Abscesses?

[Hoosier]

Just got in the house. I noticed a lump near the base of the tail on one of our does, Kari. It was a smaller than a golf ball and felt softer than a foam/latex ball. I stuck a needle in it a few times and expressed thick, off-white drainage from it the consistency of icing or glue. Surprisingly, it didn't have an odor to speak of. I then noticed a smaller lump to the side of the bigger one, but I didn't do anything with it because I was afraid of stressing her out too much. Unfortunately, I have to work the next three days and won't be able to get her to the vet until Saturday and that is if the weather isn't too bad. I don't have the time right this moment to see if this is a symptom of a rabbit disease. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

Probably an abscess with multiple pockets. I would suggest that you do some warm/hot (but be careful) salt soaks to the affected area. It'll help to draw up, and out, any puss that's in there. When I was breeding and rescuing rats, we had to deal with these all the time due to fights and the best thing we ever did was use a hot compress made with non-iodized sea salt (can pick it up at any walmart or grocery store for pretty cheap now). It also helps with the pain, and the salt is antibacterial. It's also possible that it could be an irritated sebaceous gland. I've seen that happen before, where it resembles an abscess but there's a noticeable lack of smell associated with those... think of them as giant pimples. The care for those would be the same, though I've seen vets just 'pinch' those before and then irrigate it to make sure they cleared everything out.

 

[Dood]

I would just lance to a 1/2 inch hole and milk out the puss every day until gone.

Because rabbit puss is so thick it doesn't drain well or get drawn out by compresses

 

[DogCatMom]

Just for info: kosher salt is not iodized. (For anyone looking for non-iodized salt.)

 

[Hoosier]

Thanks everyone. I have drained abscesses before in dogs and cats and the drainage was thinner, foul smelling, and was yellow/brown/tan. I was using an 18 gauge needle and this stuff was so thick, it nearly clogged the needle. I figured I could just pull it out in a syringe, but that wasn't possible.
It took me by surprise. This doe hasn't been with another rabbit and I keep their cages pretty clean.

 

[Dood]

This doe hasn't been with another rabbit and I keep their cages pretty clean.

could she have been bitten through the wire?

Unfortunately, spontaneous abcesses with no known cause can be a symptom of systemic pasturella. Please watch her for anymore lumps and bumps. If another shows up it might be best to euthanize if she seems to loose condition as she could have internal pustules that are damaging her organs.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Unfortunately, spontaneous abcesses with no known cause can be a symptom of systemic pasturella.

Very sad, but true. I had to cull my original buck due to a huge abscess in his "armpit" area.

I am not sure if the systemic Pasteurella goes hand in hand with the respiratory form, but I would keep her well away from your other rabbits if you are unwilling to cull her outright.

Sorry for the bleak prognosis.

 

[Hoosier]

Currently, she is in a hutch that has hardware cloth ? 1/4 inch square between the holes. I don't think she could have been bitten through it. How far away should she be from other rabbits? We are considering culling her anyway. She was giving her babies the 'evil' eye and they were hesistant to eat with her. We were going to wean the babies slowly so we separated her and was taking the babies to her once a day. That didn't last long because she growled and lunged at the babies when we went to put them with her. This doe growls at me when I clean her cage. It seems scraping the floor to get old hay or bits of cardboard seems to set her off. She has lunged at me a few times and bit my shirt sleeve once.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

she growled and lunged at the babies when we went to put them with her. This doe growls at me when I clean her cage. It seems scraping the floor to get old hay or bits of cardboard seems to set her off. She has lunged at me a few times and bit my shirt sleeve once.

In that case, I would cull her now. The risk to your herd isn't worth it.

How far away should she be from other rabbits?

My buck had a neighbor sharing cage wire on one side (he was at the end of the row) and a neighbor to the back separated by less than a foot. Neither one got it.

According to a vet I took a house rabbit to about twenty years ago who had an abscess in her eyeball (looked like a cataract) the systemic type was spread by bites or scratches. But that doesn't really make sense to me- rabbits carrying "P" on their teeth or claws... :hmm:

Rather I think that it is an opportunistic pathogen and takes up residence in injuries, perhaps because the wounded rabbit already has a subclinical respiratory "P" infection, and when it sniffs or licks the wound the organism is introduced. Of course, that is just my personal hypothesis backed up by no science whatsoever, but it seems plausible to me at least. :roll:

 

[Hoosier]

I'm on break at work. Haven't had time to read up on pasturella. I am understanding correctly that we could treat with antibiotics but the rabbit would remain an carrier and the disease could flare if the rabbit becomes stressed? I certainly don't want to put our other rabbits at risk and don't want to continually treat this rabbit. Hubby was going to give her one more chance and breed her in the spring. Personally, I am tired of getting growled at and have zero tolerance for bad mothers. In her defense, it was her first litter. Her bad behavior started shortly after we got her and has continued even after the babies were weaned. We can at least move the doe next to her so there will be an empty cage/hole separating them. I can put a glass square or at least cardboard on the side for a barrier. If need be, we could do a temporary setup of one of the cages we bought at KD cage.