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kirstielou

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Hey! Ok- so I need your help!!! Petsy,... Very poorly. Like I have been in tears for the last 24 hours. Lol it's so silly!! I took her to the vets yesterday for what I thought would be her last injection of antibiotics. I was wrong! The third vet I saw told me that the abscess has got bigger and has moved slightly meaning that her eye does in fact need to be removed but that she would refer her to a specialist to get a second opinion. (Costing £55 min-fri and £155 sat sun) just for a consultation. If her eye is removed she will need to go back to have her eye drained every so often potentially for the rest of her life! Also as the abscess has infected her bone she is prone to get another and could have to go back and have the surgery all over again, God knows how many times. On the other hand she may live a perfectly happy life and not get another. We don't know what the odds are. However we know that the op will cost in excess of £500 (so my cousin says who was a vet nurse once) what would you do? Do I put her to sleep and get her out of pain now? Or do I keep going with her ops, meds etc. also me n my partner both work full time so she would need to be under 24 hour care as she wouldn't be eating. Last time she had general anaesthetic she was not eating properly for days and they get worse every time they have anaesthetic. Help!!!! What would you do? I'm so bad at decisions!!!! Xxx
 
Tough decision, and its only one you can make, depending on your situation. If the infection has spread to the bone, well, that isn't good, and if it were me I'd have to consider euthanizing...but that's me. Abscesses can come back, too. Tough decision and I'm sorry you have to make it :(
 
I don't usually like to give my opinion on matters such as this because I would hate influence someone to do something that they later regretted. But, personally I would pts. To me her odds are not good at all because the infection has gone into bone and on top of that operations are very painful and on top of that the GI slowdown after the operation is a lot of pain as well, so it seems like lots of pain and a very slim chance of recovery.
 
I would agree. Quality of life. I would put her to sleep and prevent any further suffering. It is unfortunate that something like this did occur. Not all animals can be saved no matter how much you love them.
 
It just feels so horrible. When I sit with her and she cuddles me it's like I'm her keeper and her minder I am meant to be looking after her. I feel like I've failed. She is the most beautiful bunny and she is so well mannered. She isn't even one year old yet. Which is just so sad. To top it off I have to make an appointment knowing she will be pts! I'm so sad about it. Because I know I could spend the money and try with the operation but I don't know if she will just hate me for it afterwards and just be in so much pain and have so much suffering she will give up trying to live anyway. Plus she may have to go back in if the abscess returns. So if the abscess is in the bone what does this actually mean to her? I'll attach a pic so you can see her. Thank you for all your help. I really appreciate it. I will attach a before and after pic of her face too so you can see before op, just after op, and now, let me know what you think? The medium sized photos are before op, straight after op and yesterday. Quite graphic. So don't look if you're eating or don't have a strong stomach!! XxxView attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1430727946.761183.jpg
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I'm sorry I have no answers but your bun is gorgeous and I'm so sorry that you have to go through this with your bun 💗💞
 
I feel so bad for you and your bun, its just heart breaking, I am so sorry. ((((((hugs)))))))
I don't know what to say advice wise but to answer your medical question about bone infections I found this information.

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/abscesses.htm
Any abscess in the head or neck area should ideally prompt a thorough search for dental disease including skull X-rays to determine if the abscess has started to erode bone or cause osteomyelitis (bone infection). Osteomyelitis is associated with a much poorer prognosis and requires aggressive treatment to have any hope of long-term success; complete cure is not common but control of spread with treatment may be possible.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Treatment/Facial/abs_dental.htm
If the infection is— osteomyelitis, its extension in the jaw bone must be assessed. If the infection spreads over a few molars, prognosis is guarded and the option of humanely putting the rabbit to sleep should be considered. Treatment includes the administration of systemic antibiotics that penetrate the bone, chosen according to the results obtained from the bacterial culture and antibiotic sensitivity tests. The choice of antibiotics safe to use in rabbits is limited. The treatment must be aggressive and long, between 4 to 6 weeks. If the antibiotics fails to reduce the infection, or bone has been destroyed, surgical debridement should be considered.
 
Her abscess looks and sounds very serious. I personally would put her to sleep to end her suffering and spare her the pain of surgery and further treatments. I know you will be sad and miss her, but I really think it would be the humane thing to do at this point. I'm so sorry you and your bunny are going through this. I hope you can both find some peace.
 
Tough decision indeed :-(

Only you can make that decision as it will be you that will live with the results of that decision (I hope I am putting this in a nice way)

At times like this it is hard to get traction in our minds as to the best course of action because the decisions at hand have consequences and they are not black and white

What if, what if, what if are the most traumatic questions to ever plague our minds and there is no perfect answer

This is not meant to sound cruel or harsh or unsympathetic, but when I am caught in an emotional circumstance that I cannot get clarity on, I resort to logic and then I add my emotions back into the picture again (no, I'm not a psychopath but sometimes it's the only way I can move forward on heart wrenching decisions)

Whilst it may be hard, I try and step outside of the situation and list the logical aspects of the situation, ranking them from highest priority to lowest (ie. What is the likelihood of recovery, what will be the quality of life afterwards etc), then after I have looked at things in this light I let my heart back into the picture because we are not black and white creatures and our feelings and compassion can achieve great things but they can be very misleading and distort a situation leaving us venerable to the circumstance

Sometimes I imagine the circumstance is happening to someone else and I am looking into it from afar to help me get things in context

Others here have given some sound advise, at the end of the day the final decision must rest with yourself and as always, the health and well-being of others should factor into the equation and what will be their quality of life afterwards

Your bun may be only 1 year old but she has had 1 year of a good life, some bunnies do not even get that. My kids first bunny and first pet ever was mercilessly killed by some evil person coming onto my property and ending his existence after only a few months. My kid and I were devastated. All we could gather that was positive from the experience was to acknowledge that little pixie had a great few months, being loved and cared for. Sounds like your bun has had a very cared for existence for a year, what a lucky bunny :)

I went through months of being very angry at whom-ever killed our bunny and felt so guilty that I had let him down as his career. Thoughts like "Why didn't I put that lock on the cage", "Why didn't I check that noise I heard outside on the night he was killed", "Why didn't I..."...In the end I had to realise that life unfolds as it unfolds sometimes and that circumstances are often outside our control and that we do not have full knowledge of everything that is coming and know what will happen from the decisions we make, all we can do is try and make the best decisions we can in the moment we are given to make them

I can't say whether or not to keep fighting for your buns life as this is your decision alone but sometimes in life a hand is delt to us that we ultimately have no control over and that all we can do is to make the decisions we make with the information we have on hand - sometimes the odds are just outside what we have the ability to change

All the best...
 
Just know this, we have all been in your situation and the pain your feeling is one we all share and it's gut wrenching, I paid $3,000. To save our cat and nothing worked and then another cat we took to emergency the vet said to put her down and I said no and three days later with fluids he pulled through and the vet felt really stupid and had no answers to what it was, so life is painfull and just know that your not letting your little bunny down, you are his protector and he knows it, witch ever decision you make it's the right one. Your in my heart.
 

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