Rabbit Has Abscess

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GinChinSing

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I have three new rabbits that came from a friend who bought them at the pet shop in the mall. Turns out that rabbits aren't her thing. Anyway, she's had them less than a week and gave them to me. She had been having trouble with one of them being aggressive towards the other two.

I've had them about two hours now and I figured that rabbits were like guinea pigs in that if they all smell the same, they might learn to tolerate each other. So, into the bath they went with just a little bit of water to cover their yellowed feet. I just ran a bit of lukewarm water over them. Well, bunny number one has a problem. As I was trying him/her off, I accidentally pulled off a plug to an abscess. I used to have rats so I know all about these lovely little biological ickies.

Based on my knowledge on other small critters, I assumed that pulling off the plug wouldn't be such a bad thing and I could treat it at home. A quick search here and online elsewhere seems to indicate otherwise. I all ready have an appointment for all three rabbits to get the snip next week. Do you think that if I just keep the area clean until then that it will be all right?

It's located on the right front leg, where the elbow is. It is a solid ball and I don't feel anything that I think would feel like "fingers" of infection. It is a fairly large size. So far, I wet a few q-tips with purified water and bunny number one has let me clean out the opening.

As an animal person, I do tend to have a lot of stuff laying around that could be used on animals. I have a triple antibiotic without pain relief and I have betadine. Can I put either of these on the opening to help keep things clean? Also, I may still have some cream that I had for my turtle when he had an ear abscess removed (another rescue of mine). I don't know the name right off hand but will look for it. I know without the name a straight answer can't be given, but I threw it out there as an option if I still have the cream.

I am also wondering if I could inject some purified water into the opening to try to flush out a bit of the pus? I'm just trying to make sure it stays clean until the vet appointment. I don't want to have to put this rabbit under for surgery more than once and am hoping that if I can treat the abscess at home, maybe we won't need surgery.

Any input would be great. Until then, I'll be putting a bandage of sorts on bunny's leg to keep a barrier. Thanks.
 
My bunny just had an abscess drained last week and is on antibiotics. It seems to be coming back. They are very stubborn and take quite sometime to heal. Usually they come back from what I have read. The vet said that if it comes back then they will have to cut it out. I am having them do a culture on what was drained. I would think that the antibiotic cream would be ok. Does it bother him? How old is he?
 
I'm not sure how old the rabbit is. I do now have the paperwork and the rabbit is listed as a calico male Holland lop. I did find the cream. It's silver sulfdiazine cream.

I just weighed the bun and it's coming in at 798 grams. That's about 1.75 pounds. Still a baby?
 
Betadine (povidone iodine) as a diluted mixture can be put into the wound opening, just don't saturate it. Diluting to.2.5% should do the trick, and won't harm your friend if he licks at it.

If you use the ointment be careful how much, it can mat the fur up and make things difficult / worse.

I can tell you that my rabbit just lost his front arm to an abscess because I was late in finding and treating a wound he had there, so be careful and use your judgment. If it is relatively small he will likely be fine, if it's big and / or inhibits arm function, bring the little fellow in.

I don't recommend directly flushing the wound with saline - let the vet do that. I do recommend massing the area to get any discharge you canout at least a few times a day (and cleaning with betadine).

Just did all this for Canolli, that's why I know. I will add that if the woundis leaky, you can try calling local med supply companies for a small calcium alginate dressing with silver - cut a small piece off and put it in the wound, it'll keep it clean and encourage healing.

Good luck either way, hope all your new friends get along well in their new home.

- Al
 
I just measured the abscess. It's about an inch long and a little bigger than a grape. The opening closed up and I'm not sure if I should pick it. It doesn't seem to bother the bun and he/she is easy to put onto his back so I can look at the bottom of it.

Not that I am planning on doing it, but do vets generally just remove abscesses by cutting between the bulge and the muscle to remove all of it or do they lance it and scrape out all the ick but leave the skin so that there isn't a huge wound? In my mind, not that I'm an expert, I would think that cutting open the abscess and then scraping would make sense. As a person who knows a lot about abscesses and cysts, I know there is usually a fibrous sack that contains all the pus and infection and if it isn't removed, the infection could come back. That's the way it works in humans and dogs at least.

I also noticed that poor bun has poops stuck to its fur. They look normal, like all the others I've seen in the past 24-ish hours. I don't know if they are just getting caught because of the fur or if I should be worried about it. I suppose I could always learn to shave or clip this area if it's because the fur is so long. I have to clip my dog, so no biggie.
 
An inch sounds big to me, but I'm no expert. I can tell you that my vet first lanced Canolli's abscess to determine what was inside. Bunny puss can get very thick - I've heard it described as cottage cheese or toothpaste, but I personally liken it to greasy pizza cheese. Either way, it's thick and not friendly.

My little guy list his arm from an abscess from a bite wound. if the puss is thickened it needs to be removed - but I've heard any number of conflicting opinions how. Some vet articles I've been reading suggest it's silly to have to operate on an abscess (and I guess use antibiotics), others that it's the only way, etc. buy they can definitely injure muscle tissues and not just dermal tissues. Canolli is missing a lot of his chest wall musculature because of this.

Let me know how he makes out. I wouldn't lance it without local anesthetic, a sterile surrounding skin area and a sterile instrument, and even then only in an emergency. Good luck !

- Al
 
The sad thing is that there is no telling how long this poor bun has had it. It is thick, pasty pus so I guess it will need to be removed. I wonder how much that will cost. The problem is that I don't get paid again until the first and I only have $300 on me. I was hoping to get all the buns spayed and snipped but I guess one or two will have to wait if it's too expensive. I know the boy bun(s) will have to be separate for about a month. I'm trying to figure out cages now. The Himalayan and Abby as the abscessed bunny is now named get along so I'm hoping both are female.

Anyway, I also discovered that the poops from Abby are a bit muscus-y. I'm not sure what that means but it explains why they get stuck in his/her fur. They are solid otherwise.

Also, my friend had said that she was giving them water via water bowl. Based on what I'm seeing right now with the two new water bottles, Abby doesn't know how water bowls works. I think the poor thing was dehydrated. He/she was a little lowly looking today and now is just drinking water like it's going out of style.

It also turns out I need more grids to complete the cage, about 42 more, so I'll have to do that tomorrow. They have to spend the night in the tank again which I'm sad about but I'll buy more grids as soon as I can tomorrow so they have the big cage. Just wishing for Wednesday to come quick because that's when the appointment is.
 
Update 1:12am August 18th -

So, I was just about to put the bunnies to bed after they spent a good two hours "helping" me put more grids on the cage when something that I consider good happened. I grabbed Abby, or Little Bunny as I've been calling him/her, and as I was heading towards the temp cage, I felt the bottom of the abscess against my finger. I remembered feeling a scab forming yesterday so I flipped Bun over and saw a nice little scab. Knowing what I know about abscesses, I know this was the beginning of a plug. Off we went to the bathroom where there was better light. I pulled of the scab with little resistance from all parties (Bun, me, and the plug). It got stuck a little at the end so I gave the edge of the abscess slight pressure and it basically let go all resistance.

I know I probably shouldn't have, but I figured if the pus was so willing to come out, even if paste-like, then I should clean it out. An hour later, it's about as clean as I could get it. Little Bun was getting restless and I knew the skin I was working on was sore. Poor Bun is going to have a bit of a bruise. The abscess released most of it's pus within the first few minutes. What took so long was trimming it out of the fur and then using a wet q-tip to clean under the skin. A little blood came out because the cotton is so rough on skin. I just didn't have anything softer. The plug that finally allowed me to remove the puss is huge! I could probably sick a US dime in it! The initial plug left two holes that were very small and it was a hassle to get the pus that exited that way.

After Bun was getting so restless, I took some pictures and then wet a q-tip with pure water and Betadine. I covered the inside and out with the mixture and adjusted the stretched skin so that it would heal over as smoothly as possible. I also took a sample of the pus, which I doubt will be any good by Wednesday but I plan on bringing it in.

I know I probably should have left it alone but I just couldn't. Bun did so well laying on his back and side as I cut his beautiful fur and caused him a lot of discomfort. He was just looking so down yesterday and today that I just needed to do something and there's still five more days until the vet appointment. After I finished with putting the medicine on, he stretched up towards my face and looked a little happier.

I can post pictures of the drained abscess if anyone wants to see. I had to take them with my phone because I loaned my macro lens to a friend.
 
puss generally gets hard in rabbits. I wouldnt lance it yourself unless you have the antibiotics to kill it on hand. Murphy's was the size of a mini orange but had wrapped around a major artery. They can be damaging.
 
It did fill back up over the last 12 hours or so, but Bun did jump up and great me this afternoon when I checked on everyone so I think he/she is feeling a little better. I just keep thinking that if I can keep it from going too crazy until Wednesday then we'll be all right. If only my exotic vet didn't have vacation until Monday. That's why the appointment was set so far away (okay, only a week).

The pus right under the plug was really pasty, but as I cleaned further down, it became more like humans get - sort of watery. It was still more towards the pasty side but it was a lot easier to clean out.

I gave Bun some yummy veggies this afternoon, which he basically gulped down so there is a little improvement in behavior. I was really starting to worry because he/she wasn't very active the past few days. Surprisingly, Bun is the only one of the three who would even try veggies. I thought the strawberry would get the other two but nothing. The turtles got it instead. Hare, the Himalayan, actually grimaced at me when I offered the strawberry. I wish I could have caught it on film. It was the funniest thing!

Anyway, I'll update after the vet appointment or if something else major happens. Thanks for all the help everyone!
 
Okay, here's another update.

All buns were taken to the vet. We have put off spays and snips for the moment until everyone is completely healthy.

Little Bun as my lop is now called is a male. His boy parts just haven't dropped yet. He is a little underweight but my vet says that is probably due to being sick. I've been told to check his weight weekly and note it. Little Bun is now on antibiotics and the vet was pleased with the abscess so far. I had been cleaning it and squeezing out the pus as it has been a more runny consistency with just a little bit of a paste feel. There is one "finger" of infection. My vet said to keep cleaning out the abscess until the hole closed, which will probably be in the next few days. Then I am to leave it alone and see if it swells up again. If it does, I'm to bring the rabbit back in for a culture and reassessment.

I suppose that is the most we can do at the moment. My vet took a culture swab from Little Bun's nose because it was a little crusty and might be connected to the abscess. The vet was pleased that I clipped the hair around the abscess because it made things a lot easier to look at instead of going through all that feathery fur.

The other buns (a boy and girl) are so far considered very healthy but because they had been housed in the same cage and have interacted with Little Bun, I'm told to keep an extra eye out for possible cross-infection. I have an appointment in a month that I can keep or cancel. If Little Bun has responded well to treatment and the abscess does not returned, then a snip will probably be done. This also depends on if he is up to weight, which he should be because he eats like a horse! All rabbits are in their own cages, though I'm told that it's more because of the genders than to prevent cross-infection.

Little Bun is not sexually mature just yet so I could technically keep him with Hare, but I figure he wouldn't mind some quiet time.
 
He's doing better, though the abscess is going to return I think. He's enjoying free time out of the cage and has taken to sneaking up on me and rubbing his nose across my feet. I haven't a clue why.
 
My rabbit has had abscess problems in her face and been going through surgeries since November 2010... she currently is having some unfortunate build up right now as well!

If it's something that hasn't opened up on its own, you should always leave it alone until the whole thing can be removed. Any infection that leaks out into the bunny elsewhere can just cause more problems... if it has burst though, soaking a clean, wet, warm cloth gently on the infected area helps to get some of the pus out. If anything, it just relieves them some as there is less pressure and some yuck is out of the way.

Make sure you're seeing a rabbit savvy vet, too! :)
 
Thanks Laura. I had picked both plugs and the second plug allowed me to drain it. I clipped the fur because he has that long, fluffy Holland lop hair. I used q-tips to lift it up and kept it as clean as possible. He finished his antibiotics and there is still a little bit of pus in there, about a pea-size's worth.

The vet has given him and the other two rabbits clean bills of health and everyone is getting spayed/neutered in a few weeks. I have planned it so that they will be spayed the day I move out of my apartment and when they are ready to come home, they will just be brought to the new place.
 
GinChinSing wrote:
Anyway, I also discovered that the poops from Abby are a bit muscus-y. I'm not sure what that means but it explains why they get stuck in his/her fur. They are solid otherwise.
Click to expand...
are the poops kind of stuck together/do they look like little bunches of grapes? if so, then they're cecotropes (as opposed to fecals, the hard round balls). bunnies are supposed to eat these directly from their bums, but some (especially babies) have a tendency to not eat them all/leave some lying around. because they're a little softer and mucus-y, they can easily get stuck in the fur if sat on.

if you can't easily remove them by hand, you can give the bunny a butt-bath (you never want to bathe the entire rabbit unless it's absolutely medically necessary). get a bowl of warm water (optional: add a little bit of small animal shampoo) and hold JUST the bunny's rear in the water for 20-30 seconds to soften the poops up so they can be removed with a warm/wet washcloth. as a last resort, you can cut them out (I'd recommend nail scissors) as long as you don't have to get too close to the skin to do so :).
 
They were exactly that! I did use a homemade wipe of paper towel and a little bit of dawn to soften it up. I then used a wash cloth with just water to wash off all the soap. This poor bunny gets more baths than any critter I've ever owned. He has a tendency to lay next to the litter box/food box and because of his floppy ears, one of them always ends up in the box. Half the time one ear is covered in dry pee. I am always having to wash the tip of his ear. I've stopped using the homemade wipes and just use water so his ear doesn't get too dried out.

I think he has since learned what to do with the cecotropes because I haven't seen any more of them. Now if only he would stop laying his ears in pee!
 
how do you have the litter box set up? I have a nifty grid in mine with carefresh below it so the bunnies never come in contact with their waste ;)

this thread's got a great litter-box set-up - http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=53690&forum_id=93

I didn't do the NIC grid portion 'cause I don't have the tools, but it also shows how to make a grid for the box. the material comes in 2'x4' sheets, they're about $14 at home depot. I did four litter boxes and still have more than half the sheet left. it works wonders as far as preventing poopy butts and pee-coated lop ears!
 
I have an old guinea pig cage as a litter box for two of the buns and one of those corner ones for the third bun. Little Bun has a guinea pig cage litter box. It's just the plastic bottom and not the wire top.

I had a corner litter box for him but he wouldn't use it and went in the food box only, so I took out the corner litter box. I also tried a hanging hay basket of sorts, but he just ended up trying to jump into it.

I am still learning about litter training, so I'll look at the link and see if I can't come up with something similar. I've also been having a problem getting my other male to use the litter box at all except for a bed. That's for another thread though.
 
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