my rabbit has an absess

Question
my two year old rabbit grew a large lump under her chin, i took her to the vet who advised me it was an absess the vet informed me that he had to put the rabbit asleep to drain it and that there is a high risk involved for the rabbit. please could you let me know how high the risk is and is it necessary to put my rabbit under anthestic

kathryn

Answer
If you vet is experienced with rabbits, and uses isoflourane as the anesthetic, the risk is minimal, unless your rabbit has heart or liver issues that you are unaware of (which is why some vets recommend a blood test ahead of time to make sure there aren't any issues).

It would be much less stressful for the rabbit to be under while this is occurring, you would not be able to do it while she is awake, she would fight.

I've had this done before, and unless the rabbit is elderly (say 9 and up) and in poor health, it's generally not a problem.

You can find more information on rabbit abscesses at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#abs

Kim