Jaw absess surgery- need help

[Gina]

Hi guys-  I had visited this board about a year or so ago.  My name is Gina and I have 4 bunnies.  Flops, Obbie, Elvira and Chewy.

Chewy was my last addition, an unexpected one.  A family that I provide social services for had an Emotionally Disabled teenager who did not take care of his rabbit.  He was VERY violent, and will soon be institutionalized.  They were going to let Chewy go in the wild because they could not care for her.  I am so happy that I saved her before something worse happened to her.

Anyways, as soon as we got Chewy we saw she had a giant jaw absess.  We had it drained and it is back.  The vet is recommending surgery, but said that we are just buying another year or two with her.  We want to do it, because she is the sweetest and most loveable rabbit we have, despite her hardships.

Her jaw absess is on her left jaw and is hard, like a marble or two.  The vet said she would scrape the bone, etc. to make sure she gets it all.  But, it will most likely come back.

My question is. has anyone gone through this… and has anyone heard of this new procedure where they implant “antibiotic beads”?  I hear the results are great, but my vet never mentioned it.

Any help would be much appreciated!!!

Gina and Chewy

[Binkles]

BUMPS for this board! I am not very knowledgeable in this area, but I know some people around here are. My prayers are certainly with you and I KNOW that you’re doing the right thing by having this surgery done, even if it does only buy a couple of years. A couple of years are better than nothing!

[Beka27]

oh my. i don’t have experience with this, but we have several members who have had bunnies with surgeries like that and/or work in rescue. they should be along this weekend at some point.

[JK]

Do they know what the underlying cause of the abcess is?  Another thread right now is going on about an abscess and it was the result of pasturella.  Before any kind of surgery I think you need to know why your bun is getting abcesses because it could come back.  I’m sure someone here, maybe Binky Bunny, has been thru this.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi Gina!  I remember you.   Welcome back! I am so glad you were able to spare Chewy from a deimise I don’t even want to think about. Anyhow, Binky Bunny has actually been through this and I will send her an e-mail to be sure she pays you a visit.  The antibiotic beads are somewhat new and have been used with a lot of success but are only used in certain cases.

Here are a few references in case you have not seen them yet:

Antibiotic beads:

http://web.archive.org/web/20020222062930/http://www.therabbeeotcharity.freeserve.co.uk/vet-anti.html

Charky & Ash’s Medical References (abcesses):

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#abs

 

[BinkyBunny]

Yes, I have been through this with Rucy, and though it’s true, jaw abscesses can be stubborn, they are getting better and better and treating them.  Don’t give up hope!!    Rucy has been through three surgeries over her lifespan (she’s estimated to be about 7 or so)  She is a happy spunky bunny.

Her first abscess she had before I adopted her.   They operated on her and she was abscess free for two – three years.  (they put in pennicillin beads that really may have done the trick – ask your vet about this)  They did warn me that it could return, but I was up for the challenge. I loved her.

Then the abscess came back and we kept it at bay for a year with treatment until finally she had to have a couple of molars removed as they seemed to be the source. She seemed to do okay, but if I recall right, 6 month later it was still continuing to get inflamed.   My vet ended up seeking out a special dental vet, and together they took Rucy into surgery and found a left-over root from the molar.   Roots continue to grow even when teeth are removed, so it was just causing more problems.   Basically the root was the root  of the problem.

It’s been awhile since her last abscess surgery – dare I say two years (so hard to remember the timeline off the top of my  head).    And she has had a few little minor returns of irritation, but it has been taken care of with two weeks on Baytril so far.   I think she only had to be on that twice at the most since her surgery.

 She loves life and I love having her in mine,(and so does her bonded mate, Jack)  and so though the surgeries are bumps in the road, the road itself has been worth traveling on.

 The best thing I can advise, is research, research, research!

I’ll be back with some links to start you off with.  OP!  I see Scarlet set you up already with some great articles too.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome back, I cannot add anything to BB’s remarks as I’ve never been through that, but {{VIBES}} for your bunny and please keep us posted!!

[Gina]

Thank you for the links, but the FIRST article would not come up when i clicked the link.  Can you send me the name of the article and then maybe i can “google” it and it will come up that way?

Thank you!!!

Gina

[Gina]

do you mind me asking how much  the bead surgery was?  the vet said that the regular surgery was about $500, but she is going to try to do it for less.

i think the bead surgery may be the way to go from what i am hearing. 

Let me know more about how much it was, if you can.

Thank you so much!!!! 

Gina

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

*bump bump*

[BinkyBunny]

Thanks KK for bumping this!

The surgery was for around $500 – $600 easily. It definitely wasn’t less than that. If your vet will try and do it for less, than that’s great as long as it’s just giving a discount, but not offering a lower standard of service.

Also note – it’s always a good idea, especially with this kind of thing to keep a Piggy Bank or Savings Account or Credit Card for these things as this may happen again in a couple of years, (hopefully not) but even putting $25 a month aside may help with these large costs that may crop back up later on.

Here are some more links to information about jaw abscesses and the beads as well:

http://www.therabbithutch.com/Health/abscesses/abcesses2.htm  (a personal story of someone going through it, and what they did to keep it at bay -beads were included)

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