Floppy again!

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Wish I had seen this earlier. I do not open abscess capsules. Personally, I find it quite old school. Can't say I would never do it but in all the abscess cases I have treated, I have never had to open one. But there is one thing now that I think merits a discussion with your vet. Another old school treatment and that is the use of a Sulfanomide in a rabbit. Sulfa drugs like Septra, Bactrim, Sulfatrim, etc. are quite stressful on the beneficial bacteria in the GI. Most likely Floppy's gut is a bit stressed already so I would be cautious about putting a drug like sulfa in there that we know isn't very effective. I like Convenia and use it quite a bit in Penicillin resistant bacteria treatments. My preferred treatment for an abscess is Penicillin (the particular version I use isn't available in the UK but there is an alternative) along with Azithromycin. I would also urge more aggressive pain management. In addition to the Metacam, something like Buprenorphine or Tramadol would be quite effective.

If your vet would be interested in my abscess protocols, I would be happy to share in detail with him/her.

Randy
 
Our vet won't use Penicillin at all (Me and Clare share the same vets practice). He won't touch it. They do have Zithromax in, they just got it in for my bunnies, but have never used it before. We were going to be their 'guinea pigs'. I have found a vet in the area who does use Depocillin (the cillin of choice in the UK) but that is a bit risky because that place is further away and generally our vets are the best in the area.

I do agree with the pain meds aspect though. I would hope they sent her home with something stronger.
 
She's home now.
The vet did only give us Septrin to use for 20 days but only metacam as a pain killer. While she was at the vet she had metacam, Dolorex (butorphanol), Ketaset and Atipam. Whatever they are! :p Would it be worth getting something stronger if she seems to be struggling?
She's pooed, peeed, eaten some hay and drunk a little. The vet said it was a bad abscess and she had a Convenia injection on Monday and will be getting more.
 
I think its worth getting more pain meds if you can.

If any of them can be given orally I don't mind picking them up for you from the hospital because I'm there with Badger twice tomorrow. If they are happy to get it dispensed to you and for me to pick it up (and you're happy with that) then let me know :)

I'm glad she has started doing the key things. :)
 
Thanks Tracy. I will phone the vets tomorrow and let you now then, if thats ok? I'll text you tomorrow when I've spoken to the vets. Although I am at the hospital tomorrow at 9 but I will phone at 8. Which pain meds would be the best?

Feeling really confused at the moment. Don't know if Floppy should be grooming the wound or not? The vet didn't want the wound to heal so would it really hurt for her to groom it seeing as when they have stitches they say that the area shouldn't be over groomed. So if the area shouldn'y heal, it's ok for her to groom, yeah? (if that makes any sense at all?)

She's just layed down and looks much more comfortable, now she realises where she is. Harley is being nursey again and has washed her eyes and ate her sleepy from her eyes for her :) Bless him :sickbunny:
 
ketaset=ketamine (anesthetic)
atipam=lorazepam (sedative/hypnotic, anesthetic, ammensic, anxiolytic, muscle relaxant)

Those would make the surgery to lance the abscess easier on her.

I don't think she should be grooming it because I would worry about that getting bacteria in there. There are bacteria in the mouth (fewer in a rabbit's mouth than in a carnivore or omnivore's mouth), and you'd want to keep the wound as free of bacteria as possible.
 
Just an update on how Flops has been getting on.

She has been back to the vet because she wasn't eating much earlier, no pellets or hay just treats which were making her have diahrrea. We also mentioned stronger pain meds. The vet can't offer anything stronger that we can give orally but he did give her an injection of Vetergesic. Since the vet appointment she has eaten after about three hours after being home from the vets. We gave her infacol, fibreplex and water to get her gut more stable and to make her eat and to keep her hydrated. We really had to pester her to get her to eat but at the moment we are just happy she's eaten something. Now she is really sleepy and doesn't seem like the real Flops. She's just huddled in the corner and I'm thinking the worst all the time :(

Come on Flops :pray:
 
Very good news. Floppy is about 80% better. Last night she started eating pellets again and drinking water herself. We really thought we were going to lose her on Thursday evening. We stayed up all night with them on Thursday night having just an hours sleep each. Harley goit back to normal quite quickly but only started eating pellets again when Flops did. Bless him. Don't know what their problem was with pellets but it was the last thing they ate!
 
OH I'm so glad they are doing better!

Generally pellets do come last when they feel rubbish, but I'm glad they are both improving so much :)
 

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