Hello all. I have been dealing with what I believe to be a nasty spider bite. I live in the costal hills of Northern California where I have Black Widows, Brown Widows, and Brown Recluses as neighbors unfortunately. A few days ago I was out checking on the rabbits before turning off the misters for the night as it has been really hot here lately. I found one of my 5 week old kits with a nasty abscess on her neck that I had not seen there that morning. This first pic is before I drained it. Sorry it isn't the best as she was moving quite a bit. It looked like a red and white target with 2 very small black dots in the middle that I assume to be where she was actually bit.
I got out massive amounts of thick off white puss. She stayed calm and let me work at it until the very end when I would imagine it was rather painful. I cleaned off the outer area and put her back with her mom for the night.
Fallowing morning
This last pic was after I cleaned the necrotic tissue but before I started flushing it out again. The next two pictures were taken this morning, first is prior to cleaning and second is after medication is done. The wound has been flushed 3 times a day with Diluted Chlorhexidine 2% solution and packed with antibiotic ointment. Last picture is with the ointment.
I am not selling her as I can not guarantee her health at all. She will be staying in my barn. I might be to close to this situation so I am reaching out to you all to help me make the best decision for HER. As she is still eating, drinking, and acting like a normal kit still, do I go ahead and keep treating in hopes of it healing fully or do I consider culling her? I want to treat her and see if she can make a full recovery, but I will cull if I have too for her sake. If she is likely to keep getting infected due to a persistent wound in her neck, I don't want to make her suffer. This is one of the kits that survived the Scrub Jays attacks in May.
I got out massive amounts of thick off white puss. She stayed calm and let me work at it until the very end when I would imagine it was rather painful. I cleaned off the outer area and put her back with her mom for the night.
Fallowing morning
This last pic was after I cleaned the necrotic tissue but before I started flushing it out again. The next two pictures were taken this morning, first is prior to cleaning and second is after medication is done. The wound has been flushed 3 times a day with Diluted Chlorhexidine 2% solution and packed with antibiotic ointment. Last picture is with the ointment.
I am not selling her as I can not guarantee her health at all. She will be staying in my barn. I might be to close to this situation so I am reaching out to you all to help me make the best decision for HER. As she is still eating, drinking, and acting like a normal kit still, do I go ahead and keep treating in hopes of it healing fully or do I consider culling her? I want to treat her and see if she can make a full recovery, but I will cull if I have too for her sake. If she is likely to keep getting infected due to a persistent wound in her neck, I don't want to make her suffer. This is one of the kits that survived the Scrub Jays attacks in May.
