Rusty and Akira had a fight a couple of days ago...

[Rusty]

So Rusty and Akira were doing fantastic and then they had a fight. Rusty is the type to groom and then nip.... So anyways Akira has a bite near her eye where a small chunk of skin came out and then had a bite on her side. She was licking the wound a lot so I bought a cone so that I could clean it and put some polysporin on it and that way she wouldn't eat it either. So I was just wondering what are the signs of some good healing and what are some signs of an infection that could possibly cause an abscess? I just want to make sure everything is alright. She still binkies like a maniac, eats everything that I give to her and drinks and poops like crazy. She is still her same old self and keeps trying to see Rusty but I have kept them separate from each other since the attack.... Are there any suggestions on what I should do to make sure she is healing properly and possibly some bonding tips....

Cheers.

 

[Pipp]

Hi, watch for redness, swelling and hard lumps on the bad side. On the good side, scabbing and pink skin are good signs. I use Betadine on my bunny bites.

I'm fighting two abscesses right now on two bunnies that bit each other in the mouth. One has a goopy mess under her lower lip and chin (bunny pus is like cottage cheese) and the other one has a hard while capsule-like white lump insider her upper lip.

Hope this helps!


sas :clover:

 

[Pipp]

PS: Binkies and good appetites aren't great indications all is well. Once a bunny gets anorexic and/or lethargic, it's usually an advanced problem and approaching critical.

PPS: The polysporin is good, but keep cleaning the wound as well if you're not letting her keep it clean herself. I'll use a touch of hydrogen peroxide around the edges, but never in the wound itself. I prefer Betadine because it cleans and disinfects. And they can lick it off with no ill effects.


sas :wiggle

 

[Rusty]

thanks pipp. The wound itself is not pink around except for the colour of skin and the wound is starting to turn that yellow colour like when you have that plasma stuff on your scab sort of thing. I was just worried about her licking it too much because it looked really irritated. Should I go get the Betadine and take her cone off and let her take care of it? I have been washing it with that anitbacterial soap from the vet (that blue-green soap) and then rinsing it off and putting poly..... Her eye also looked like it was puss in it kind of like a bubble and when I felt it to see if it was a bubble so I could call the vet and tell him, it just felt like a normal wound, no squishy and she didnt even flinch or breathe hard or anything.... Just want to make sure she is okay... :S

 

[dquesnel]

Hi, How long ago did this happen? If there is a wound involving /or close to the eye, I would make a vet trip regardless of how big it looks. It is just too delicate an organ to risk, and she may develop secondary problems to it. If there is pus, it means there is an accumulation of dead cells as the result of a fight against infection.

Cones are not ideal for rabbits as they need to be able to reach and eat their cecals in order to keep their GI system healthy. I would take the cone off her. You said the wounds look irritated- there could be an infection brewing, but only a vet could tell you that.

It is best to use Betadine on the wounds, as it will clean the wound without her getting ill from it as Pipp said. She can lick polysporin off and get ill from it however, so I would not use it.

It does sounds like she has swelling and irritation at the wound sites, combined with the pus would concern me enough to take her into the vet. Keep us posted on how it goes!

 

[Rusty]

They don't look irritated. I said it did before and that's why I put the cone on temporarily for it to stop getting irritated. Nothing is swollen at all, and the cone has only been on for a day and a half and I have been feeding her any of her cecalsby hand so her GI is fine. She has no swelling whatsoever. I know about the poly and thats why I put the cone so she couldn't lick it and her licking it iswhatmade itirritated. I have been keeping a log of it everyday twice a day andit is getting better every time I check. No swelling, no pus, no irritation. I have checked her head to toe and then some and made sure there is nothing wrong. Just wanted to know what the next step was to make it heal even better and some signs of something going wrong.

Thanks.

 

[dquesnel]

Thanks for providing those details, it looks like you are doing everything right. On this thread there is a very good photo of a wound that is healing well:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=39376&forum_id=16&page=3

 

[Rusty]

Thanks I appreciate it. It's healing real fast now.