Survival rates for severe jaw abscesses?

Question
Our 6.5 year old mini-lop, Lyta, has two serious jaw abscesses. Partly because another pet recently had over $1500 worth of vet care, we are trying the less expensive course of treatment with subcutaneous injections of antibiotic (sorry, not sure which one) every 48 hours for at least 8 weeks. Today my husband is taking her in to learn how to give an additional intramuscular injection of something every 72 hours. Surgery would cost in the ballpark of at least $850-$1200 for tooth removal, debriding the abscesses, and packing with antibiotic beads (unless it is determined that the doctor needs to leave an opening which will require flushing 2-3 times a day -- the thought makes me queasy to think of.)

Our first pet rabbit a few years ago died from this problem, in part I think because the pet clinic we used at the time did not really know what to do with him. Even though our new vet is an exotics specialist, the memory of this terrible experience lingers. We love our bunny, but we want to be sensible about the decision regarding surgery. (Expensive vet bills are not easy to pay...)

I have been trying to find some statistical information on the survival rates of rabbits who are treated for jaw abscesses, and so far haven't found anything. I do realize that every case is probably unique, but it would help to know what her life expectancy might be best case, what kind of odds to expect for one outcome or another -- just more information about whether it would be kinder to her to perform the jaw abscess surgery or to simply euthanize her. If the odds are really bad, spending  the money we can't really afford becomes a problem, especially with our cat just being diagnosed with asthma, which will requie a lot of expense, too.

Our new vet is very good, but he's not amazingly forthcoming with information, and he really hates to give misinformation, so he just evades my questions because he "can't tell until he gets in there and sees what's really there." I'm hoping you have some general information for me that might help us to decide what to do; what's best for Lyta and for us. (I hate these hard decisions.)

Thanks very much

Sherry

Answer
Dear Sherry,

There are no compiled data on survival rates of rabbits with jaw abscesses, as all the information we have on this is anecdotal.  But this *is* a serious problem, and one that some experienced rabbit vets consider as bad and difficult to treat as cancer.  

I suspect the antibiotic he's being given now is long-acting penicillin, though I don't know what the other might be (pain meds?).  But I definitely would pursue the medical option before considering surgery.  Bicillin can be very effective in these cases, though it can take several weeks to see improvement.

In some cases, jaw abscess pathogens are resistant to many antibiotics, so a culture and sensitivity test might be in order if the bicillin doesn't work:

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

Also please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html

I'm not a big fan of bead implantation: every case I've ever seen or heard of has ended up with the beads just being a nidus for infection, and not doing any obvious good.  (More harm than good!) But maybe that's just me.

But the vet is right:  Each of these jaw abscess cases is unique, with some responding well and others not. Patience and careful adherence to his medication schedule will be key for now.  I hope he will do well.

Good luck!

Dana