Survival story: abscess and GI stasis (incl. blockage surgery)

[aquaapril]

Hi everyone, I’m always trawling through forums for help when my bunny gets ill, and have been meaning to share his good news stories to help and give hope to others.

I have 2 bunny furbabies, Albert (6.5 year old fawn lop cross) and Matilda (6 years old, from a rescue shelter so not sure what breed she is). Matilda’s health is perfect, however Albert’s not so much. He was a left over pet shop bunny and due to his breeding has a very narrow ‘beak’ like face.

Jaw abscess:

A few years ago Albert got an abscess on the left side of his jaw. It started off quite small, and our local vet (who assured us he was experienced in rabbit care) pulled out a tooth and said it was all cleared. Fast forward a few weeks later and the abscess got worse. Albert went into surgery again, more teeth were removed and the abscess had gotten so bad the vet said as he was squeezing out pus (in rabbits it is very thick and white) pieces of his jaw bone were coming out as the infection had gotten into his bones. After the surgery the vet said to keep the wound clean with water. However the water had zero affect and the wound was still continuing to produce pus. The vet said that it was basically going to be touch and go as to whether Albert survived.

In desperation I started searching the web and came across a story of someone who used Manuka honey. I purchased the strongest honey I could get (from memory about 30+ UMF. Beware of the ones labelled a high Mgo as these have a low UMF rating. The higher UMF rating you can get the better). Manuka honey has strong antibacterial properties. Long story short after multiple daily cleans and dressing with Manuka honey, Albert’s jaw abscess dried up and started to heal over. I can’t stress enough how fantastic the honey was in cleaning up his wound. He was taken back to the vet after a week, and the vet couldn’t believe the progress he had made.

I decided to take him to a specialist rabbit clinic – I live in Melbourne, Australia and went to the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic. They confirmed that whist the abscess had healed over the infection was still present. A few more teeth have since had to be removed as they were diseased. Albert is now on lifelong once-a-week penicillin (antibiotic) injections and is doing really well. He does need molar trims every few months for spurs which grow out sideways from his few remaining leftback teeth – he is missing almost all his teeth on the left side of his mouth but still manages to eat well.

Lessons learnt:

– a specialist rabbit vet is invaluable. If we had gone to one sooner Albert would still have most of his teeth and the infection could have been removed. I have also found the mix of anaesthetic they use is so much kinder on their systems. He bounces back straight away following his molar trims. The regular vets use the same anaesthetic as they use for dogs and cats, and I found that Albert was groggy and not himself for a few days after

– rabbits can survive from abscesses with the right care and commitment, so don’t give up!

– manuka honey is nature’s antiseptic, antibacterial super medicine. It’s also not toxic if ingested by rabbits so is perfect for wound treatment

[LongEaredLions]

Thank you for posting. We have gone through similar things with our guinea pigs in the past, so glad your bunny is doing so well. The honey use is very interesting.

[aquaapril]

Thanks! It’s certainly so stressful going through that with our furbabies. The honey is amazing, his wound has dried up and is half its size 5 days later.

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