Injury Advice??

[HeidiofTulips]

I'm at work, so I haven't seen it yet, but I just got a call that our 3 y/o petfemale Hotot bit our new baby male Flemish Giant. It sounds like she stuck her snout through the cage & bit him just below & to the side ofhis nose & took a chunk, maybe the size of a pinky fingernail. The fur is missing and it is an open sore. It bled, but has stopped now, just a bright red open area.

I called several vets in the area who deal with rabbits & thegeneral concensus was to watch it, keep it clean, maybe with a warm washcloth, watch for infection,& don't put any ointment on it because he would ingest it.

What do you experts say? Any advice is very much appreciated.

I feel bad for the little guy. I think we'll move his cage to a room where the bully can't be near the cage.

Will his fur grow back?:expressionless

 

[Maureen Las]

Get a bottle of betadine (povidine iodine) and dilute it with water until it is pink ; betadine is a surgical wash and doesn't sting . Use cotton balls to gently cleanse the area several times per day.

Ipersonally would use plain neosporin ( a small amount) on the area ..apply maybe 1-2 times a day ..just a small amount

it is very important get the bacteria from the bite out of the wound; otherwise there is a danger of an infection and possible abscess.

The fur will most likely grow back.

 

[HeidiofTulips]

Thanks for the advice! I will try the betadine & Neosporin startingtoday. It is right on his "upper lip." Will it matter if he licks it?

It looked pretty good this morning, dry, no drainage at all, no swelling that I could tell. Someone recommended "Blucote" yesterday, so I tried that after cleaning it. It's hard to tell what the actual wound is like because my family just let it be, to preventmore bleeding, so the blood dried over it. I tried soaking it a little with a warm wet cloth, didn't want to pick at it, so the dried blood is still there. I dabbed the Blucote on top of that.

I was worried about the wound constantly getting wet when he drinks, but it otherwise looks dry. I'm making sure his water bowl stays clean.

He is perky, very active, & eating & drinking like crazy, so I suppose he's healing up OK so far.

ray:

 

[Maureen Las]

You probably can just clean it with the betadine solution and skip the neoporin if it looks good today.
I had this happen with a larger shelter bunny taking a chunk outof a netherland dwarfs mouth ; it was terrible but the bun did OK.

 

[missyscove]

It sounds like you're taking all the right steps to me, but as far as it getting wet, will he drink out of a water bottle?

 

[HeidiofTulips]

He hadn't useda bottlebefore he came to us, but he has been using it some now. I've stillbeen giving him a smallbowl because he drinks the entirebowl in a day! I worried he wouldn't drink as much out of the bottle.

Do you think he would drink what he needs out of it now that he has learned to use it, if I took the bowl away?

 

[tonyshuman]

I wouldn't take the bowl away. If you wash it daily and put ointment on it, that should do the trick. The ointment too will keep the water out of the tissue for some time because it repels water.

 

[pamnock]

We had this happen years ago - our tiny little house bunny bit the upper lip off a young Holland Lop. It healed fine - just watch for infection.