher foot had actually gone down some by the time I got her there. Helooked at it and checked her temp and all that, declared it wasn'tsystemic, and said that it was small enough now he wasn't going to openit, and put her on an antibiotic. Thankfully, the antibiotic is aliquid which is easy to administer, unthankfully, shehates the taste of it, so I get to wrestle her twice aday as she does everything in her power to keep from having that stuffput down her throat! Not fun times, LOL. At least it isn't seriousthough, which I am very glad of.
 
Good for you! I truly think you did the best thing for her, gentle giants.

I'm so glad to hear that she's already on the mend and it's not terribly serious at this point.

-Carolyn
 
my 4 year old mini lop is going thru the same thing. i took to vet. they had to force the drainage because the pus was so thick. he was put on antibiotic baytril. 2 weeks later the vet did an exploritory where they found nothing but irritated tissue. can it be cancer they told me that it could be or it could be a very stuborn bacteria. we are going on 4 weeks and have had no improvement
i would appreciate any help
 
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