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By the Spring of 2000
nothing seemed to help Edison. He was taken off the antibiotic treatments in
February since it appeared that the Baytril®
had very little effect on the situation. It was time to get more
aggressive with this pesky infection! By late February the "S" word (surgery)
was mentioned. The plan was to remove an entire abscess capsule whole then to
stitch up the
area and hopefully, after an antibiotic treatment while the scar healed, that would be the
end of this sad episode. Just like in a bad science fiction film, the "creature" that is rabbit abscesses reached out to grab Edison one more time. This episode was bad. there were multiple abscess capsules forming but on the same side of his face. It was time for the heavy artillery to come out! My Pet humans were trying to do some more research on the web about this pesky problem. They were getting VERY discouraged too. After exhaustive searches on the internet they were coming up empty. Then one day in late April 2000 the quarterly copy of the House Rabbit Journal arrived at my pet human's door step and it changed everything. In that quarter's issue there was a story about a female bunny named Pandora. She was about the same age as Edison was and was experiencing the same issues with abscesses! It then described a special surgery which was just developed to try and treat this nasty problem! The solution involved yet another surgery, similar to the first except this time instead of just cleaning the area, tiny antibiotic beads made from the same material as bone cement would be placed in affected area. The antibiotic inside the beads would act as onsite treatment, relieving Edison of this hideous problem. There would also be enough antibiotic in there to last most likely for as long as he lived. The ironic part was that the same day Edison's vet had found an article on a vet's only internet site describing the very same procedure! As with any surgery with rabbits there was risk. The good news was that he had been under twice before and seemed to be able to tolerate the anesthetic well. It was a big decision for my pet humans to make, but after some soul searching and long discussions with Edison's vet , they all decided that the benefits outweighed the risks and elected to go with the new procedure. Edison's vet had scheduled May 12, 2000 to be the day of the surgery. That day for Edison began earlier than normal but just like any other day for him. My pet human gave him his morning salad and made sure he had water and hay. They played together for a bit longer than usual that morning. Then at about 8:00 AM Edison was placed in his carrier for the trip to the vet's office. My pet humans left an ample supply of hay in Edison's carrier along with some old t-shirts for him to rest on. A small water bottle was attached to the door of the carrier, just in case he got thirsty. When they got to the vet's office, my pet human gave Edison good scratch on the head and a gentle kiss on the forehead. Then said to him " Good luck little guy, I'll see you later." in a gentle voice. He then gave a supply of papaya tablets to the veterinary technician, to give to Edison after the procedure. Although he had been in this situation before, Edison was a bit on the scared side, I'm sure Edison could tell my pet human was a bit uneasy that morning too. By about 2:00 PM the ordeal was over and Edison was in his carrier and in "recovery" once again looking like a creature from a "B" science fiction movie. By 4:00 PM, he was back home. My pet humans still smiles a bit when they remember Edison's reaction upon arriving home after his ordeal. Instead of tepid steps from the carrier, the way he did before, Edison darted out, jumped in the middle of the room, and skipped on to the observation deck of his 3 story cardboard tower! The
surgery was a conditional success. Edison did not suffer any
outbreaks during the Summer and Fall of 2000.Then in late November of
2000, a minor abscess event occurred. It was a small one and did not
appear in the area of his face that was treated. My pet humans reported
it to Edison's vet and treated it like they did in the past, by allowing
it to rupture, clean the wound out and keep the wounded area open to
drain using sliver nitrate sticks.
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Chronology: | |
| March 2000 First Surgery to remove the abscess | |
| April, 2000 After reading an article in the House Rabbit Journal, and Edison's vet reading about the procedure in a medical journal (ironically on the same day!) Both meet and discuss the AIPMMA surgical procedure. | |
| May 12, 2000 Edison undergoes the AIPMMA anti-biotic bead surgery | |
| June, 2000 Edison begins to look like himself again! His Vet thinks that Edison is recovering faster than normal! | |
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November, 2000 | |
