Lump under chin

[squidpop]

I really feel for you and your bunny- you are doing such a great job looking after him. I bookmarked this post by a moderator on here named Randy a long time ago-- I'm posting it incase it might help you- he said he treated abscesses with two meds Pen G and Zithromax at the same time- maybe this could help your bunny? I've used Zithromax in 3 different rabbits and none had stomach upset and it cleared up their infections. Another thought I have after reading this thread is - getting some good medical grade manuka honey might be better - there really has been a lot of research on manuka as being more effective than other honeys.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/abcesses-41860/ ra7751
I have had perfect success in treating major abscesses using a combination of Pen G (commonly called Bicillin and available under a variety ofbrand names in the US....not available in all countries with theUK being one of them). This drug contains a combination Procaine and Benzathine. In those countries this combo isn't available, the Procaine aspect usually is available and that results in a different dosing protocol as this is a short lived drug and is purged from the body quickly. I use it in conjunction with Zithromax (again at one time a couple of years ago Zithromax was not available for vet use in the UK but I know it is being used now). This combo of drugs is capable of penetrating the encapsulation around the core....and the core is where the drugs need to be. And this drug combo is effective against nearly all the bacteria that can be found in the core of the abscess. I do not open an abscess.....not saying it is never appropriate since that would be determined by the location of the infecton and the involvement of surrounding tissues/bones.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Thanks for that, I had actually seen this on another thread so it was really interesting and the bicilin defintely is having a really major effect on the abscess and in reducing it. I have tried to get hold of manuka honey over here but it is so difficult. I am using ecological honey but I have seen an ecological honey with rosemary which the vet said may be better so I may get some of that. The last few days the pus has been really coming out of the abscess with help from the honey. I have taking him to the vets every day just to make sure things are still going well and this morning, she got loads of yukky stuff out of it and I then took him home and half an hour later,more came out so it seems that the medication is reaching the areas it wasn´t before and it is now greatly reduced. He has not had, at any point, any problems with stomach upsets or diarrohea, he has been eating well throughout although in the first few weeks of treatment, he wasn´t eating pellets so I was free feeding him greens and herbs and he hasn´t lost too much weight. He is now free eating pellets again and has put on a bit of weight since the end of last week. I know that we will probably have to continue with the injections for some time but I am just glad that surgery was not necessary and thank goodness my vet was savvy enough to go for this treatment.

 

[squidpop]

I so happy to hear your rabbit seems to be doing so much better. Your vet sounds really good. There are some manuka honeys on Amazon although kind of expensive for honey... but the reviews are really good http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001O0BL9E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Chrisdoc]

I have seen it in the UK but I live in Spain so everything is so much harder to get hold of. I am trying to get hold of honey at the source. I know there are places in the Malaga area who produce their own, it's just finding it. The honey definitely helps so much and he is being such a champ putting up with it all.

 

[squidpop]

Sorry, didn't realize you were in Spain, I'm in New Zealand so I know what you mean about things being hard to get.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Sometimes you just have to be inventive although I did find some manuka honey today in a health shop at 35 euros a jar...ouch so I will stick to the one I have at the moment.

 

[squidpop]

35 euros sounds like double the price it is here - but it comes from here so..... totally off the subject but that's so cool that you live in Spain- my friend just went to Barcelona and now all she wants to do is save money so she can go back- she loved it.

 

[Chrisdoc]

It does come a long way. I haven't been to Barcelona since the early 90's, I live in the south near Malaga on the coast. It's very mild here, we've hardly had a winter and the temperature today is in the mid 20's, can't complain.

 

[PaGal]

Glad to hear he continues to improve and is back to eating pellets. Yay!

 

[squidpop]

How is Bandy doing? Has he recovered from his abscess yet?

 

[Chrisdoc]

Thanks for asking and sorry haven't posted but he is doing really well, the abscess has shrunk considerably but we are still doing vets and injections as it has not completely gone. The smaller capsule which was the size of a pea now seems to be softening and we have drained pus the last few days but it is very thick, comes out like when you squeeze a blackhead. I am happy to continue as long as needs be and we really don't know how long that will be. He is back now with the other two and they all seem much happier. I rearranged their xpen last Sunday and they are now a happy family again. They will all be going to the vets tomorrow for their myxi jabs so a little trip out for all.

I will post every so often to update but he is an amazing little guy, he has been so good with all the treatment and handling, I sometimes hate having to catch him to prod and poke him again but he seems to know it needs to be done. I've loved seeing him the last few weeks doing his super binkies, never seen a bunny jump so high off the floor. My little fluffball is a happy bunny in spite of everything.

Here they are are together.

 

[Chrisdoc]

By the way, here is the before and the current of the abscess.

 

[squidpop]

That before and after picture is pretty amazing. I'm so glad to hear he is doing so well. Your bunnies must be so happy together.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Yay Bandy! I'm glad he's doing better now. That is some scary lump. Happy for you

 

[pani]

Wow, that's a massive improvement!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Thanks to all, it is a massive relief when treatment is effective, I must admit when I first saw the size of the lump, I was seriously worried. He has been a real champ from the start and put up with absolutely everything. He is so much better now being with his buddies, they did miss him when they were separated. I am hoping that we are now very near to the end of daily visits. The lump is nearly clear and no there is no new pus that we can see so that is good news. The vet has been great and visits have been so interesting as so many exotic pets go through there, coincided this morning with a very large parrot and an iguana.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Well not such good news this morning. THought it would be our last visit and on examining him, Johanna noticed he has another very small growth right under the jaw bone on the right hand side. It does feel soft so we will just have to see how it develops and take it from there. WE were both so gutted after the high this morning of saying it would be the last time...talk about tempting fate. One of the boys also has a UTI/Bladder infection. I mentioned last week that someone was peeing outside the box and it was a very bright orange colour and I thought it was Bandy. However, when I got back this morning from the vet, there was a small patch and I now have the feeling that it could be Houdini. I did notice last week and this week, he has been drinking a lot of water. I have now had to separate the three of them to see who it is and get a sufficiently good sample to have tests done. I am definitely on a downer today

 

[JBun]

Oh no! I'm sorry Poor little guy. I was just feeling so happy he was doing so well and that all the boys were back together again. They look so content all snuggled up together.

These abscesses are just a pain to deal with. They seem to be so difficult to clear up in rabbits. Is your vet going to make any changes to Bandy's treatment? New antibiotic or anything? I've read of azithromycin being pretty effective for abscess treatment(if you can even get it there), though I have read of a few instances where it caused digestive problems. Or maybe just increasing the frequency of the bicillin injections? I've read of some accounts of the bicillin treatment regime, that when the injections were spaced too far apart, it wasn't proving effective enough against the bacteria. If you look up the study, I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in there, or if not I can try and find where I read it at.

I'm glad that Bandy is at least still doing well otherwise. And whoever ends up having the UTI shouldn't be too much of an issue. UTI's are pretty easy to deal with and treat. Just a round of antibiotics.

Tell these boys of yours they need to get better and let mummy have a chance to relax and not worry about them Rabbits! ullhair:

 

[Chrisdoc]

Thanks Jenny. We didn't decide anything today, Johanna will reassess on Monday when we go back. I am so hoping it's just a capsule from the existing one and will open on its own. I think we were both in shock so we will have to wait and see. I did mention zithromax, think that's the one that they use with the bicilin. But she said they only have it orally here so she wouldn't want to use it. I have separated them and am patiently waiting for them to pee so I can see who it is. As usual, none of them are co-operating. Wish I could explain to them that the quicker they do it, the quicker they are back together

 

[JBun]

When I've read about Zithromax being used, it has been orally. Probably why there have been cases of digestive upset. I guess it's something you can keep in mind if another antibiotic is needed at a later time.

One trick I've used when worried about peeing issues, is clean out their litter trays and line with newspaper(or nothing if trying to collect a sample), then you can get an idea of what the pee is looking like, for color and if sludgy at all.