<p style=”text-align: left;”>We had the post op call last night, at around 5pm.</p>
The surgeon was very, very surprised. When they got in there and cleaned out the necrotic bone and ask the pus, they found absolutely no evidence that it was affecting a tooth root at all.

Honestly, I was already convinced that a tooth/root want affected, as I found the abscess through a physical examination myself, just while paying close attention to our furry family, there was absolutely no change in her behaviour at all. No sign of any dental discomfort or anything, just the small limo on her mandible that started out about half the size of a grain of rice.

With it not being dental, it honestly feels like a better outcome than even the vets “best case scenario” that they laid out before the surgery.

It means our old bun will have an easier recovery, and just in general, be in less discomfort.

Originally, because of her age and the plan for dental surgery, too. It was likely she was hoping to be in their hospital until maybe Monday, but as it was significant less invasive, it seems like she might be home on Saturday instead! Just waiting on the call this morning for an update on how she was overnight. 🤞

So, Daisy has been home with us for a few hours now. And oh my, she’s in a grim state.

I’m finding her very difficult to look at properly. The wound is huge, and inside you can clearly see the exposed bone of her mandible. She’s in a very, very sorry state.

But there’s a class difference in how she’s feeling after having some time in her quiet corner behind the sofa. She’s been eating little bits. She had some herbs, pellets, oats, a little critical care herbivore good and she’s had one of the cats, Bubblegum, join her. He would frequently join the bunnies on the floor, anyway, so I do believe she’s taking a lot of comfort from his presence. He actually won’t leave her. Sitting just generally in her vicinity. I definitely think he’s missed her, too.

We have a long list of painkillers and medications to administer multiple times a day, I’ll just copy/paste the contents from the email we got when she was discharged:

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Medications to Continue at Home: 

Loxicom (NSAID pain relief) – Give 0.94ml by mouth every 12 hours until seen next. 

Tramadol (opioid pain relief) – Give 0.6ml by mouth every 12 hours as additional pain relief until seen next. This can cause drowsiness. 

Emeprid (Gut motility stimulant) – Give 1.18ml by mouth until eating and passing faeces normally.

Enrocare (antibiotic) – Give 0.9ml by mouth every twelve hours until finished. We may change this antibiotic when we receive Daisy’s culture results.

Activon (surgical grade manuka honey) – Please place a small amount into the surgical wound once daily – you may need to clean away any residual material or discharge with a warm flannel prior to doing this. Continue until seen next.

Hyabak (eye lubrication): Place 2 drops onto the left eye up to four times daily until seen next.

Isathal (ocular antibiotic): Place a small amount onto the left eye once daily until seen next or finished.

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And the breakdown of the procedure she underwent, also from the discharge email:

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Procedure: Daisy was given a dose of pain relief medication and gut stimulant medication preoperatively. The sides of both ears were clipped and local anaesthetic cream was applied to these areas. An intravenous catheter was then placed into an ear vein. Daisy was then given their pre-medication which provides a sedative effect prior to the general anaesthetic drug being given via the intravenous catheter. Once anaesthetized, an endotracheal tube was placed and the anaesthetic was maintained using anaesthetic inhalation agents and oxygen. The abscess and unhealthy bone on Daisy’s lower jaw was debrided as much as possible. A sample of this material was sent to the lab for culture and sensitivity – we will let you know when the results are returned. A large amount of infection was removed and the area was flushed with copious amounts of sterile saline. The surgical site was sutured as an open wound to allow topical treatment and further drainage of infection. Then an intra-oral exam was performed – there were no mobile teeth to extract, pockets appreciated or dental spikes present. Daisy was carefully monitored during the procedure using specialist equipment and was watched closely on recovery.

Daisy has continued to recover as most rabbits typically do after an invasive procedure such as this. Despite very good eye lubrication during her surgery, Daisy does have a superficial corneal ulcer on her left eye. We have begun treatment for this and hope that it is resolved by the time we see her for a recheck appointment.

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She’s been though so much. It’s so hard seeing her like this, knowing that three days ago, she was binkying and running circles around me in the morning, looking to lick my face in exchange for a breakfast handful of pellets… 😥