Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Rabbits > abscess on bunnys leg/ankle

abscess on bunnys leg/ankle

22 9:44:28

Question
Ruby
Ruby  
I m having troubles with my bunny Ruby. She had this big puss filled ball and it was drained and she is on antibiotics, but it won't close up and the wound hole is now very large. It seems it is eating toward the inside. Any antibiotic you know or what to recommend to my vet?
She is currently on 1ml a day of Metronidazole. But I read that injectable Penicillin would be better. It seems this can be caused by Pasteurella multocida, however a large number of other bacteria including Staphylococcus.
Here a link I found. http://ontariorabbits.org/health/abcesses. I m not sure if my vet is experienced enough as he said today I might wanna go to a exotic vet . Any help is appreciated. Thank you kindly

Answer
Dear Jennifer,

The best suggestion your vet has made is to find a good exotics vet who is experienced with rabbits.  While it's true that not all rabbit abscesses are caused by Pasteurella, many of them are sensitive to penicillins, and the dual-acting pencillins (Penicillin G Procaine plus Benzathine; subcutaneous injections only, every 48 hours) are often very effective at treating persistent abscesses.

Some bacteria are NOT sensitive to penicillins, however.  So it would be wise for the new vet to take a sample of the abscess capsule and send it to a lab for culture and sensitivity testing:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

Metronidazole is a pretty heavy-duty antibiotic, and might not be the best first-choice in a case like this.  I hope you can find a rabbit vet here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps, and that Ruby will be well soon.  What a pretty bunny!  :)

Dana