Pus in Bot Fly Wound Tract

[MamaSheepdog]

I think it was a couple of weeks ago now that I discovered a Bot Fly maggot on the front of Ten Spot's chest. I took a whole series of disgusting photos of the removal only to find out Queenpup had the memory card for the camera in her computer. :evil:

Sigh... anyway, I flushed the wound with betadine, squirted some Veterycin in it, and followed that with raw honey, and topped it all off with a squirt of Blu-Kote. It was quite the procedure, and I thought with all that, there was no possibility of infection.

I was wrong.

I checked the wound for the first few days, and it healed quickly and well.

Today I decided to check her weight in the hope of breeding her, and I felt an elongated hard mass under her skin. The Bot Fly wound had a very small scab on it, which I picked off and then started squeezing the long mass. I got the typical toothpaste like pus out of it. She is now hopping around in my bathtub awaiting further treatment while I type this.

Ten Spot is so named because her very first (and only) litter she had ten, and managed to raise them all (with the exception of one little guy that up and died at about 3 weeks of age), which is an amazing feat of fertility and lactation in my herd of Rex. You couldn't ask for a sweeter natured doe either- I must admit she is one of my favorites.

Any time I see pus in a rabbit, the terrible spectre of the "P-Word" rises up before me... so I'm needing a bit of reassurance, here.

 

[Tegan]

I'm sure it's just infection from the bot fly. Those things are nasty, and if the wound healed over before it could heal closed (not sure if that makes sense) then it's very possible some bacteria was trapped that just continued to fester. Treat with antibiotics, keep picking off the scab and treating the wound tract as well. It wouldn't hurt to squirt some antibiotic right into the wound tract either.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks Tegan.

I have Penicillin G Procaine. Dosage is 1ml per 100lbs- good thing I have insulin syringes too! I will put a tiny drop into the wound tract as well.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

Any kind of wound you will want to heal from the inside out. You should pick up some CutHeal for horses. That stuff can be used on any animal because it is all natural and it is amazing. Plus it is a natural fly repellant as well. So the flies wont come around bugging a wound<br /><br />__________ Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:54 pm __________<br /><br />Bacon grease works well too.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I have an ancient bottle of Cut n' Heal in lotion form... it is probably around twenty years old, and the label is long since gone. It is an off white/yellowish looking color.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

I like the liquid oil type. I have never had an animal get proud flesh or an infected wound using that stuff.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I will look for it when I go to town.

 

[MaggieJ]

I agree with the others that there is no reason to fear the dreaded P work in this case. You know the cause of the wound... and it does sound as though it healed over on top trapping bacteria in the wound.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I know the wound and attendant pus are from that dratted maggot, but I can't help but feel that something about Pastuerella is what causes that consistency of the pus. :?

I know I'm being paranoid... but, if the hat fits, wear it. aranoid:

 

[Piper]

Knowledge has evolved - could just be Staph, but even staph can be serious. I am wondering if Nu-Stock would help?
-------------------------------------------
Do not know that it will help, rabbit pus, is rabbit pus -- but culturing
and found that the "P-Word" is not the only bacteria that can cause rabbit infections.
The following link is about respiratory diseases, but once I saw "Staphylococcus"...

I think this site is a good one for keywords. It has seldom answered my question, but has put me on the track, that I have been able to research, and get the question answered.
This is out of the UK. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/index_en.htm
"Till recently, respiratory diseases in rabbits have been connected to the presence of the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, therefore the disease was called Pasteurellosis. This diagnosis is definitively outdated, after cultures of samples taken from diseased rabbits revealed the presence of a variety of bacteria: Bordetella bronchiseptica, Staphylococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Chlamydia sp., Acinetobacter sp., Moraxella catarrhalis, Mycoplasma sp., etc."
http://www.medirabbit.com

----------------------
these are kinda of track but had to compare them (Floyd, ect), to look at the differences
After looking at these,
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Cancer/Sar ... ros_en.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Cancer/Sar ... yxo_en.htm

I checked your post about Floyd
floyd-is-finished-graphic-necropsy-photos-t5919.html
and - the post about the buck that had the weird leison
2-5-yo-buck-w-lesions-graphic-t10542.html

 

[Tegan]

Instead of a tiny drop you could always dilute some out in some sterile saline and use that to flush the wound tract.

 

[mystang89]

New to taking care of rabbits so I have no help for you but I do have questions that will help me learn. Why did you put honey on the wound and why did the three week old die?
Oh, and I didn't know what Pasteurlla was so I looked it up, along with the corresponding pictures, not something I should do before eating, that was nasty.

 

[3mina]

Honey is the original medicine, it has antibacterial properties, it encourages healing and it acts like a natural bandage by sealing out contaminants. It does a ton of other stuff too but that's off the top of my head without looking anything up

 

[mystang89]

That's really neat to know. I figured with honey that it would attract all sorts of different critters, from flys to ants. I never knew it was a natural medicine.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I know the wound and attendant pus are from that dratted maggot, but I can't help but feel that something about Pastuerella is what causes that consistency of the pus. :?

I know I'm being paranoid... but, if the hat fits, wear it. aranoid:

Didn't you say that the bot fly larvae ruptured as you were removing it? I am betting that is why it got infected. I would express the pus and wash it out with veterycin or dilute betadine daily, allowing it to heal up from the inside out. You *may* need to get some antibiotics from the feed store and give her a round of that...either Tylan or PenG, something like that. Give her a 7-10 day round of either of those.<br /><br />__________ Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:52 am __________<br /><br />

Honey is the original medicine, it has antibacterial properties, it encourages healing and it acts like a natural bandage by sealing out contaminants. It does a ton of other stuff too but that's off the top of my head without looking anything up

Yes, but with a wound like this, you don't want anything that will seal it off. It needs to drain, and heal from the bottom up. Honey works REALLY well for things you DO want to stay closed, like over the top of sealed cuts or sutures.

 

[MaggieJ]

I know that peroxide is not generally the best thing to use on wounds, but it does liquify the thick pus that rabbits have. We used it on Alice's abscess to clean it out and she healed up very nicely.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I know that peroxide is not generally the best thing to use on wounds, but it does liquify the thick pus that rabbits have. We used it on Alice's abscess to clean it out and she healed up very nicely.

Actually, Maggie, that is what surgeons use to clear out fistulas, or tracts in the skin, when they need to...it works well. It is not the best choice for everyday wound cleaning, but the bubbling action helps with cleaning out deep pockets or tracts under the skin better than just about anything else.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

When I was pulling the Bot maggot out, I kind of squished the end of it (disgusting) so the goo that came out was not under the skin. Some could have seeped down there, though.

I will flush the tract with peroxide. I have Pen G, but the needle of the insulin syringe was so small that I think it clogged with tissue, so I couldn't get the penicillin to inject. I am going to get some larger gauge needles and syringes from my neighbor today.

OAF, the bottle of Pen G says not to give it more than 4 days in a row. Have you used it for longer periods?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

When I was pulling the Bot maggot out, I kind of squished the end of it (disgusting) so the goo that came out was not under the skin. Some could have seeped down there, though.

I will flush the tract with peroxide. I have Pen G, but the needle of the insulin syringe was so small that I think it clogged with tissue, so I couldn't get the penicillin to inject. I am going to get some larger gauge needles and syringes from my neighbor today.

OAF, the bottle of Pen G says not to give it more than 4 days in a row. Have you used it for longer periods?

No, I generally use Tylan (since it is a broad spectrum ABX) when I DO use ABX....Look here...

http://www.morfz.com/rx/drugcalc.html

It will tell you how much and how long...I would say get at least a 22g needle to inject it with.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

I used pen G on the first day of treatment then 2 days later. Thats it. You shouldn't need it any longer than that.