Extremely strong odor, missing hair, missing tail (Photo inside)

[Kipcha]

One of the ladies we adopted a bunny to found a bun on Kijiji and brought him home, I'm quite concerned about him. According to his records (He was originally adopted from the Humane Society) he's 11 years old, neutered buck.

I did not get to see him before she bathed him, but apparently he had a ton of poop stuck to his butt so she bathed him. She mentioned he really stunk, so I expected him to smell like urine like so many of the rescues we get that have been improperly cared for, but he doesn't smell like that at all. It's an extremely strong smell, like very, very bad body odor on people, but it smells like infection, not at all normal.

He is also missing most of his tail and what is remaining has no hair, as well as a good portion of his belly has no hair. It's all very raw and sore looking. He is also quite swollen around his genitals and I was tempted to try touching it, but he would flinch if I even touched near it so I didn't press him. I almost wondered if it was pus-filled inside, but again, I didn't want to hurt him. He was being kept on pine shavings so I would imagine that was irritating it even further.

His hocks are pretty bad too, but at least that is something I know how to deal with...

The soonest she could get an appointment is Thursday, so we'll get more info then. Has anyone seen anything like this?

 

[kmaben]

Oh god that poor old man. Looks like urine scald that settled into an infection. Maybe we can round up Missycove to take a look. Thursday will not come soon enough. Glad he's at least in better care.

 

[missyscove]

Urine scald gone bad was my first thought too. Do you have any metacam you could give him to control pain and inflammation? I'd make sure you're keeping him on something very absorbent so he's not sitting in any more urine. He may have an underlying problem like a urinary tract infection or arthritis that started the urine scald in the first place.
If he's okay with you touching it, some antibiotic ointment like neosporin might help too.

 

[Kipcha]

We can bring her some Metacam. We have neosporin as well, so maybe we'll try that if he tolerates us touching it, poor guy.

 

[Azerane]

Was this rabbit kept outside? It's possible that he has fly strike and that the area that looks like pus beneath his skin could possibly be maggots. I would have expected to see maggots elsewhere as well when cleaning, but perhaps not. Otherwise, just a really bad case of an extremely messy rabbit whose flesh has started rotting away because of such bad infected conditions.

 

[Maureen Las]

This is heart-breaking :cry2...really painful to see

I ran across this article in Medi-rabbit , however, I am unsure re some of the ingredients. It is my understanding it is dangerous for humans to handle chloramphenical so it might be difficult to use it ; also I do believe that zinc oxide (which is in diaper rash crème) is dangerous if rabbit eats it..


http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/cream/antibiotic_cream.htm


Neosporin and metacam seem a good option until you can get a diagnosis...may be infection caused by urine scald

I cannot believe that he has had to live this way ..so very sad

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Poor little guy. Like others have said
It looks really sore and painfull.
Hope u can get a peice of mind
Soon!

 

[Kipcha]

I don't know if he was ever outside, I just saw the cage he came in which is one of those plastic "guinea pig" cages that had a water bottle and a bowl of pellets, looks like that was all he ever had access to. She mentioned the guy said he had run of the house a lot, but his nails were probably an inch overgrown before she trimmed them and only had one broken off, so I doubt he did much real hopping on them.

The guy also said he got him from a friend and he had had him for 6 years, but the Humane Society records showed he was adopted in December 2009, which obviously doesn't match up so who knows what the truth is. He also said the rabbit was completely healthy when he sent him off with this lady. So I think it's safe to say he was confined to a tiny cage in the house and I don't really believe anything this guy says.

We'll get him some pain killer and neosporin for sure, hopefully the vet will have something to soothe him better. I can't imagine how long he must have lived like this, especially if the guy just didn't notice. Considering how long his nails were, I am thinking he probably never flipped the bun over.

 

[carlysoup]

Any update on this poor guy? I will be praying for him.

 

[LumLumPop]

That truly disgusts me,how could someone do something so cruel to a defenseless bunny?

I hope he turns out okay!

 

[woahlookitsme]

how did the appointment go? Poor guy

I agree with really bad urine scald. If left alone it can get super nasty.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Oh my, that looks really bad, poor bunny. I really hope he can heal up quickly. How did the appointment go? ray:

 

[Kipcha]

The appointment went well. She got some cream for the scalding and they shaved away the bad hair on his belly as well. He also has a bad tooth that they have to keep an eye on, as well as an ear abscess that he needs to go in for penicillin injections for. Poor little dude. I'm glad he's with people who will get him the care he needs!

 

[kmaben]

Poor guy! Like you said atleast he's getting cared for now. He deserves a loving home after years in a crappy one. He's such a handsome boy too. How can you look at that face and not want to care for him?

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh boy. Poor little guy. I'm glad he was rescued by people who care. Learning how to give penicillin injections is not hard, depending on how easily the bun is handled, so your friend could maybe learn to do it at home if they wanted.

 

[carlysoup]

I am so glad he is getting the care he deserves. It makes me want to hug my buns extra. Maybe his new family can post some pictures of him when he is well.

 

[KeltonB]

Kipcha, any word on how this little bun is doing? Thanks!