Scabbing around mouth

[trancp]

Hi all,

My bun Bubbles is about 6-7 years old (he was adopted) and about 2

months ago we noticed there was some scabbing on the corner of his mouth

(left side). At first we thought it was a cut but we took him to the vet

and were told that it was an infection (he didn’t say what) and given two things: Malaket

wipes to clean the area and Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream to help heal

the area. It cleared up after a week so we thought we were ok. Fast

forward to today and we noticed that, 1) his right eye is watery (no

mucus, just tears), and 2) the right corner of his mouth is now scabby

and looks potentially infected. We used a warm washcloth to try and

loosen up the scabs and clean the area, and also used the Malaket wipes

again to clean it.

He seems to be his normal self (eating/drinking fine) and his stools

aren’t abnormal or anything. We haven’t changed anything in terms of his

food/environment either. He has an appointment with the vet but I’m worried this is some sort of tooth/mouth infection? My

last bun had a teeth problem that caused watery eyes and eye discharge

that never really went away, and I’m afraid this is something similar.

I did read that it could possibly be syphilis and searched up pictures and info (and also read a few forums on here). I’m not sure if it’s the same as Bubbles doesn’t look at bad, but it could possibly be in the early stages? He’s going to the vet today so we’ll see what happens there, but I’m worried the vet downplay it as something less serious than what it is. I’m attaching a picture to show.

Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks for all the help!

[Sarita]

I agree with both of your possibilities…of course I’m not a vet either.

My understanding for the syphillis is that it can be successfully treated with pen-g shots.

As to dental problems – it’s very common as well with rabbits this age and if it’s a dental abscess you should be able to treat this as well with pen-g shots as well. Have the vet do a very thorough dental exam – in my experience with my rabbits with dental problems most times the vet cannot see the full problems just with an otoscope and once she sedates them and can really exam the mouth, my vet usually see’s more problems.

Please let us know what the vet says.

[Sarita]

BTW, I love the name Bubbles.

[tomuhs]

Oh no poor Bubbles!

Hope he pulls it out ok. Keep us posted! Little had infection and it wasn’t a problem until she stopped eating. Do you feel any lumps or anything???

Have you guys done a stool test to rule out parasites/disease? Pretty pricy tho…

Gluk!

[Deleted User]

I would suggest taking your bun to the vet. If you don’t trust the vet’s opinion that you went to next time, I would suggest going to another. It never hurts (if you have the funds) to go to two. Just to get a back up opinion.

[Sarita]

Skipper they are taking him to a vet.

Please let us know what the vet says trancp.

[trancp]

Thanks for the suggestions. We took Bubbles to the vet yesterday. Basically he said the same thing as before, that it was an area of the mouth that is irritated and continues to be irritated from moisture (he drinks out of a water bowl), resulting in it being inflammed. He checked his teeth and said they were healthy. In the end the vet prescribed Baytril to help any possible infection (from the watery eye) to use for two weeks, continue using the Malaket wipes and cream once a day for one week, and then continue it for two times a week after that. He didn’t really answer any questions. I asked if it could be any disease but he said it didn’t look like it. He shaved the area around the mouth as well.

Since it’s only been a day I can’t say if there’s any changes yet. The area does look clean but probably only cause there’s no long fur around there. I’m considering going to another vet to get a second opinion as I feel nothing was really answered/cleared up.

[Sarita]

I think a second opinion is a good idea if this doesn’t clear up with the baytril and you are not satisfied with the vet’s answers and diagnosis.

[LBJ10]

It doesn’t hurt to give the medicine a try. If it doesn’t seem to be working after awhile, then take him to a different vet.

[Deleted User]

I’m sorry I didn’t mean to miss that part. I just really wanted to bring up the point to seek a second opinion.

[trancp]

Yes I’ll be giving the medicine a try for a week and see how it goes. So far it seems better (eye is less watery and scabs around mouth seem to be clearing up) so we’ll see.

Skipper’s Mama – no worries, I appreciate any suggestions! Glad to have people on here to help

Thanks again everyone!

[BinkyBunny]

hmmm. I have never heard of irritation from drinking out of water bowl. Not sure if that really is the cause but if it is clearing up with anti-biotics then it was some sort of infection happening.

My very first bunny had vent disease (rabbit syphilis). Check your rabbits’genitals and see if there are any scabs there too as many times it’s passed from there to the mouth when they clean themselves. My experience though with it is it looked more like little ulcers with scabs. Also, it would be more unusual for him to get vent disease since he’s been living with you for 4-5 years already. The only way it can be transmitted is from another rabbit. So unless you were petting another rabbit that had it, I’m not sure how he could have gotten it.

Tooth problems, which can cause a constant drainage of saliva sometimes, can cause irritation.   When your vet checked his teeth, what did he do exactly?

[trancp]

Yea I thought it was weird that the water bowl could potentially cause it as he’s been drinking out of a water bowl ever since we first adopted him (and when he was at a foster home), and he’s never had any issues.

I did check his genital area to see if there’s any scabbing and all looks fine. He also hasn’t been around any other rabbits and I haven’t either.

In regards to his teeth, he didn’t sedate him. I’ve read that in order to do a thorough exam of the teeth you have to. He checked the front and back teeth using I think it’s called an otoscope (or something similar) because he was worried about molar spurs, but said he didn’t see any. It’s been a week now and the watery eye is cleared up along with the scabbing, but I’m not sure if it’s from the antiobiotics or from the malaket wipes and cream he gave us to use. I too wonder if it’s from drooling that’s causing the irritation. I called the vet back and talked about doing an exam for molar spurs. They told me that as it sounds like it’s healing he seems to be ok, but if it comes back then sedating him to check his teeth would be the next step. However I’m not sure I’m comfortable with waiting for a symptom to show up to have him checked again. I feel like it’d be better to take him to prevent anything further happening.

[Sarita]

That’s great that it is clearing up. I don’t think it would hurt to sedate him and do a very thorough dental as well – older rabbits tend to have dental problems due to loss of bone density so their teeth can definitely change.

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