Rabbit with abscess behind eye

loveisdivine

Hi,

Just wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with rabbits and abscesses?

Our rabbit Reggie started with a very crusty/runny eye which the vet thought was mosty likely a tear duct infection or possibly a rupture/blockage.

A course of antibiotics later and no improvement, infact things have gotten worse. The vet now believes that there is either an abscess (most likely) or a tumor (less likely) behind his eye. Its blocking the draining of the tear duct and pushing his eye out. You can see and feel that his eye is being pushed out further than the other.

So now we are on another, stronger, course of antibiotics to see if that can reduce the abscess.

Vet is obviously reluctant to operate as this would most likely mean removal of the eye completely.

He did mention a CT scan to see if they can differentiate between abscess and tumor but he said this would be very expensive.

So, yeah, anyone else been through this?

Edit - I should add that currently his mood and appetite have not been affected at all. Which is at least one good thing

Whispered

I know nothing about rabbits but wanted to wish your little guy all the best. Hopefully the new course of antibiotics will do the job.

Billiethepup

You could ask for a referral to the vet college for further investigation, they might have suggestions other than CT. Or Bairbe OMalley is probably the best qualified vet for rabbits in the country and has her own practice just outside Dublin. Might be worth a second opinion if the second antibiotics don't work.

Fingers crossed for him

Ankhyu

Oh god the poor thing!! Hope he's not in too much pain.

loveisdivine

thanks for the suggestions.

He doesn't seem to be in much pain, but honestly I'm not sure. He's still eating though thankfully.

I don't think the antibiotics are working. This morning that side of his face looks even bigger, like the eye is being pushed out further. He's also started to really fight against taking the medicine.

I really don't know what to do now. We are back at the vets on Tuesday. Our choices will be another course of stronger antibiotics or surgery. I don't really want to pump him full of more medicine if its likely they won't work. The abscess could end up bursting and he would die.

Surgery is the only option that would actually get rid of the abscess. Even though its likely it would return in time. But I'm concerned that if he loses the eye completely he will struggle, he already has 1 leg thats basically paralysed. He can splay the toes a little but no real movement of the leg. He can still jump and run but he struggles cleaning himself.

The eye is the same side as the leg so it would basically be one whole side of him thats disabled. I need to discuss with the vet what his quality of life would be like.

If he could have the surgery without losing the eye then I think it would be worth it.

loveisdivine

We now have an appointment with Bairbre on Monday

stereo_steve

So how did it go?

loveisdivine

Well they kept him in to do an X-ray, flush his eyes and give him a clean up. She also found that the ear of his bad side was quite clogged with wax so she cleaned that too.

Xray showed no major problems with teeth but they were able to see that the tear duct is badly blocked. They tried to flush it 4 times but couldn't get it clear.

We were supposed to pick him up today but he's not really eating or pooping yet after the general anaesthetic so I've to ring back after 4 to check on him.

He will be on penicillin injections for 2 weeks to help clear the pus blocking the tear duct.

Not as bad as it could have been really now he just needs to start eating so we can bring him home!

loveisdivine

He's home now A little quieter than usual and not eaten anything yet but he's not too bad. He jumped out the door into the garden and sniffed around for a minute or 2.

Fingers crossed his appetite will pick up! Oh and fingers crossed I'll manage to give him the injections, we practiced and I was ok but it was hard to tell when I'd actually gotten it under the skin, he has so much fur!

loveisdivine

He's a bit brighter this morning. Started eating a little hay last night and was eating it again this morning. Not had any pellets or veg yet but as long as he's eating hay I'm not concerned.

He also had his bottom front teeth trimmed as they were a little too long, so all thigns considered I think he's doing well.

tk123

Wow what a turnaround - delighted for you OP

loveisdivine

Yeah I'm super pleased. It's thanks to Bairbre really. There was nothing wrong with the other vets as such, they just weren't being aggresive enough with sorting the problem.

Bairbre explained that as the pus (sorry ew) builds it hardens and thats what pushes his eye out. We need to make sure that doesn't happen as it can cause permanent damage and even removal of the eye.

loveisdivine

So I had to give him his injection this morning, it was my first time ever and I think it went ok. On the 1st try the plunger didn't seem to want to move so I took it out and tried again. 2nd time he kinda jumped as if I'd hurt him to tried again! On the 3rd time I realised that the penicillin is obviously a lot thicker than the saline I practiced with so I just need to put more pressure on the plunger and it went in

Ankhyu

That's great! Delighted for you that he's come round