# Leg Abscess - the healing process



## Rayen (Aug 14, 2015)

Quinn has never liked me. He's tolerated me, but that was at best when we were at a distance. I was generally okay with this. I could still clip his nails and make sure he got everything he needed, I just didn't pick him up very often. 

I now regret that. I was cleaning their cage when I noticed he was limping a bit. I took a look at his leg, the dreaded abscess right in the joint of his back leg. I've dealt with these things a million times before in other animals, dogs, cats, rats and guinea pigs. So off to the first vet I went. 

I was given medication and was told to keep it clean and that it would take a long while to heal fully. So I did what I always do. I cleaned it several times a day, I made sure he was getting his medication and I made sure he was eating enough and kept everything clean. 

It didn't heal. Time went by and I decided to take him to a new vet to see what their opinion would be. It was not good news. The vet told me that he _could _do surgery on it but that ultimately he was certain it would fail and that the leg would have to come off. He recommended just amputating the leg. 

Of course, I was devastated. I took a couple of days to think it over. I was almost certain I would just suck it up and get the leg taken off. I was doing research on how best to care for a three-legged rabbit who was older (he's six and a half years old) but I don't know if it was my terrible google searching skills or what but all of the stories I came across ended in sadness. 

So I went to yet another vet for yet another opinion. The vet assured me that she could do the surgery to clean the leg up. That the infection wasn't nearly bad enough to just take his leg off. So I booked the surgery.

As it goes, he went through the surgery and the call came in a few hours later. The infection was worse than she thought (of course) and she wasn't sure if things would go well for us. Most of the leg tissue had to come off, not much besides tendons and the bone was left behind. There was a lot of puss. She wanted him to come in at least once a week for penicillin shots and bandage changes. 

Three days went by and off we went to get his leg looked at. Three people entered the room, they started to take off the bandages and all of them looked at the wound. At first, the vet let out a disappointed sound. She said that she thought she could see some puss and that it didn't look too good. The second vet bent down to get a better look, smelled it and said that she could see new tissue growth and that it didn't smell like it was infected.

They decided to take him back to clean it and get a better look. An anxious twenty minutes or so later and they brought him back in with his leg bandage changed. 

It was finally some good news! Apparently the tissue growth was something she hadn't expected to see at least for another week and there hadn't been any new puss. If everything goes well, she said that the chances for recovery are a lot better now. 

Quinn has been extremely uncomfortable these last few days. He sprays now, and every time I have to clean out his cage or check for dampness or give him medication I get urine thrown at me. Sometimes I get both poop and pee all over me. He stubbornly refuses to be syringe fed anything, his medication (which is like 0.9CCs total) takes nearly five minutes to make sure it all gets into him. I've been giving him a bit of critical care as well, since he hasn't been eating his pellets lately and there wasn't a huge volume of poop coming out of him. That gets spit back all over me.

I understand that he's not feeling great, but it's so disheartening to try and help him heal when he's just so angry about it. I have at least another 5 weeks of medication coming, and I would really like some tips on making him more comfortable for both of our sakes(so much pee, he's apparently extremely well hydrated). 

To end this overly long story, I guess I'm just looking for some advice and/or stories about something similar happening. It would be nice to see some stories where things went well instead of all of the stories I've come across full of gloom.

In any case, Tuesday is when we head back to the vet for bandage change and penicillin shot number 2. Here's hoping there's more good news!


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## Thumperina (Aug 15, 2015)

I just wanted to express some sympathy to both of you. You sound like a strong brave mature owner of Quinn, and I am very glad he has you (but not me, as his owner
I can imagine how hard everything is for both of you. I hope he recovers well. This is really good news that they saved the leg. 
I also have a bun who is sick, but I have to admit she at least tolerates rather well whatever I have to do with her (after I manage to catch her


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## majorv (Aug 15, 2015)

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. Abscesses are difficult to deal with. Yes, getting a rabbit used to being picked up and handled become a plus when the rabbit needs meds/treatments. Is he getting metacam for pain? If he's still uncomfortable then maybe the dosage isn't high enough? Maybe you could start picking him up just to pet him sometimes, just so he doesn't associate being picked up with something he doesn't like? Also, you might check with the vet if any of the meds he's getting can be mixed with a small bit of plain yogurt or something he likes, to minimize how much you have to give.


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## Rayen (Aug 15, 2015)

He is on medication for pain, I'm not super familiar with medication names but this one is labelled as M-Eloxyn 1.5mg/ml and I'm giving him 0.3CCs twice a day. I have already talked to the vet about some of these issues (especially the spraying and the difficulty getting medication into him) and they've looked over his chart and didn't say anything about increasing it yet. I'll definitely ask again on Tuesday if he's still acting up, he'll be done with his pain medication by then anyway so if he's still not feeling great I'll need more anyway.

I think a majority of the problem is that I've been bothering him several times a day for nearly a full month now. He was really willing to sit calmly while I gave his initial medication, but it's gone downhill from there. He tried to nip at me earlier today too, I hope that was a one-time thing! 

I've moved him back into a cage with his lady friend today. They've been side-by-side for the last four days, I've been afraid that she'd chew at his bandages (she eats _everything_) but so far she's ignored it! I'll probably still keep them separated at night just in case. I just hope him moving around a tiny bit more doesn't do any damage to his leg after we got good news yesterday!


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## Thumperina (Aug 15, 2015)

they need to invent pain tablets that would taste like Oxbow simple rewards veggie treat. I am surprised nobody taken care of it yet. We are in great need.


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## Rayen (Aug 15, 2015)

I trusted him! 

Four days of good bunny behaviour and today he chewed a tiny hole in the first layer of his bandage. Looks like the cone is going to have to go on more often now. Which is no fun for anyone! 

Thankfully he didn't do any real damage, the vet isn't open anymore today and they're closed tomorrow. Very irritating. Here's hoping that's all he does to it.


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## Rayen (Aug 18, 2015)

The vet visit went well! They said his leg is healing about as well as they could've hoped it would. It's looking so good that they want us to leave it alone for most of this week and bring him in on Monday for his next penicillin shot. 

He did lose a tiny bit of weight this time though. From about 1.75kg down to 1.67kg. He's so stubborn, and it's so hard to get critical care into him! I'm going to have to sit down and really get some into him each day. He's eating vegetables pretty well and eats some hay, but he doesn't seem very interested in his pellets. 

He's also stopped peeing on me, and I haven't been nipped too many more times (or to the point that he's broken skin). Things are looking up!


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## Rayen (Aug 24, 2015)

Ugh, I'm so mad. 

I went to the vet today knowing that the regular vet that did the surgery was getting her wisdom teeth removed today, so I had to see a different vet from the same office. I know none of these vets, this is the first time I've used this particular vet office and I only went there because I got a recommendation from my regular small animal vet when they couldn't get me in. 

The new vet brought him into the back for the better part of an hour (I'm not entirely sure, but it was at least 45 minutes) when normally it took about twenty minutes to clean, dry and rewrap his leg. The vet then went on a rant about how terrible his leg looked despite the fact she had never seen it before, I knew his leg looked awful, but I wanted to know if it had improved from the last visit. The regular vet was sent pictures and she told us that it looked roughly the same as last week, so hopefully it hasn't gotten any worse. I feel horrible now because of how long this new vet went on about how awful it looked. Has it gotten worse and the pictures just didn't show it well? Ugh. 

Then she charged me about twice as much as my last visit for the exact same thing. I didn't quite notice at first because I got a refill on medication and more critical care, but when I looked over the bill closely it showed a nearly $50 charge just for cleaning his leg with water. On top of the $35 for rewrapping his leg and an additional $30 (that I've never been charged for a rewrap before) for a 'brief office visit'. My last visit for a rewrap and penicillin shot was $55. 

I brought him home, he was a bit stressed which seemed normal at the time. What wasn't normal is that he's now extremely uncomfortable looking. He won't eat any of the vegetables he normally eats without fail. He's lying in one spot and hasn't moved for nearly two hours. I'm probably going to have to go back now. I just hope that this new vet didn't do any damage to his leg with how long she took to clean it.


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## JBun (Aug 24, 2015)

I would complain to the previous vet that did the surgery, about this vets lack of knowledge and treatment of your rabbit, as well as the overcharging. There is no reason this vet should be ranting at you, especially without consulting with the other vet about the situation. You can also file a complaint with the office manager.

I would also speak to the previous vet that did the surgery and tell them that your rabbit is now extremely uncomfortable after the treatment from this other vet, and isn't eating now, and that you are worried this vet may have been too rough or may have injured something. Also, if your bun isn't on pain medication, he probably needs to be, especially after this appointment, and as soon as possible to help get him eating again.

I probably would also make sure I wasn't scheduled with this vet again.


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## mike158 (Aug 25, 2015)

My Lion Head female (Fuddy)was almost 3 years old when she developed an abscess underneath each front paw (last September 2014). I took her to the vet several times over a 2 week period, which included several puss-removing stints, dressings and my administering twice-daily liquid antibiotics (after meals). She seemed to have recovered, but in June this year, she had them back again - in the same places. Ditto treatment as above and she seemed to recover after 2 weeks; I actually gave her the antibiotic for a full 3 weeks this time. However, about 1 month later she developed a very nasty (large) abscess under her front left paw; I missed it for too long so admit my guilt this time. I had, in the meantime, been recommended an "animal hospital" so took her to the rabbit doctor there; contd.


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## mike158 (Aug 25, 2015)

Contd. After a full examination, the doctor gave her recommendation that the leg had to be removed. (Going what I have already said, I actually feared this would be the case). I had actually read up a lot about this subject online, and the doctor also added that with a serious abscess it is possible that the bacteria may also be residing elsewhere in the rabbit's body, e.g. the jaw, skull or joints. Being as Fuddy had had a good (albeit short) life, mothered some kits, plus the fact that she unfortunately had developed polyps and had become incontinent I made the decision to have her put to sleep. The doctor administered a general anaesthetic via the top of her ear and 2 minutes later administered the final chemical mix; she passed away peacefully - without pain - with me holding her on the operating table.


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## mike158 (Aug 25, 2015)

Contd. After a full examination, the doctor gave her recommendation that the leg had to be removed. (Going what I have already said, I actually feared this would be the case). I had actually read up a lot about this subject online, and the doctor also added that with a serious abscess it is possible that the bacteria may also be residing elsewhere in the rabbit's body, e.g. the jaw, skull or joints. Being as Fuddy had had a good (albeit short) life, mothered some kits, plus the fact that she unfortunately had developed polyps and had become incontinent I made the decision to have her put to sleep. The doctor administered a general anaesthetic via the top of her ear and 2 minutes later administered the final chemical mix; she passed away peacefully - without pain - with me holding her on the operating table.


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## mike158 (Aug 25, 2015)

Just over 2 weeks ago, my male Mini-Rex ("Boy") developed multiple abscesses on under ALL FOUR PAWS. I took him to the "animal hospital" and the rabbit doctor examined him - his temp. was 105!, gave him 2 injections, cleaned and bandaged the legs and gave me antibiotic liquid to administer twice a day after meals. This time (as opposed to the "animal clinic" that I had previously used), she also gave me bandages, sticking plaster tape and cleaning solution for ME to clean the woulds daily. 
She gave me an appointment for 7 days later, but I ended up going back after 5 days as the antibiotic had run out. This time, being as the "rabbit doctor" was performing surgery that day, I saw a normal "dog/cat" doctor. He proved to be very knowledgeable and totally expert at dressing the wounds. One abscess on a back leg required a major puss-removal job. I had an appointment for 7 days later. At home, I continued cleaning and dressing the legs as well as giving the antibiotics. I took Boy back after 5 days (again) and informed the doctor that he was refusing to take his antibiotic liquid. The doctor suggested he give it via a daily injection instead, and gave a pain killing injection as well. All seemed well, but about 1/2 an hour after I got Boy home, he unfortunately passed away. Yes, I felt terrible.


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## mike158 (Aug 25, 2015)

Critical Care: When you get the (light brown) powder, this is the way to mix it:
1. Use 1:4 with hot (boiled but cooled) water; put it in the plastic container, apply the lid and shake like hell till it is a nice mixture.
2. Let it cool.
3. Mix some tinned condensed milk (a little) with some hot water.
4. Get a large plastic syringe - the size that you put ink into your printer. 
5. Use 4: 1 Critical Care mixture and mixture in (3) above.
Good luck; it saved my male Lion Head last year; he was down to 1.7 kg, recovered and is now 2.7 kg!!!


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## Rayen (Aug 25, 2015)

Now I'm even angrier.

I decided to give him the night to see if he was just really stressed out from what was happening. I really tried to get critical care into him and he was really not having any of that. I managed to get him to eat a tiny bit of banana (I had to bring out the big guns!) and maybe a few mouthfuls of critical care (it's so hard to tell how much he ate when so much ended up all over me!).

This morning he had eaten pretty much nothing I had left him with. I left him with Cheerios, pellets, favourite vegetables, three kinds of hay (including alfalfa!) and he maybe ate a few tiny baby lettuce leaves. He's still not taking critical care (which these last few days he's really seemed to finally enjoy). 

I called up the vet and they were really not super interested in what I was saying. They didn't bother to look up his information, told me to get some critical care (I just bought a bag yesterday) and force feed him. I tried to explain that he wasn't even accepting that and they just told me to get as much as I could into him. I pushed for some pain medication and they didn't even want me to come in, they just wanted me to go to a nearby vet to pick something up (this vet office is roughly an hour away from where I live, I guess they thought it would be easier? I don't have a small animal vet nearby me though, so).

Eventually I managed to get an appointment with the vet that did the surgery (they didn't want to give me one because she was coming in, but not seeing any clients). I just don't understand why it had to be so difficult. Normally discussing how uncomfortable a rabbit is, and how little they are eating is more than enough to get an appointment to see someone. I just hope they don't decide to charge me an arm and a leg for this visit after how much I was charged yesterday. 

Very disappointing, they seemed like a decent vet (despite the super passive-aggressive stance on raw feeding, but whatever, I wasn't taking my cat/dog there). I don't think I'll be coming back again for anything like this.


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## Kipcha (Aug 25, 2015)

This all sounds very similar to our experience with our Belgian Hare, Peace. He had an abscess on his right hock and it was a nightmare to deal with. It was literally an entire month of almost no sleep as I had to watch him 24/7. Our vet opted to try putting antibiotic beads in his leg after removing the abscess to try and prevent infection from building up again, but the vet accidentally removed too much flesh during surgery which resulted in an open wound and the beads just barely staying in his leg. The best part was that the beads were okay in the wound but if her ingested them, they were toxic. And he was OBSESSED with trying to rip them out of his leg.

Cone was a no go as he completely flipped out with it on so we wrapped his leg and literally did not leave him alone. Someone was always watching him and when he started to go at it we would make him stop.

After about a month, a split second of looking away at something while on Peace duty resulted in Peace getting a bead in to his mouth (We forced it open with the end of a spoon and got it out before he swallowed it, thank god) and he opened the few stitches he had. The flesh was dying around the wound and things were looking really bad for him, we were worried that we would have to put him to sleep since the vet was worried at how big the wound was getting and how it was progressively getting worse. As a last ditch effort to get it to heal, some research was done and we learned that pure unpastuerized honey was often used for healing purposes.

And wouldn't you know it, after smearing honey on his wound every other day, within a week new flesh was closing it shut and it did absoloute wonders. I know it sounds like witch doctor kind of stuff but it truly did save Peace's life. We thought it was going to be a sticky, gooey mess but when we wrapped his leg and would open it after the 2 days, the honey would be completely absorbed and left the gauze around it clean and dry, it was crazy. I had no idea honey could do that.

If you're desperate to get your buns leg to heal, you could ask your vet about this. It seriously it something I would highly recommend trying especially since our cases sound rather similar.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time finding a good vet, that is incredibly frustrating.


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## JBun (Aug 25, 2015)

So sorry this vet office is being so problematic. Like I said, I would make a formal complaint. Any decent rabbit vet knows that pain control is essential. I'm shocked that they were giving you such a hard time about getting some for your bun.

Kipcha, actually manuka honey is often used to help heal abscess wounds in rabbits.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Absc_treat/abscess_treat.htm


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## Rayen (Aug 25, 2015)

Kipcha, your case does sound pretty close to what I'm seeing (the dying skin especially). I'll definitely ask about it when I go and see the vet to see what they think. I'm not super hopeful they'll have anything good to say about it, but no harm in trying. 

I really hope he gets better, it's only been two weeks since his surgery and he's still looking pretty active(or, I guess, was until whatever that vet did to him happened, this better not be what leads him to the point of no return). I'm still hopeful that he'll heal up! The vet estimated that we'd be dealing with this for at least six weeks, so we're still pretty early on. 

Hopefully talking to the vet that did his surgery will help to lower some of my anxiety over this from yesterday. I just want this nightmare to be over with!


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## Rayen (Aug 25, 2015)

Alright, so I went to the vet. Apparently his leg is worse, by the looks of all of the comparison pictures it's quite a bit worse actually. The vet thinks it may have something to do with him not being on pain medication the last week (she seemed kind of judge-y when she said this, despite the fact that I reminded her several times how much she gave me and when it ran out and I would hope it would be in his file even though they still ask me what medication he's on each time I go there like maybe I'm slipping a few of my own in there?). 

Anyway, he's on pain medication now. If that doesn't help get his appetite back in the next day or so they'll give me something for his stomach. I have a giant bottle of pain medication anyway, so I shouldn't run out anytime soon (or fingers crossed anyway, the bottle cost like $55). 

He doesn't have an increased temperature, his gut felt good, his heart rate was good and he wasn't dehydrated. We're going back on Friday to see if his leg starts to improve and we're probably going to start doing more bandage changes at home (which sounds awful).


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## Akzholedent (Aug 26, 2015)

Poor fella! I really hope he surprises us with a magical turnaround! Come on, little buddy, we're all pulling for you!


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## Kipcha (Aug 26, 2015)

Poor little guy, he'll feel so much better with pain medication! When Peace was having his issues we were doing bandage changes every 2 days or so, which wasn't a lot of fun because Peace was definitely not impressed with it.

JBun, that was a really good read. I could not believe the amount of difference the honey made.


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## Rayen (Aug 28, 2015)

It's back to healing again! At least it didn't get any worse. 

We're going to be doing bandage changes every three days from now on. The vet said that likely the problem that made it worse was waiting too long between bandage changes. The first layer of his bandage apparently shifted sometime after the change as well, which likely added some additional friction on the wound. She doesn't want us to change it too often, so after his next penicillin shot we'll be changing it at least once between visits.

I got a good look at it this time and it does look quite a bit better than the picture we were shown last week. The wound looks a lot healthier, no dark or dying tissue (thankfully!). Though there is a bit of an awkward spot that's kind of peeling away, I hope that doesn't cause any future problems. 

The pain medication is making him feel a lot more comfortable too. He's even gone back to begging for treats! Though I am still having trouble getting him to eat pellets. He'd eat vegetables all day every day if I let him but he only eats the odd mouthful here or there of pellets. Thankfully he's gone back to eating his critical care.


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## Rayen (Sep 1, 2015)

So he's lost another bit of weight, and currently sits at 1.64kg. Ugh. I wish it was easier to get him to eat! There are days I'll delay a critical care feeding because I see him eating pellets and hay a lot, so I think he'll be fine. Obviously not. 

His leg didn't really look any better this time around. Not worse, by any means, and the vet didn't have anything worrying to say about it. I'll be doing bandage changes twice before our next visit.

I talked about the honey this time around. The vet said that we could try it if we wanted to, and that the only reason she hadn't been using it already was because the vet clinic didn't have any in. She just couldn't remember how messy it was, and told us not to use too much if we did want to try it. 

Is there any kind of special honey I should be using? I live like five minutes down the road from a place that makes it, so I got some of their bottled unpasteurized honey. Is that fine to use? Is there anything I should be watching out for in it? The bottle says it's 100% unpasteurized honey. 

Next week we've got another different vet. I'm not super thrilled by the idea, but he needs his penicillin shot and it's a weird week since there's a holiday. Our current vet said he shouldn't need his bandage changed at least, and if she wanted a picture of the wound she would do one free of charge. But that doesn't really mean much when she's not there to enforce it.


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## aBeautifulHope (Sep 1, 2015)

I know for people we use Manuka honey (I'm in the medical field)...you can find it at most health food stores &#9786;&#65039;. I've used it along with cleaning the wound out with vetericyn (it's totally safe, basically water but they did something to it and I have cleared up some NASTY abscesses without antibiotics and just that) and then apply the honey like a compress...I have a lot of horses and dogs and I saved one of my dog's life using that and the vetericyn is my go to for any wound on anything &#9786;&#65039;&#9786;&#65039;&#9786;&#65039;


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## aBeautifulHope (Sep 1, 2015)

The nice thing about the vetericyn since it's not a medication and is basically just water it can't hurt anything &#128513;. Most horse people (including vets...my old boss had it EVERYWHERE and on his truck) swear by it


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## Rayen (Sep 2, 2015)

His poop is a bit soft and sticky today, I found one stuck in his fur when I was feeding him earlier. I think I may have over done the vegetables yesterday, I don't really measure anything out so I was hoping to do a couple of 'small' vegetable feedings throughout the day that may have been larger than I assumed. 

He's being super stubborn about his critical care feedings too. He lashes out and bites at the towel and at my hands a lot more these last few times. I do see him eating some hay beforehand so maybe he's just not hungry and super irritated I'm trying to make him eat. 

Very frustrating! I just don't want him to keep on losing weight.


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## Rayen (Sep 3, 2015)

I did my first bandage change today and I'm super paranoid that I didn't do it right. Everything looked good while I was applying it, despite a bit of a wonky boot-shaped end result. Fingers crossed I didn't mess up. On the bright side, I have extra supplies if I do need to fix it. He's a very good bunny for bandage changes! I only got kicked maybe once or twice.

It, again, didn't really look any better to me. I don't know if it's just super slow going and I don't notice it between changes or if there is some noticeable change. I grabbed a picture for the vet to see anyway (not that I have any ink to actually print it out, but maybe I can find their email address or something). I just know that it doesn't have that gross infected smell, so I want to assume everything is going alright. 

I decided to add some honey this time around. I'll check on Sunday to see how much of a pain it's going to be, or if it looks noticeably worse before deciding if I'll keep using it. I've never used the raw unpasteurized stuff before, it's very weird! I expected it to be thicker and more sticky.


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## Lokin4AReason (Sep 4, 2015)

praying for the best for the little one and glad that he has you next to him =0)

my 2nd bun, his name was *little man* w/ a broken leg at 5 to 8 week(s) old. the breeders wont let me have him and when I did, I drove to the vet clinic asap. they were telling me this and that and he had to be put down because abscess starting. the leg needed to be removed and I agreed to it to save his life. i even went to get a ct scan ( at the animal hosp. ) of his leg and the doc. was talking w/ the vet ( at who wanted to *little man* down, which I didn't know of ). at when it was time to get him .... well, he is binkying over the rainbow =*0/ 

I think that the vet and doctor ( at the hosp. ) agreed put him down because of his leg being broken. and this vet ( is like he knows everything and has a god like attitude ) is supposed to be the best in the area. never again will he see any of my kid(s) and I ll just pass the word around to anyone that wants to go see him ... 

once again, praying and be strong =0)


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## mike158 (Sep 4, 2015)

As I said in my posts (previous pages), I lost 2 rabbits in 2 months due to foot abscesses. Unfortunately - and I am obviously not anything like an expert on this subject (just been looking after my rabbits for 4 years) I personally don't see how a rabbit can have a quality life with losing a leg, and the other thing is - as 2 vets at 2 clinics have told me - the bacteria that causes the leg abscess can reside in other places in the rabbit's body if not completely eradicated initially, and then - if there is a break in the skin on the rabbit's foot and it gets wet or dirty, the abscess may quickly return.. A dog or a cat - yes; I can see and have seen that they can lead a normal life after losing a limb. From reading the last few posts, I realize that the pet owners are going "all out" to try and save their beloved rabbits, but I also believe in the saying "you need to be cruel to be kind" (sometimes/at some stage).


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## Rayen (Sep 4, 2015)

I'm very sorry for your guys' loss and I am glad for the well-wishes, but can you please not post here with these kinds of stories right now? This is an incredibly stressful time for me and I really don't want to see a lot of negative experiences when everything is still so uncertain. 

This is not my first time dealing with an abscess, I've seen them in a ton of pets before. I've already lost a guinea pig to one before. I know nothing is certain when it comes to them. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook.

So far he's still looking good, he still gets around very well. The wound on his leg is not great looking, but there are parts of it that have healed up. It used to wrap around to the back of his leg, but now only the front portion remains. Not a huge improvement, to be sure, but we're getting there. 

So, no, I'm not having him put to sleep right now. If the time comes when there's no improvement and the infection comes back with a vengeance I may consider it. This isn't my first pet, or even my dozenth. I'm prepared to do what I have to, I'm just not willing to give up quite yet.


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## Watermelons (Sep 4, 2015)

What kind of antibiotics are being used?


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## Rayen (Sep 4, 2015)

He's on a once a week penicillin injection as well as a twice a day oral antibiotic. I'm honestly not sure what the oral one is, it's kind of greasy? So it melts the label off. I'll dig through my receipts later and figure out what it's called.


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## aBeautifulHope (Sep 4, 2015)

I think you're doing a wonderful job with him and giving him every chance to fight through this &#9786;&#65039;. With all of the myriad of pets I've had make their way over the rainbow, they've always told me or let me know that it was their time to go...you're definitely doing the right thing and sometimes wounds just take a looooooong time to heal. Especially in rabbits &#9786;&#65039;


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## Watermelons (Sep 4, 2015)

Rayen said:


> He's on a once a week penicillin injection as well as a twice a day oral antibiotic. I'm honestly not sure what the oral one is, it's kind of greasy? So it melts the label off. I'll dig through my receipts later and figure out what it's called.


Just wanted to make sure you were on an injectable. But getting to see the oral might be interesting to see what it is.


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## Rayen (Sep 4, 2015)

The oral medication is Enrofloxacin 40mg/ml.


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## mike158 (Sep 5, 2015)

No offence intended; I sincerely hope everything works out and he recovers.


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## Rayen (Sep 5, 2015)

I decided to do a bandage change a day early just for my own peace of mind. I didn't like the job I did last time and I didn't want to leave it an extra day just in case the inner pad had shifted again. It was also a bit on the low side, so there was a tiny piece of tape stuck to his shaved skin and I knew that couldn't have been comfortable.

It looks like the honey is helping though! It obviously wasn't a huge change, but it does seem like the wound has filled in a tiny bit with some new tissue. It didn't seem to bleed as much either when we were cleaning it. I don't know if that's a positive or not, but it feels like one.

That one area that was peeling away has started peeling more though. I'm worried about it, and want the vet to look at it. I'm still kind of irritated we can't see the vet that did the surgery because she would know what I was talking about and would be able to look at the pictures for an idea of what it looked like last time, but oh well. If the vet thinks it looks bad enough I'll just try to get another appointment for the regular vet to look at it.

I hope we don't have to, I really don't like going there so many times. It's at least an hour each way, and the roads are filled with construction so it's always such a gamble of if I'll even make it on time. I bring something for Quinn to eat, normally some wet veggies so he at least has some access to water but it can't be comfortable for him at all.


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## Akzholedent (Sep 6, 2015)

I'm glad the honey seems to be helping! Keep up the healing, Little Quinn! You can do it, buddy! And Rayen, you're doing an awesome job yourself.  Even though Quinn has his cranky days, we all do. <3 Keep up the good work, and I'll keep sending healing vibes your way.


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## stevesmum (Sep 6, 2015)

Couldn't you maybe take some close up photos and email them to your chosen vet? They must understand that an hour each way is stressful for bunny and stress impedes healing. It sounds like you fund their practice enough as it is going for regular check ups and bandage changes, so maybe they could show you a little compassion and generosity. I am lucky to have a great vet, I know she would do this for me and she's only ten minutes away! But a good rabbit vet understands that most bunnies don't travel well, so I hope you can work something out with them. Keep us posted.


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## Rayen (Sep 6, 2015)

stevesmum said:


> It sounds like you fund their practice enough as it is going for regular check ups and bandage changes, so maybe they could show you a little compassion and generosity.



Honestly, this whole thing is one of the reasons I'm never super comfortable with exotic vets and don't really have a great working relationship with one. I've been lucky enough throughout my life to have really good, understanding dog/cat/large animal vets but it seems like as soon as I walk in the door of a small animal clinic they just see dollar signs. 

The surgery on Quinn alone was just over $600. His initial visit and X-ray cost just around $300. Every week so far I've been spending at least $100 on bandage changes, medication and check-ups. I haven't actually added everything up together but I'd guess it's been at least $1300 so far. I wasn't even given one post-op bandage change/visit included with the actual surgery. Ugh, I feel like I should be more pushy about this but at the same time I really don't want to rock the boat on this and have to change vets for the rest of his recovery. 

My current dog/cat vet can do everything right in their clinic. They can do blood tests and cultures while you wait and if you go in with any problem big or small they have a vet that can take care of it. My cat just recently had a blocked salivary gland, something that only very, very rarely happens in cats. Looking for advice online basically had me thinking I was going to have to put her to sleep. The vet walked in, said he would do the surgery, walked out with her and did it that day. She's been fine ever since. 

I do understand that they're all very different animals, but I just never feel like I get the same respect at small animal clinics.


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## Rayen (Sep 8, 2015)

So I did get to see the vet that did the surgery today, despite being told she wasn't working today. Whatever, it worked in my favour in the end anyway. 

She didn't want to remove the bandage today since she looked at the pictures and saw that it looked alright the last time we did a bandage change. We may have to get some of the excess tissue removed again, but she said she wasn't even going to think about it for a few more weeks.

I do kind of wish she had done a bandage change now that I did one afterwards. It doesn't look bad, but there was obviously more secretions than the last time I had done the change. The bandage was difficult to remove. It also had just a slight smell of infection. There wasn't any obvious puss and I'm going to start doing bandage changes every other day from now on to make sure things don't go badly. The wound still looks pretty healthy (to me at least) but there was a lot of tissue that fell off this time around while I was cleaning it. I don't know if I added too much honey and that caused some of the issues I saw or what, but now I'm a bit nervous and went with the anti-bacterial cream we were given.


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## JBun (Sep 9, 2015)

The tissue that fell off would be dead tissue. It isn't from the honey but from the honey being diluted too much by weepage from tissue damage in the wound, which makes the wound too moist. You still want the honey, but it just means that bandage changes need to occur more frequently to prevent the moisture from damaging the tissue. I personally would keep using the honey. I agree that bandage changes need to be done more frequently, but wound cleaning and redressing really needs to be done twice daily, once daily at the very least. Keeping the abscess cleaned out is an essential part of the wound healing properly. And leaving dressing changes too long will just promote bacterial growth to continue, as will leaving dead tissue on the wound. It's important to keep the dead tissue cleaned away as it promotes bacterial growth as well.

If you haven't read through these links, I would suggest it. They explain why frequent bandage changes are important, as well as giving additional info on wound cleaning, applying honey and dressing the wound.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Absc_treat/abscess_treat.htm
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/RWAF_Abscesses.pdf


You may also want to discuss with your vet, increasing the frequency of the penicillin injections. For abscess treatment the long acting penicillin is usually given every 2-3 days and the short acting penicillin is given daily, sometimes several times a day. Once weekly isn't frequent enough for the antibiotic to effectively fight the bacteria in the abscess. The daily baytril(enrofloxacin) may help some, but it usually isn't the most effective antibiotic against abscesses in rabbits. Antibiotic treatment for abscesses, really has to be quite aggressive to have the best chance of beating it.
http://people.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/Safe_antibiotics.htm

I think you are doing a fantastic job. Abscess treatment is no easy thing and requires a lot of time and care. Your bunny is lucky to have such a caring and dedicated owner.


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## squidpop (Sep 9, 2015)

I just read through this whole thread and am so sorry for you and your bunny. I only have a few small bits of advice. One is that if he is not eating well you should also monitor water intake because if he might also be dehydrated and not drinking water will cause him to not want food. So if you suspect he is not drinking it would be good to syringe electrolytes, hydrate and then syringe food. 

Also, since he is hard to syringe feed and medicate- my advice for that is: Try using a small syringe, even though it takes longer I use a 1 ml syringe usually because its small and I can get it in the opening behind the front teeth easily and they don't seem to fight it as much as my 5 ml syringe.
Another syringe I found that works well is a 3 ml monoject feeding syringe (people who hand rear baby parrots use them) they look like this http://fetchrx.com/monoject-monodose-oral-med-syringe-3-ml-w-cap. They have a longer tip which makes it easier than a regular syringe. I got a pack of 20 from ebay. 

Also, I have a weird method of syringing meds that works for me and here is a picture of it - the rabbit can't go forward because I can hold his chest or head and can't go backwards because my body is in the way- so they usually give up and take their medicine.


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## Rayen (Sep 9, 2015)

JBun, thank you for the links! The first one especially had some information that sounded like what happened with our bandage change, it'll definitely need to be changed more often. 

I'll definitely ask the vet next time about daily bandage changes. She seemed to think that doing them too often would ultimately be too stressful and suggested every 3-4 days. Her initial suggestion was to do them daily, but that seemed to change pretty quickly. I'll be doing them every other day this week until Monday and I'll see how that goes. He's pretty good with it (basically just plays dead) but it does look like it hurts him. His leg really starts to shake after we clean it out. 

Is there a good time after pain meds are given that I should be doing the bandage change? Would it be better to do it before pain meds and then give them when I'm finished? He doesn't act too uncomfortable after we're finished, but rabbits are so good at hiding pain! 

Squidpop, thank you for the well-wishes! I've actually gotten pretty good with feeding and medication now, or he's gotten used to it, either-or. He'll take the syringe on his own now, so I don't have to force him too much. (He still spits up a lot of critical care all over me though!) The vet always makes sure to look him over and so far he hasn't been dehydrated. He eats a lot of vegetables, since that's about all I can get him to reliably eat on his own. He even gained a tiny bit of weight this week! From 1.64kg to 1.68kg.


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## JBun (Sep 9, 2015)

I don't recall if you said, which pain med is your rabbit on, what's the strength of it(mg per ml), what dosage are you giving, and how often?

How does he act after the bandage change? Is he resuming normal activities or does he go and hide somewhere for a while? The problem with putting off a bandage change for 3-4 days is that it doesn't promote a healthy environment for the wound healing. Think of it like when we have a cut. Leaving the same bandage on for that long wouldn't be good and would likely lead to the infection worsening.

Are you also cleaning out the wound, pus, and dead tissue when you do the bandage change?


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## Rayen (Sep 9, 2015)

The box says M-Eloxyn, 1.5mg/ml. The bottle also says it's meloxicam? He gets 0.5ml twice a day right now. 

His actual wound is pretty open, I'm not really sure how to describe how it looks (I could post a picture? but it's pretty gross). It's not like a pocket that I have to clean out with puss. Every time I've cleaned it, it didn't have any noticeable puss on it. When I clean it, I just use normal water and a syringe that they gave me. I use a bit less than a litre of water and I just sort of gently spray off the dead tissue and anything that was stuck to the wound. 

After bandage changes he acts pretty much normal. He'll try to 'clean' the bandage for about an hour afterwards then for the most part will just leave it alone. He does get a bit irritated with me, and won't let me pick him up as easily for feedings/medication afterwards but that's about it.


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## JBun (Sep 9, 2015)

The meloxicam twice a day should be providing him constant pain relief coverage, so won't matter when you do the bandage change. If your rabbit is around 2kg/4-5lbs, then he's getting the right dosage. 

If you feel it is hurting him still too much and he acts in pain afterwards, you can get opiate pain meds from the vet that you can give a half hour prior to the bandage change to help control the pain, but it may also have some sedating effects. To me though, it sounds like it isn't bothering him too much if he sits and grooms afterwards.

Sounds like you are getting the wound cleaned out. That's great that you aren't finding pus in there. That means the antibiotics are working and the wound is healing. Hopefully the more frequent bandage changes will help as well.


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## Rayen (Sep 10, 2015)

I did another change. I think I will do at the very least one bandage change every other day from now on. It just looks so much better (in my opinion, anyway) than what it looks like after three days. The wound is a lot more pink, it's not nearly as bleedy and the infection smell from last time is gone. 

I'm back to using honey too. We'll see how the next one goes!


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## Rayen (Sep 12, 2015)

Yet another bandage change! 

I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but a large chunk of tissue fell off today. It's very unnerving. It wasn't bloody and the actual wound still looks pretty good and doesn't have that infection stink, so I'm hoping it was just an unusually large piece of dead tissue? 

That peeling piece is also still really peely. I'm probably going to push for the vet to rebandage it and take a look herself rather than just my pictures this week. 

He started eating some pellets the last few days! Not frequently enough for me to avoid critical care feedings, of course, but oh well. It's something.


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## Rayen (Sep 15, 2015)

We saw the vet and we agreed to just do the change every other day for now. The person helping me is already starting to get a little fed up with assisting on the bandage changes every other day as it is, and I'm seeing improvement with the two days so I'm just not going to press the issue for now. 

We've scheduled the tissue removal for next week. The vet doesn't see any cause for concern right now with the wound, she said it looks like it's healing about as well as she expected.

His weight stayed about the same this week, not super great news because I was hoping for a bit more improvement. At least he didn't lose anymore, I guess. His lady friend is starting to look a little plump too, I'm going to need to get more creative on how I feed him to stop her from inhaling everything.


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## Rayen (Sep 17, 2015)

I'm still not super great at wrapping his leg, thankfully everything seems to stay in place when I go to change it so I guess it isn't a huge problem. This time's bandage probably looks like the worst one I've done this far. Poor little guy! 

The wound itself is still about the same, though I did notice a few spots looked a bit darker red. I hope the skin around it isn't starting to die again, but it doesn't look bad enough to really start panicking yet. It didn't smell bad and the rest of the wound is still that bright pink colour so I'm hoping I'm just seeing things. I'm not sure if it's because so much tissue has fallen off this last week, but the wound doesn't look nearly as bulky as it did. I hope that's good news. 

I ran out of tape that the vet supplied me with and I figured, no problem, I'll just go pick some up from the store. The stuff they gave me felt like maybe cloth tape (clearly I need to ask more questions!), so that's what I picked up. I don't know if it was the brand or what, but this stuff isn't very sticky and it doesn't feel the same as the stuff I had and it doesn't stay on at all. Ugh. I bought a different brand today, so I'll try it until I get back to the vet on Monday. 

I'm really excited for when it really starts to look like there's been some big progress! Bandage changes and daily medication and forced feedings are no fun for anyone.


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## Watermelons (Sep 17, 2015)

Rayen you're more then welcome to post photos of the wound here.
Not only would it be a great educational tool to see the healing process, but those who are trying to help you here, can handle looking at that stuff so there's no worry


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## stevesmum (Sep 17, 2015)

You're doing an awesome job, not everyone would have the patience or the willingness to spend so much time or money on their pet. Kudos.


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## Rayen (Sep 20, 2015)

I haven't weighed Quinn since the last vet visit, but he definitely feels like he's put on a little bit of weight these last few days. He just feels heavier. I hope that translates to getting him back closer to his original weight!

The bandage change went about as it usually does. I really can't see any progress myself, but the wound still doesn't look like it's getting worse so I guess that's a positive right there. I'm still terrible at wrapping it, and each time I go in I think that today's going to be the day I do it right (I'm always wrong).

On the bright side, the second tape I bought apparently is the right stuff! It stayed on really well. But I ran out of the non-stick pads they gave me so I had to buy some of those too. The bandage is only staying on this one day so if these are the wrong ones at least it won't be staying on too long.


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## JBun (Sep 20, 2015)

I don't know that bandage changes ever go on a pet's leg very well, due to the difficulty of wrapping legs period. Legs are just awkward to wrap. I have a rabbit who's leg i had to wrap for several weeks, and it never seemed to end up exactly how I wanted it, or stay on as well as I would have liked. You are dealing with the difficulty of wrapping a moving appendage, not to mention a rabbit that doesn't necessarily hold still while your wrapping.

It is good the wound isn't looking any worse. I would think that it should gradually be looking a little better. Maybe ask your vet about it. The weight gain is really good though. Means your bun is feeling better anyways, and the wound isn't too troublesome.

Glad things are going better now.


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## Rayen (Sep 21, 2015)

So the vet cleaned his leg up again. I'm not sure what to think anymore. I'm so tired of this whole thing and I really want it to be over and healed. 

Basically she said that she had hoped that there would have been more progress by now. That there was some dying tissue around the wound, and that she was concerned about how far we had come in six weeks. She gave me a new medication for the next couple of weeks (it says sulfatrim suspension 1ml every 12 hours) and that in roughly two weeks if there hasn't been any positive progress we'd have to look at our options again. 

She mentioned amputating the leg, which I am not going to do. He isn't getting around super well on the three legs right now, he's able to walk alright and all but he has trouble supporting himself at times and can't clean his face as well as he'd like to. Plus it's another big surgery and I don't think I want to put him through it after two months of trying to get this thing to heal.

On the plus side, I suppose, she said that once she got all of the excess tissue removed that it didn't look bad. She was a bit concerned with the smell of it, but I always assumed that it was the smell of using honey. It never really smelled infected to me, just this weird kind of sweet smell. I don't know. Maybe it was just a different kind of infection smell? Ugh. 

I just wish we hadn't left the bandage on for that full week early on. I can't help but think that it would've been healed or at least close to it if we had done more bandage changes more often early on. I relied on the vet's advice and I think she was too earnest to try and make it easy on me and the person helping me change the bandage.


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## Rayen (Sep 23, 2015)

Sometimes family can be extremely annoying. My mother can't help herself but mention every single time I see her about how I should've just put him to sleep. That he's not going to get any better and that I've just wasted all of my time. I've asked her several times to stop, but apparently that's too much to ask for. 

I cleaned his leg today and, I don't know. I didn't see it before they wrapped it up on Monday so I can't say if it actually looks any better. It certainly looks better from when I last saw it, all of the extra crumbly bits are all gone and it's a lot smaller and cleaner looking. There appears to be some new white tissue on it that didn't easily peel off when I cleaned it, I don't know if that's a good sign or not. 

I've just got to think healing thoughts for the next couple of weeks! And avoid my mother, I guess.


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## Akzholedent (Sep 23, 2015)

Rayen, you're doing the best you can for him. I'm sure if he looked like he was absolutely miserable with no chance of making it, you'd have made that decision, but you decided to give him his best shot. I know it's been a very long process, and I'm sure it's not cheap.. but waking up every day to see his cute furry face must be worth it. <3 Some people really don't "get" it... and that's their loss.


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## pani (Sep 24, 2015)

I've just read through this whole thread - I'm so sorry about what you've been going through! It can be tough when everyone seems to be against you - the vet's unhelpfulness, your mother's 'suggestions', and even Quinn's unhappiness with being held - but you're doing so well! Felix, Clem, and I are sending good thoughts and healing vibes to you guys. ray:


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## Rayen (Sep 25, 2015)

Okay, I'm just going to post a couple of pictures of his wound today. I guess at this point where I'm looking at possibly putting him to sleep, I'm just searching for some kind of good news. There does seem to be a little bit of wonky tissue growth on it, which I'm not super happy with (on the pictures, it's that weird white bubble towards the top), but the rest of the wound looks pretty good to me. I really want this thing to heal. I've convinced my helper to clean it out tomorrow as well, so maybe I can get some daily bandage changes in for a bit.


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## stevesmum (Sep 25, 2015)

Looks like there's some good granulation (pink) tissue there, but a lot of what looks like exudate. The vet is debriding all of that white stuff whenever you go in, is that right? That wound is going to take a long time to heal. I'm not a vet or vet tech or anything but I am an RN. So I guess it depends on how much your bunny is suffering with this, how long you can continue on with your dressing changes, and if you are seeing progress each week. Might be time also to bribe your helper with dinner or something  
You're doing a fantastic job.


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## Rayen (Sep 25, 2015)

They're not taking the white tissue off all that often, actually. They just removed a bunch of excess tissue this week, should I be trying to remove more of it when I clean it myself?

I don't feel like he's suffering at all. The vet kind of made it sound like we were at the end point last time I talked to her, that if he wasn't making any real progress that we'd have to take the leg off or put him to sleep. Obviously I don't want to be changing bandages for the rest of his life, but I really don't want to give up on him yet either. I just don't think he'll do well without his leg, plus it'll be another $1000 operation. I know it sounds horrible, but I'm not sure I can put another $1000 into this thing especially when I don't think it'll help.


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## stevesmum (Sep 25, 2015)

Not forcefully, but just by cleaning, remove what will come off. But it depends what it is, if it's exudate or slough or what. I wouldn't try to debride it myself. If you don't think he is suffering then I would plod along for now, I've been following this thread and you report seeing slow but steady progress. I can't remember, did they change antibiotics? Did they send a culture of the wound? Another good thing to check might be the trend in wbc count in his bloodwork. But I know the costs are just piling up.


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## stevesmum (Sep 25, 2015)

are you still using the honey?


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## Rayen (Sep 25, 2015)

The vet did change the antibiotic this time around. It says sulfatrim suspension 1ml every 12 hours on the label. As far as I know, they didn't send out a culture. I didn't pay for one and they never suggested it. I really miss my regular cat/dog vet! They can do cultures right there so they always just do them. 

I'm not using honey right now, the vet mentioned a weird smell coming from the wound and I wanted to see if it was from the honey or not. So far I'm pretty sure it was just a honey smell, I know what smell she was talking about and it hasn't come back since I've stopped using it.


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## Rayen (Sep 28, 2015)

I'm so mad. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but the last two bandage changes I've done have slipped and ripped some tissue off and now it looks worse again. I just feel like nothing I'm doing even matters anymore. I'm sure that the vet is going to see it and tell me that there's nothing else we can do to heal it. I don't get why I've been able to do them fine for the last few weeks but suddenly when it really does matter I'm apparently useless.


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## MessiTheLop (Sep 29, 2015)

I don't speak English well . So I can't tell my story about Messi's abscess on his chin . But I recommend you to search about bicillin treatment . In here , Antalya / Turkey , is so hard to find a vet familiar to pet rabbits . Mine on the other hand worked on some rabbits before , so he is okay . When Messi had abscess vet gave him some medicine and it didn't work . His abscess got bigger in a short time . I went to a different vet , my vet's teacher from university , and Messi had a surgery . I literally had to push his food into his mouth to feed him . I wrapped him with a towel so he couldn't resist , move and it was taking more than an hour to feed him .. It went okay and the wound healed ....than in a month i found a lump on his chin , again . Then I began to search, with my poor English, everything about the abscesses on rabbits and then I've discovered bicillin treatment . I talked to my vet and insisted on that treatment . He agreed to that in the end and we're on treatment now . Here are some pages ..
http://people.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html
I hope you'll get thorough this .


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## pani (Sep 29, 2015)

Oh my gosh, that looks so sore - poor Quinn.  I'm not a vet and have no medical training so I'm afraid I can't really provide any assistance, but I just wanted to say how dedicated you are to him and you've done such a great job. :rainbow:


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## JBun (Sep 29, 2015)

Honestly, that looks completely different than I expected. I really don't have experience dealing with a wound that is affected to this extent in rabbits, but I do in horses. And I know that in horses when the granulation tissue starts to overgrow past where it would be even with the normal skin layer like your rabbits has, steps need to be taken to fix any overgrowth of tissue, before the layer of skin can start to grow over it and the wound completely heal. In horses, a steroid cream can help prevent the overgrowth of granulation tissue. But before that, any overgrown tissue needs to be cut back to be even with the skin layer. You can google 'granulation tissue and proud flesh in horses' and that will give you a better idea of what is going on with your rabbits wound and how it is treated when it occurs with horses.

From your description it sounds like your rabbit is doing just fine, and the wound has actually filled in and is healing and may not even have any infection present anymore, but is just 'overhealing' with granulation tissue which needs to be stopped. I see no reason that your rabbit would need to be pts or even need an amputation, if the wound is dealt with properly by your vet. Your vet just needs to get a handle on the overgrowth of granulation tissue is all, and that may be easily accomplished with trimming away the overgrown tissue while your bun is sedated, and keeping a steroid cream on it to keep it from overgrowing again. Though your vet will need to make sure that using a steroid cream is the right treatment to use on a rabbit with this issue.

It may help for you to have your vet consult with a rabbit specialist in order to get the best info on how to proceed next with this type of wound problem. I don't know if you have any really good specialists in Canada or not. I don't even really know who are specialists here in the US. But I do know that the UK has some excellent rabbit specialists. Frances Harcourt Brown, Molly Varga, Iain Cope, John Chitty, Mark Rowland, just to name a few. If you can get a consult with FHB, she is one of the best rabbit specialists there are. But she is semi retired so you would need to find out if she is available for consult or not. It will cost you a consult fee, but if it means this doesn't keep dragging out and you get the needed info to get this wound healed, it will probably be worth it. You will need to have your vet contact the specialist though. 
http://www.crablanevets.co.uk/


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## Rayen (Sep 30, 2015)

JBun said:


> From your description it sounds like your rabbit is doing just fine, and the wound has actually filled in and is healing and may not even have any infection present anymore, but is just 'overhealing' with granulation tissue which needs to be stopped. I see no reason that your rabbit would need to be pts or even need an amputation, if the wound is dealt with properly by your vet. Your vet just needs to get a handle on the overgrowth of granulation tissue is all, and that may be easily accomplished with trimming away the overgrown tissue while your bun is sedated, and keeping a steroid cream on it to keep it from overgrowing again. Though your vet will need to make sure that using a steroid cream is the right treatment to use on a rabbit with this issue.



I'm really glad you keep responding to this because I was honestly at the point where I was just ready for the bad news when I go back to the vet.

I really haven't seen anything infection-y since I started cleaning it, it's just that tissue that constantly keeps coming back. Even now, especially because of my stupid mistakes with bandaging, a lot of tissue has grown again.

I really wish vets would tell me more about this stuff. I really didn't know that I needed to have that stuff scraped off more often or that there was some special kind of treatment to try and stop it or how often I really needed to change this bandage. I'll admit it did seem weird that they were keeping it on that long, but I mean, they were a vet! I figured they knew what they were talking about. 

This is my first time dealing with this extent of a wound, especially in rabbits. Quinn and Briar are my first rabbits and they have been almost perfectly healthy until just recently (thankfully Briar is still pretty healthy, despite being in desperate need of a diet. Quinn just eats so much better with her around, but she eats like 10 times more than him! Ugh). Cats and dogs are so easy to deal with wounds. I've never had to deal with a wound for over two months before!

I'll ask about the steroids when I go back. I hope they can be used for his wound. I feel like a monster, he's so alert and active that putting him to sleep feels like I'm just killing him for no good reason. It's so hard when a vet is telling me that the only thing they can do is amputation when I just see him having so much trouble when he tries to support himself with one leg bandaged already.


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## squidpop (Oct 1, 2015)

I know manuka honey was mentioned earlier. I think it would be really good to use the medical grade manuka honey that diabetics use on wounds that won't heal, I know its expensive but I've read really good things about it.


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## Rayen (Oct 2, 2015)

This will probably be my last post in this thread unless something dramatic happens in the next little while.

I talked it over with the vet and she just does not think this is going to heal. I asked about the steroids and she said that she had never heard of them being used for rabbits and that the way she had always dealt with the proud flesh in horses was to just keep scraping it away until the wound healed. She said that because of how much tissue they had already scraped off that that wasn't feasible for Quinn since there wasn't much left. 

I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to keep at this. In all honesty, I really need to get my own life back and force feeding and medicating and cleaning the bandage has left me with little of my own time for the last few months. I love Quinn and I hate that this is how it all went but I think I will have to have him put to sleep soon. 

For sure I'm going to give him at least two more weeks. My birthday is next week and I don't really want to kill my pet then and he's just so alert that it's killing me to even think about it in the first place. I hope I can at least give him a few more good weeks. 

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with helpful advice. I'm sorry that this wasn't a happy ending, but I did try my best.


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