fefe has a sore on her face

[sky bunny and the fufees]

This morning I noticed fefe had a patch of fur hanging from her face,after looking closer it looks like it has a layer of skin on it and the area of her face,at first i though another rabbit had nipped her but never this bad,I started to think about it and its on the same side that she has tear problems,I noticed her tears will dry on her fur and create these hard crusty spot under her eye since its tears and mucus just like humans when we wake up and we have that eye boogers snot,I started to think that maybe this had hardened in her cheek and she eather got it caught or scratched it off,now it looks like fur was ripped from her face,no blood but red spots.Also it doesnt look fresh even though this just happened it looks a few days old and possably her fur has been hiding the sore or my theory of the tears/mucus is right but if om wrong where did the sore come from?Also I put ointment on it immediatlly and it seems to hurt when I touch it.I dont have the money for a vet at the moment so I went and got bandades but they dont stick what can I do to cover it with ointment?maybe cut a sock and place some bandages in it?any ideas why you think this may have happened?

[sky bunny and the fufees]

the picture she has ointment on her face,should I continue ointment daily or giver her a day or 2?it seems to hurt her when I apply the ointment so let me know if I should wait a day or 2.

pics from webcam

[Doodler]

I’m so sorry that Fefe is having issues.

I know you said you can’t afford a vet right now but this is something I would have evaluated by a vet. Maybe you can call them and see if you can make payment arrangements or get something like Care Credit?

Have you ever had her tear issue evaluated by a vet before? My buck had an issue with blocked tear tucts and one was pretty significant. My vet was able to help by prescribing eye drops and doing a procedure to open them back up. It’s been about 9 months since he’s had the issue and it’s not reoccurred. I understand this also can be chronic and if so requires daily care. If the tearing is as bad as my bucks was it was a minimum of twice a day. It’s so important to keep the area clean and dry. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with the tearing. I just can’t recommend continuing treating this on your own. If you do I would definitely be careful on what you put on her so close to her eye.

It looks like her hair to the left of her eye is crusty. Is this normal for her or was this caused by what you put on her?

[sky bunny and the fufees]

Posted By Doodles on 2/09/2019 5:36 PM

I’m so sorry that Fefe is having issues.

I know you said you can’t afford a vet right now but this is something I would have evaluated by a vet. Maybe you can call them and see if you can make payment arrangements or get something like Care Credit?

Have you ever had her tear issue evaluated by a vet before? My buck had an issue with blocked tear tucts and one was pretty significant. My vet was able to help by prescribing eye drops and doing a procedure to open them back up. It’s been about 9 months since he’s had the issue and it’s not reoccurred. I understand this also can be chronic and if so requires daily care. If the tearing is as bad as my bucks was it was a minimum of twice a day. It’s so important to keep the area clean and dry. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with the tearing. I just can’t recommend continuing treating this on your own. If you do I would definitely be careful on what you put on her so close to her eye.

It looks like her hair to the left of her eye is crusty. Is this normal for her or was this caused by what you put on her?

Thank you very much,I will consult a vet but in the meantime I will defintlly clean her tear duct area i had no idea somthing like this would even happen and never thought to wipe her face,Also Fefe was born deformed,her hind legs are almost backwards and she cant bend them at all,The past few months she has been getting arthritus as she is around 4yo and I want to see a vet about this arthritus issue and when I do I can consult about the tear ducts issue  also,Also Fefe needs a butt bath at least every 3 days as she drags her butt in pee and often times tries too pee but gets it all over her butt since she cant bend hind legs,infact you can see in one of the pics her giant litter box with the screen over itand kitty litter,the screen prevents them from eating the litter plus it absorbs almost instantly and a screen barrier and we have tried around,Before anyone says anythng about the setup we tried  4 different litter setups from hay and newspaper to sand or even saw dust and this setup keeps her butt from soaking up pee.with deformed rabbits thats what you have to do and we cant use simple setups like other can…but with this new sore/her arthritus making her hard to get around I will see a vet but it will take a few weeks.Again the pics and ointment do really seem worse then it is but still I worry about her.

Should I apply the ointment daily and try to badage it or should I leave it alone for a day or two then apply?it seems to hurt her when I touch it so im debating if its a good idea or not applying ointment again tomarrow?

[Doodler]

Oh my goodness. That poor sweet girl. Thank you for giving her a loving home.

Honestly I don’t know of any way to bandage that area. Depending on what is causing the issue it may be best to leave it open to breath and dry out anyway. Was this eye tearing worse than the other eye? If it wasn’t kept clean and dry you could be looking at bacteria that just proliferated or an infection that developed under her fur that has now caused the fur to come off.

I can see the wetness from the ointment but what I was questioning is the fur on the left that sort of sticks out. It looks crusty to me as well. What kind of ointment are you putting on it?

[LBJ10]

Just looking at the pictures, it’s possible that the constant moisture created a breeding ground for bacteria. The fur was probably just sitting on top, already detached and it just happened to all come off at once. This would explain the dramatic “loss” of fur because it probably looked like there was fur there but the fur wasn’t actually attached anymore.

Is there any crustiness at all? That would be something to look out for. Constant moisture from a teary eye could certainly cause this, but there are other things that could cause this as well. It sounds like you plan to see a vet regarding this, which would be my recommendation. Considering she has some abnormalities, it wouldn’t be surprising if her tear ducts were not quite right as well. It happens in dwarf breeds because there isn’t as much room in there when they have a smooshed face. Tear ducts can be kinked, etc. as a result.

[Asriel and Bombur]

It sounds like your bun has E-Cuniculi, not arthritis or anything else really. The hind leg weakness, the sitting in the urine, the eye issue. The test is expensive, and often times will show a false negative, but you can ask your vet to pre-treat with a 28 day course of Panacur. 4 years old isn’t old for a bunny, as most bunnies can live to be 10 years old, which is why arthritis isn’t on my radar, but EC definitely is, and causes all the issues she’s experiencing. 

[sky bunny and the fufees]

Her fur looks ragity in the pic because the day prior she had her vegtable oil ear drops because she keeps getting those darn ear mites,I even had the vet inject her with somthing that kills the mites and I just cant remember the name,its very commonlly used fpor mites and costed around $30 for the shot plus $40 for the visit but they came bback so I started doing the vegatble oil drops again wich worked before gives her the homeless rabbit look.I feed her fresh grash and weeds daily and think this might be where they come from as we tried bleaching and cleaning but they come back after a few months.

[sky bunny and the fufees]

UPDATE: She is healing good,We did not add any more ointment after the first day so it can dry out and its looking less red and irritated.Now we are focused on her arthritis,We ordered meticam and it will be her in a few days,Also I got infants ibuprofane but before I even mess with that I want to be sure its ok to use/and what a safe amount would be.the bottle says its 50mg and a 12-17 pound infant human would need 1.25ml,if fefe is about 2-2.5lbs that should be around 0.20ml is this correct?I must confirm the dosage and if its ok to use as I found its recomended for arthritus inflamation in rabbits on one website then another says I shouldnt?I cant stand seeing her suffer so anyone please respond to the ibuprofane and thank you all so much for the help.

[Doodler]

I am glad it’s getting better. When you can I would still have her duct evaluated by a vet. I am not sure if EC is causing all her issues because the other issues seem to be caused by a birth defect but it’s worth asking your vet about this as well.

As far as ibuprofen I personally wouldn’t give it without discussing it with my vet. They should be able to confirm if it’s safe to give her and if so how much to give. I also see conflicting opinions on this and I choose to use caution, especially when such delicate lives are involved. I am glad you are looking for ways to make her comfortable but there are certain things that I just don’t recommend handling without a savvy vet’s professional opinion. Maybe you can call your vet and they can give you their opinion?

[sky bunny and the fufees]

Another update: I spent this time researching and found this 

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

so the infants motrin should be safe but it could cause gas so I may need to use some type of anti gas meds with it?Anyways it says 2-10mg ibuprofane/motrin per kg of rabbits weight,.since the motrin is 50mg per 1.25ml and fefe is right about 1kg then 0.15ml should be about 6mgs so im thinking between 0.07ml which is 3mg and 0.15ml which is 6mg,Since its such a small amount to suck up I will suck up some water with it and put it in the corner of her mouth and get her to open her mouth to get the medicine in.If anyone thinks I should hold off and just wait for the metacam to arrive let me know,also should I look into gas releif while she takes the infant motrin?

[LBJ10]

Ibuprofen can irritate the lining of the gut and even cause ulceration… it doesn’t necessarily cause gas. I don’t think gas drops would help prevent that. It just depends on how an individual reacts. Metacam would be safer to use if you plan on giving it long term.

 

ETA: I agree that some of these issues are likely the result of her birth defects.

[sky bunny and the fufees]

Posted By LBJ10 on 2/12/2019 6:58 PM

Ibuprofen can irritate the lining of the gut and even cause ulceration… it doesn’t necessarily cause gas. I don’t think gas drops would help prevent that. It just depends on how an individual reacts. Metacam would be safer to use if you plan on giving it long term.

 

ETA: I agree that some of these issues are likely the result of her birth defects.

When we got her we picked her because she was handicapped so we knew she was gonna need some special attention,She was so adorable trying to catch the other 2 bunnys when they would chase each other but I’m afraid her bunny chasing days are over with her aging and arthritis.I’ll post another update in a few days to show her healing also and not sure if we will continue the ibuprofane as this is just to get her by till the metacam arrives which will be around the 19th.I just hope the metacam helps her.

[sky bunny and the fufees]

Posted By Doodles on 2/12/2019 3:44 PM

I am glad it’s getting better. When you can I would still have her duct evaluated by a vet. I am not sure if EC is causing all her issues because the other issues seem to be caused by a birth defect but it’s worth asking your vet about this as well.

As far as ibuprofen I personally wouldn’t give it without discussing it with my vet. They should be able to confirm if it’s safe to give her and if so how much to give. I also see conflicting opinions on this and I choose to use caution, especially when such delicate lives are involved. I am glad you are looking for ways to make her comfortable but there are certain things that I just don’t recommend handling without a savvy vet’s professional opinion. Maybe you can call your vet and they can give you their opinion?

Your right,I think I will call tomarrow and see what they say before giving any more,I did give her around 4mg today and all I could think about is negative things.I will talk to the clinic she seen before and see what they say,Thank you.

[sky bunny and the fufees]

I went down to the animal clinic and talked to them about fefe and ibuprofane and the meticam,They are against fefe taking the meticam for the simple reason that I got if from ebay and it could contain anything and be old plsu it should need a prescrption which I didnt need and thats kinda red flag.So I did some side jobs and have enough money to take fefe in on the 18th where they can prescribe what she needs and get this all done right,also gives me a chance to bring up her face sore and what can be done about that?I mrntioned that I gave fefe the motrin and the secritary ladys first response was “NOOOOO” then they talked to the actual doctor and he came in with a book that claims its ok to use ibuprofane but just short term as it can cause alceration down the road and gas problems which we already knew,Also the dosage from his go to book was 7.5mg per kg(2.2lb) rabbit which is pretty spot on to this http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm  which I gave fefe 6mg yesterday.So thank you everyone from here I will post an update after I see the vet to let everyone know what were gonna do then hopfully I can post a final update of her improvment (fingers crossed)..

[Doodler]

Oh I am so glad you were able to get some vet advice on this! I was wondering how you got metacam without having a vet involved. Definitely keep us posted and thank you for trying to do the best you can for your little girl!!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good luck at the vet!

[sky bunny and the fufees]

UPDATE: So im back from the Vet.They looked over and the doctor felt his way around her hips and decided the best thing would be to take xrays of fefe and see whats really going on with her bone structure,This will cost $280 and we be a bit before we go that route so in the meantime he says her left side has paralisis from her deformation and the left side is arthritus caused most likley from the deformaty issues,Her face is looking great and the doctor thinks it could be from the mucus but also suspects it could be from scavys mites as well(this reminds me I totally forgot to mention a solution for here tears) but fefe will need blood test to confirm,He gave fefe ivermectin for the ear mites/scavy mite but also gave us some for fufu and sky as well as he said its best to do all the rabbits at the same time,to save money he suggested we buy a babys scale and weigh my other 2 bun buns and from there we go back to the vet and he will give us the correct dose of ivermectin to give the bunnys,which we will give them 2 more times in the future.Also he gave us a prescription of metacam (even though I have some) which I decided to do because I dont want to trust the ebay one I got as it could be old and not even metacam….The sad truth though is non of this is a cure and it will unfortunally get worse most likley but as long as she is confortable and happy we will bath her feed her give her water and do everything to help her,We even stayed up last night looking at different homemade wheelchairs for fefes future.Heres a pic of fefe today   

,the face wound is now just a bald patch.Thanks everyone for the input and hope your bunnys are doing well.

[sky bunny and the fufees]

[sky bunny and the fufees]

So shes weighs 3.2lbs and the vet gave gave her a script of 0.5mg per ml metacam and she takes 0.6cc/0.6ml of metacam therfore she is only taking 0.2 and a half mg of metacam so shes on a very low dose.that seems kinda low but he said it was kinda high???

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