Abscess?

Half Caper Farm · May 22, 2010

I noticed tonight that one of my young FlemishX does has a lump, about the size of a golf ball, in her dewlap. It is quite firm, not attached to the tissue underneath as I can move it around quite freely inside the dewlap. The doe seems quite healthy otherwise, eating and drinking well, eyes are bright, fur is in good condition, body weight is normal.

Anybody ever have one of these? Any suggestions on treating it? If it was a goat, I would wait until it started losing hair, before lancing it, but not sure if that is the protocol for rabbits.

trinityoaks · May 22, 2010

You need to read these articles:

http://www.ontariorabbits.org/health/healthinfo1.1.htm

http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~jwmoore/ ... cillin.htm

moonkitten · May 23, 2010

If she's eating, drinking and it doesn't seem to bother her, you could wait a few days to see if it grows closer to the surface for lancing.

I've seen dewlap abscesses before and they clean up nicely once lanced and irrigated with hydrogen peroxide. The trick, of course, is getting TO the abscess through all that loose skin....

Also check the cage and J-feeders for sharp edges that might have cut the dewlap. In my case there was a bent corner of a J-feeder that she was chinning.

Half Caper Farm · May 23, 2010

Any suggestions on restraining a large rabbit while attacking it with a scalpel? :shock: Without being eviscerated?

I didn't see any scrapes on her chin/neck, but they could have healed up long ago, by the size of this thing.

I will leave it for a bit longer as she does seem to be perfectly happy and healthy otherwise.

trinityoaks · May 23, 2010

Half Caper Farm":3riwxhl2 said:
Any suggestions on restraining a large rabbit while attacking it with a scalpel?

I would try the bicillin first. A lot easier to get a rabbit to hold still for a short needle stick than for a long surgical session. And I would NOT leave it alone. An abcess is an infection, and it CAN spread to the rest of the rabbit and kill it.

MaggieJ · May 23, 2010

Can you get her on her back and put her in a trance? I've heard it works great... my problem is getting them to stay flipped long enough for it to work.

moonkitten · May 23, 2010

Half Caper Farm":r846fbih said:
Any suggestions on restraining a large rabbit while attacking it with a scalpel? :shock: Without being eviscerated?

The doe that had the dewlap abscess was a mature red NZ several years old, so probably about 11 pounds. I just set her on the table and opened up the abscess with one quick slice. She never so much as twitched an eye until I started flushing it.

Abscess?

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