My senior rabbit has an abscess. Is it time to put her down?

I'm really sorry to hear about poor Patches. These abscesses can be very nasty and I've seen similar cases - very heartbreaking. When the infection is that deep, there is little that can be done to alleviate the pain besides pain killers. The best ones are injectable, but buprenorphine can be given by mouth and be effective. I would ask your vet if it's possible for this or some other strong pain killer to be prescribed. I hope that helps and you can keep Patches comfortable.

Hi, it looks like there is still some infection. I am not sure what was the first diagnosis but this looks like an abscess to me and it can be tricky for antibiotics to clear the infection. In me experience, it would be better being removed and treated as a lump, provided X-rays, general health support this decision. Abscesses quite often end up reoccurring if not eradicated completely..if you wanted to try oral medications for a bit longer, injectable antibiotics would be the way forward. Hope this makes sense.

Unfortunately abscess formation in rabbits is quite common. I'm not surprised Runt is lethargic since there is a pretty reasonable chance that she has a fever. Those abscesses are going to have to be lanced and drained and Runt will then have to be placed on antibiotics and pain medication more than likely. Depending on how long it's actually been since Runt has had anything to eat or drink would be the way I would determine whether or not this is an emergency or if it can wait until your appointment. Rabbits cannot go very long without having something to eat because they end up getting something called gastric stasis which can unfortunately be deadly if untreated. If Runt has not been eating for 24 hours or more I would say you should go ahead and bring her somewhere now rather than waiting.

It could be an abscess, i can't tell for sure from the picture though. rabbits do not have the ability to process the pus that tends to stay very hard compared to other animals, for that reason if it is an abscess you will need to take Bella to the vet in order to have it lanced and cleaned under sedation.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Brownie. I'm so very sorry he has cancer. Domestic rabbits typically live between 8-12 years, so he is definitely a senior rabbit. The problem with osteosarcoma is that there is a high risk of metastatis (spreading) to other parts of the body, typically the lungs. I'm not sure if you have had x-rays done of his lungs, but there may be a chance it's already spread. There is a possibility that the spread may not show up on x-rays just yet as the cancer cells are too small to detect at the moment. I'm also not sure about his anesthetic risking, meaning that giving him anesthesia could be very risky at his age depending on his health. There is a lot to consider here, and I'm not sure how much life he would have left after surgery. Sometimes yes the surgery can be worth going through even in a senior animal, but there are other questions that need to be answered like if the cancer has spread and his anesthetic risk. I would discuss these questions with your vet, which will help you make your decision. Other things to consider is that it will take a number of weeks for him to recover from surgery, and that life expectancy after surgery is not very long, usually a couple of months. I would take that into consideration as well when making your decision. I can't tell you which way to go, but I do hope I've helped you with some things to consider. Again, I'm very sorry.

It sounds like Wagner has an abscess, the best thing to do is to take him to the vet to have this cleaned out, antibiotics and daily cleaning are usually necessary. There is a chance that this could be some sort of infected tumour, but the abscess is usually more common.

This kind of lump/growth needs to be ideally assessed by your veterinarian to have a definitive and specific answer. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination. A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration). Differentials include skin cysts, infections, benign or more sinister type of tumors. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.