Marinea":330gjuaa said:
Miss M, feel free to counter me any time if I am giving not-so-good advice. I never claimed to be an expert
I suggested the peroxide as that was what he said he had, but I do agree that Neosporin is what I use, along with Blu-Kote.
I am no expert, either! Thankfully, we've all found this forum of Rabbit People Awesomeness, where we can all get together and figure stuff out!
I forgot you had mentioned that perhaps there was still an irritant in the wound. It would be a good idea to make sure that the wound is indeed clean. Even plain water can be used to irrigate a wound, though diluted Betadine would be better.
Trimming the fur around the wound, suggested by Marinea, is an excellent step as well.
You can bandage wounds on a rabbit. I have used non-stick "Telfa" gauze pads, and... that first-aid wrap that sticks to itself but not to your skin. You usually have to put medical tape all the way around it, as well, to try to keep the wrap from coming undone.
If it were earlier on in the healing of the wound, you could actually glue the thing shut with super glue (yes, really!). I believe it is too late to do that for this wound, but it can be done. On people, too. :lol:
As for the vet, Walter... most vets have very little experience treating rabbits, and treating rabbits is not nearly as similar to treating cats as many of them seem to think. If you were to take your rabbit to a vet at all, you really would want to make sure the vet is "rabbit-savvy" first.
There are some on this forum who do take their rabbits to a rabbit-savvy vet, others who have taken their rabbits to vets and gotten less-than-stellar treatment. There are still others who use vets only for cultures and other lab work, and then treat the rabbits themselves (sometimes successfully requesting prescriptions from the vet). Many of us, perhaps even the majority (I'm not sure) have never taken our rabbits to a vet, and perhaps never will.
I'm saying all of that to reassure you that here, unlike at some other rabbit forums, you will not get any flak for not taking your rabbits to a vet. We have members who have performed surgeries on their own rabbits, including one who just a few days ago had to put down a doe... but did an emergency c-section and saved her kits!
You will find all sorts of help here for treating rabbits. If you have a rabbit that is ill, you will often be advised to put the rabbit down (but not always). This advice is given out of concern for your other rabbits, as some illnesses can decimate a whole herd very quickly.
At any rate, I just wanted to put your mind at ease. I used to keep goldfish, and I thought I'd join a forum once. I showed off my fish, and asked a couple of questions. The answers I got were basically along the lines of what you would get from a house rabbit forum: devote your life to the fish, and feed it only fresh, gourmet food that you have prepared lovingly yourself. It went on and on. I thanked them, slowly backed away from the computer, and never went back. :shock: We're not like that here.
