Rabbit abscesses and tummy upsets

Question
Hi my dwarf albino rabbit had to have her front teeth removed last november shortly after i adopted her, she adapted well but a few weeks ago she developed an abscess on the side of her lower jaw, this was removed but filled up again a week later and had to be drained, the vet stapled some antibiotic capsule into the wound and said it would last for 10 days, she is also on baytril and septrin, at the moment the abscess has gone smaller but the vet thinks it has gone into the bone so she must stay on antibiotics and go back in 3 weeks, she has had some runny stools and we were told to stay off the septrin for a week to see if this was the cause, the problem is because of all her upset she has been eating lots of different things to tempt her so i am unsure if the septrin is the cause, or the dandelions, or other veggies and i know she needs all the antibiotic help she can get, so she is now back on the septrin, what do you think? and would you have any idea how long she can go on like this as we want her to be around for as long as possible, we have been told to watch out for the abscess returning or any other lumps but we are terrified of her having to have further ops as it takes her a while to get over them and she terrifies us by not eating after each ordeal, any info would be helpful, thanks a lot

Answer
Dear Susan,

In a rabbit suffering pain of jaw abscesses, the most likely cause of the messy stool is the pain itself.  The runny stool is a sign of cecal dysbiosis, which you can read about here:

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

Once her pain is under control, her poop situation will improve. So please ask about pain management. It is of paramount importance for a sick rabbit!  For a problem like this, a combination of metacam and tramadol will work wonders for her.

I'm not a big fan of the sulfa drugs (e.g., septra), as we have seen very little efficacy with them, especially for jaw abscesses. If the abscess is recurring, I would not recommend further surgery, but would suggest you ask about medical management.  Please read:

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

and ask that a sample of the abscess be sent off to a lab for culture and sensitivity testing.  Please also read:

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

In susceptible abscesses, we have found that bicillin injections can have fantastic results at resolving abscesses that keep coming back, even with surgery.  But a c&s test is necessary first, to be sure the bicillin will work.

I hope this helps.

Dana