what is the lump?

[igotrabbits]

I thought it was a caked udder, but couldn't get any milk out. Took her to the vet and he prescribed Pen G. A week later the lump is still the same size, but I can milk it. Saturday I finally got a lot of pus out but only out of one hole on the nipple. All other holes on the same nipple, the milk came out white. 4 days of milking/getting pus out and its still the same size and hard. The pus is runny or watery and yellow/orange. If I work it and massage it/heat compresses, it gets less hard but a couple hours later is hard again. Anyone??? Help! $100 vet bill and NO improvement.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I thought it was a caked udder, but couldn't get any milk out. Took her to the vet and he prescribed Pen G. A week later the lump is still the same size, but I can milk it. Saturday I finally got a lot of pus out but only out of one hole on the nipple. All other holes on the same nipple, the milk came out white. 4 days of milking/getting pus out and its still the same size and hard. The pus is runny or watery and yellow/orange. If I work it and massage it/heat compresses, it gets less hard but a couple hours later is hard again. Anyone??? Help! $100 vet bill and NO improvement.

She has mastitis and that lump will need to be lanced/cleaned...Look at this post...

http://rabbittalk.com/little-mama-has-mastitis-t6496.html?hilit=mastitis

 

[LilFish_JWQueen(:]

I agree its proly mastitis..because caked breast is jus the rabbit has too much milk..mastitis is an infection of the breast.

 

[igotrabbits]

For anyone wondering, last night I lanced it and got a TON of pus out, mostly liquidy and soft. A few times the hole would get clogged with a hard piece I used plastic tweezers to try to get it out. It was the consistency of chewed gum or silly putty. Then more pus would pour out. When I got out all I could, the sized was about 40% of what it had been.

Today, for once, the size did not go back to huge again over night. It stayed the size it was when I put her back in her cage last night. So I tried to get more pus out but to no avail. So I took a scalpel and made about a quarter inch incision in the same location. This time, pretty much the only thing that came out was large chunks of hardened pus, same consistency of chewed gum or silly putty. I guess this is the same thing people describe as being the consistency of toothpaste, though I would liken it more to all the toothpaste that's stuck in the cap and has hardened by the time the toothpaste tube is empty. So I got out every last bit of it (I think) and rinsed it with a saline solution multiple times. I then wiped the surface with hydrogen peroxide then rubbing alcohol and put her back up. I guess I'm not supposed to use Neosporin (without pain relief) because it has to heal from the inside out? Though I did see people mention using a triple antibiotic ointment so I'm not sure what to do regarding that.

There's a separate lump much deeper under the skin, I'll probably have to go at it through the side, but I want to give this incision a couple days to heal before I go prodding about again. It's a much smaller lump.

I'll try to remember come back and update for anyone wondering or for future post searchers.

 

[grumpy]

Whenever you have to lance an abscess, always lance it where it will drain "down-hill". Express as much pus as you can safely remove without damaging the tissues around it and let it drain. You may have to re-open it once or twice before it begins to heal from the inside out.

Grumpy

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

IF she gets more than one, Or if it comes back again. I would cull the rabbit. YOu can pass this on.

 

[Cattle Cait]

Yikes! Pasturella can cause abscesses, can't it folks?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Yes, it can, but that is usually a thick, pasty substance....this sounds just like the mastitis abcess that my Little Mama had. I did the same thing he did, except I used some local anesthetic to numb it since I had to cut big enough and deep enough that it needed stitches. It healed up just fine and has not returned.