Abscess on paw!

Question
My rabbit has an abscess on his front left paw(where his pad is). I just took him to the vet and they said they didn't know if it was worth to take him somewhere else because they can't surgically remove the rabbits pad. Any ideas?

Answer
Dear Stacey,

I would take the bunny to a vet who is more experienced with rabbit medicine.  This is an unusual place for an abscess, but it shouldn't be so intimidating that the vet refuses to treat it!  I am glad they didn't do anything if they didn't feel confident about it, but this certainly shouldn't be left untreated, even if it simply needs to be opened up and subjected to a 50% dextrose twice-daily packing.

You can find a rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If you need more information about the dextrose protocol, please let me know.  But it will probably be better to simply ask the vet to take a sample from the abscess for culture and sensitivity:

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

and use systemic antibiotics to address the problem, avoiding surgery or cutting altogether.

I hope this helps.

Dana