Painful bump on left jaw line

[Mm]

My 8.5 year old Tutu has always been a good hay eater. Today I noticed that she was not interested in hay stalks. She was still interested in treats, veggies, and hay leaves. I suspected tooth problem and confirmed it after I touch felt her face. There is a lump on her left jaw and she jumped off when I touched it. She was hungry from not being able to eat hay properly and devoured the critical care I prepared.

I’m taking her to the vet tomorrow morning. Considering her age, I am very very concerned. We’ve never dealt with tooth problem and abscess before. Any ideas?

[DanaNM]

Poor baby, it does sound like a dental abscess.

I dealt with this with my boy Moose, he had a rotten tooth that caused the abscess. I would encourage you to go to a vet that has lots of dental experience, and pursue the most aggressive treatment possible if you want a true cure.

The usual treatment is to find the problem tooth (it might need to be extracted…usually easy if the tooth is rotten), then to clean out the abscess. It could also be that he has a molar spur that irritated the gums and caused it (so the spurs would just be trimmed). Rabbit abscesses have a very thick pus, so the vet will need to manually clean it out. Sometimes they also pack them with something, but not always. Then they will do a course of injectable antibiotics that you give at home (usually penicillin given sub-cutaneously), plus pain meds for the first few days while the extraction is healing.

It’s awesome that he likes critical care on his own, as he will likely eat it readily after the procedure as well.

After the full course of antibiotics, there is usually a follow up exam (with Moose he was put under again) to check to make sure the abscess is gone and that no other teeth have become a problem. Sometimes follow up cleanings of the abcsess are needed.

When Moose was diagnosed with his, I did ask about whether it was possible to treat with just antibiotics. The vet said that in some cases where the bunny is not well enough or strong enough to undergo the surgery and anesthesia, they will put the bun on antibiotic shots indefinitely to prevent the abscess from getting larger. But it will never cure it or even really shrink it, and even injected penicillin can cause problems over the long term. So really that would only be the case for a bun that was very ill and poorly in other ways.

Moose had a bunch of other problems, but his initial abscess did resolve completely after the first procedure.

My vet has also neutered buns as old as 9, so if Tutu is otherwise in good health he should be able to handle the procedure! I encourage you to get him scheduled for the procedure as soon as possible, with a confident vet.

Sorry you are having to go through this.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[jerseygirl]

I agree, it does sound like abscess. They can pop up seemingly overnight.
Your vet might initially just start her on an antibiotic and pain med so she is eating better, then look at doing some surgery if that is required. I hope the vet visit goes well. Please let us know! (((Tutu)))

[LittlePuffyTail]

Agree with the others. Hope the vet apt. goes/went well. Good luck!

[Mm]

Just got back from the vet. (Might be lengthy)

Her face is ok. The vet didn’t feel any lump (I couldn’t either later last night. Could be a mistake). But she said her molar spurs were a little long. Some rabbits are always like this but have no problem. So the vet doubted if it was the cause though she still suggested to have them trimmed just to be safe and we did.

She felt tutu’s belly was a bit weird and gassy. The X-ray confirmed it. Her stomach and cecum were big probably due to hair stuck inside as she is going through a major molt. And another bad thing was her temp was pretty low, 99. We were sent home with a bunch of medications to treat her stasis.

The vet also said if she went home eating hay, it was probably due to her teeth since we trimmed them. The stasis med will start tonight.

Tutu did accept hay that she wouldn’t touch last night though still by my hand feeding. So does it mean it was because of the spurs like the vet suggested? I’m not sure because she also is having stasis.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Weird about the lump. Sorry to hear about the stasis.

Stasis can be caused by dental spurs, for sure. If the hay is not getting ground up enough it can cause lack of fiber and digestive problems. Do you have any Critical Care to give her?

[Mm]

Yea. I gave her critical care last night when she wasn’t eating her hay. She is now eating tough stalks that I gave her.
If it’s the dental, should I be taking her to the vet to trim the spurs every now and then?

[DanaNM]

Ah, good news that no abscess! But bummer about the stasis! I agree that the stasis could have been ultimately due to her spurs.

My vet said that when buns get spurs later in life, often they just need 1 trim. As the bun ages their bone density changes a bit and their teeth can shift slightly. So when things get weird after about age 6, they usually just need 1 trim, and then are fine again for years (unlike buns that have misaligned teeth their whole lives, and need trims every few months).

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Mm]

Thank you so much. She is still not complete herself. I am still monitoring.

[Author]

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