Post-Spay Infection

[BunMom217]

For background: Both of our buns were spayed at the end of August, before they came home with us from the shelter. Around the beginning of October, we noticed a bump on Harper’s belly near her spay scar, so we took her to the vet. It turned out to be a variety of staph infection, so the vet cleaned it out and gave us an antibiotic and instructions to clean her belly twice a day for the next week. Everything healed really quickly and really well, and after a week on the meds she was given a clean bill of health. Hooray!

We’d continued periodically checking Harper’s belly, mainly because I’ve been paranoid about it, and earlier this week I noticed another bump in the same spot. We went back to the vet this afternoon and, as I feared, she has the same kind of infection again. The vet thinks it’s being caused by her internal stitches. She said she’s seen this before in cats and dogs, but never in a rabbit (although admittedly she has fewer rabbit patients). Fortunately we live not too far from a university that is pretty well known for veterinary research, so she’s going to check with a colleague there who specializes in rabbits to get his opinion. In the meantime, we’re back on antibiotics and back to cleaning her belly twice a day (which is a struggle, because she HATES having her belly touched even when she’s healthy).

So I guess my question is – has anyone else here ever experienced this with a spay before? And if so, what did you end up having to do to clear it up? Our vet suspects she may have to do surgery to remove the internal stitches, but we probably won’t know for sure until early next week.

[Mikey]

If her spay was in August, why hasnt her internal stitches dissolved yet?

although admittedly she has fewer rabbit patients
This is a red flag.

she’s going to check with a colleague there who specializes in rabbits to get his opinion
This is an even bigger red flag as it implies she is not certified to work on rabbits and not well trained to work on rabbits.

How do you clean the wound? Touching the wound and causing it to be wet can cause infection and slow the healing process. It can also cause pain.

[Deleted User]

If the spay was in August, her internal stitches should have dissolved by now. I agree with Bam that the vets behavior is a red flag. I’d suggest taking her to an experienced bunny savvy vet.

[Author]

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