It looks like Jelly is already presenting with some dental problems. I expected this at some point, but not this early on. He's not yet a year old.

I took him to the vet last week and she suspects a tooth root abscess (Lower left side). I had him lined up for xrays the next day. He'd have to have general anaesthetic to do this and if she found abscess, she attempt to drain/clean it then. The next day though, all his symptoms seemed to be gone! He was all dry under the mouth and was no longer sneezing. It was odd but I put the appt off as I really didn't want to stress him out 2 days in a row. Anyway, he's slowly begun getting nasally again, and today the chin is wet on the problem side.

The vet told me if it was related to the tooth, that it would be taken out and gave me name of vet where I could have that done. I'm actually wondering if I'm better off just going there with him now? As a second opionon and to get moving on this.  If this vet would be performing the dental surgery, why not book him in for xray there, and if they discover the problem then, remove the tooth then and there. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to approach things.

I figure it would save me some dollars but also mean Jelly would only be put under anaesthetic once. Plus, I'm more likely to have better success clearing up the abscess if there is one, with the tooth gone. I'm told they remove it through the bottom of the jaw.

 I'd appreciate hearing the BB-ers opinions. : )

Thanks guys. It helps me when I sound things out here.

Thank you also for the vibes. I'm am worried about him.

 I'm sorry you and your rabbit are having to go through this. Personally I would recommend you take him back in every 3-4 weeks until you are confident that the abscess is really gone. They can literally pop up overnight, so I would check him every couple days at least.

I would consider what you want the vet to do if they find it is worse than they thought. What I mean is I would discuss beforehand the maximum time that you want him under. I would discuss beforehand what they will do if it has spread to the other side of the mouth. Would you break it up into two sugeries? How quickly would he handle two sugeries so close together? Would two surgeries be more risky than one?

With my rabbit it had spread to the other side and so they kept her under for over an hour to try and get a third tooth. Upon pulling that third tooth her vitals dropped and she died. It's impossible to know exactly what caused it and would have been impossible to know beforehand, but my vet told me that he knows if he hadn't pulled that third tooth that she would have lived. With something like this it is very difficult to find that line between being safe/conservative and agressive enough to have that chance you get it.

I really hope this works out for both of you. I'm sorry if I've worried you.

equalsign, that is a very valid concern.  His being under for a protracted length of time could very well be dangerous. I hadn't even thought of that so thank you!   It will help if I can ask these sorts of things beforehand but as I haven't dealt with this before, I wasn't certain of the specifics.  

@MimzMum, that thread on RU was really interesting.  Could Mimzy be a candidate for this if your vet agreed to trial it?  Are his problem molars in the lower jaw?

I had a mini meltdown about Jelly this morning, I admit.
We have an appointment tomorrow now, but it will just be a consult. I'm relieved though as I feel I'm moving on things again.
 

A belated update. I've been taking some time to absorb things...

So its confirmed Jelly has an abscess. The diagnosis reads "extensive tooth root abscess".   He had xrays done by the referred vet and he's not keen on surgery. He said it's possible but not good outcome and likely ongoing problems...

So the approach we're taking is hitting it with an antibiotic Fortum (Ceftazidime) in the hopes it will deal with the abscess and the bone in his jaw can stabalise.  He already has some bone thinning occuring under some teeth on the other side too.  Jelly doesn't do things by halves. :/

The vet I've been seeing at my own clinic has suggested we get the opinion of a very rabbit experience vet interstate. There is also another here I could ask the opinion of. For now though, I'm hoping the antibiotic will help. It's supposed to be good and it's not cheap! Jelly is off for the 3rd shot tomorrow. He's actually handling the car trips well and is quite bright after the appointments. He's surprised me!

Here are the xrays.  This is on his left side.    Basically, the bone is to soft and thinning in areas and the tooth roots (at least 3) have overgrown causing abscess. 

You can see the abscess in the soft tissue are where I've put the red arrow.

Below is same xray image with more contrast to hopefully show tooth and bone more clearly.

My red arrow shows area of bone that has deterioated. And left of that you can see the teeth roots.

Awhhh poor Jelly! I hope the antibiotic heals him. Did the vet say how long it might take for it to start working?

Posted By Sarita on 02/01/2012 06:19 AM
Poor Jelly. I'm not familiar with that medication so I will be very curious to see if it works.

Have you found Jelly's diet has changed due to his tooth abscess? The radiologist saw some abscesses in Toffee's x-rays but they weren't as severe as Jelly's but they certainly changed her eating habits. The vet put her on baytril and she is now eating her greens again so I hope that you will have success with Jelly's treatments.

Do you think that you would be able to do the injections at home by yourself? How many is he going to need?

Sarita, I've noticed he's not eating as much hay. I do feed a hay only pellet also so he's still getting fibre.  He's a little slower with some greens and doesn't eat celery pieces now.  Generally though, he is bright and appetite seems good. The lump on his face is large and not reducing... : (  I'm concerned as my vet said the body walls off the abscess so I wonder how much antibiotic is getting to it.

The med is one of the cephalosporin family. I think i read read sometimes more effective if something has not responded to a penecillin??  Thankfully it wasn't as expensive as I feared. Turns out I paid for it all up front and its not that cost per shot.   The injection has to be given intra muscular and even the nurses required assistance when giving it.  I wouldn't be confident to give it myself at home.  Jelly is coping really well with the trip to the vet so I'll stick to them administering it.

Thanks LPT.

Well, we've gone ahead and opened up the abscess to clean it out. So now poor Bub has a shaved face and hole in his jaw. And I get to poke him daily with a saline syringe. Poor thing! I'm glad to have taken this step though. I was getting so concerned because the antibiotics had not changed the abscess at all and it was only getting bigger.

Should be getting results from a culture in a few days and have a better idea what med to use. The vet said there were 3 areas she had to excavate, like the abscess had separate capsules.
I was really pleased she likes using manuka honey in the site as I've read about it and was keen to use. Glad we are on the same page with that. So will probably start to pack the wound with it soon.

Thanks for being my sound board here. : )
Jelly is coping so well with all of this! I just hope we can get things under control.

ETA: The antibiotic beads are not an option unfortunately. I asked and she told me she's tried several times to get them here but cannot. Can't import and can't get compounding pharmacists here to make them either.

 Glad to hear things are going alright. If you see repeated scabbing over the next few weeks I would take him back in. In my case it was actually dried puss because the abscess had returned.

Strider at TTAS just lost his battle with his abscesses today. :*(  februarys suck
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