Daisy and Buttercup are our two rabbits. We got them over four years ago from a council run animal farm in Craigavon close to where we live. They have become part of the family and are loved by us all.

Daisy:
     Late in 2001 we became aware that Daisy was not eating and appeared quite miserable, she rapidly lost weight and we did not know what was wrong with her. Our first action was to take her to the vet so that he could examine her teeth. Our Vet filed her teeth down and we waited for her to pick up again - this did not happen. After 3 or 4 weeks we knew we had to investigate further. We had read about dental abscesses in rabbits in "Rabbiting On" and realized that she was showing some of the described symptoms. The situation came to a head when in January 2002 we noticed that she was having difficulty breathing comfortably, there was a smell coming from her mouth, she was chewing and licking and there was a small amount of pus around her teeth.  Our vet identified a build up of pus around her jaw which was restricting her airway. He operated on the 7th January draining away all the pus. He implanted an antibiotic capsule and treated her with Baytril (a week's course). He felt that because of the deep seated nature of the abscess and the apparent damage to the bone in the area that prognosis was quite poor and that the abcess could regrow.  During the weeks prior to this we had been frantically looking for information about the treatment of abscesses. We had read articles in "Rabbiting On" which mentioned Bicillin. We looked further into this on the internet and felt that this was our only choice. I contacted Marcy Moore to discus her findings and to see whether we could use the treatment on Daisy. Marcy was very helpful and suggested we start immediately. We obtained a supply of Bicillin and began to treat Daisy using the protocol described in Marcy's article on the Net.
     Soon Daisy showed signs of improvement. The Vet was amazed particularly at what appeared to be the regeneration of damaged bone. Daisy continued to improve as the weeks of treatment went by until eventually she was back to full health and fitness.  A year and three-quarters have passed since we began her treatment she is a happy healthy bunny and has shown no signs of further problems.

Buttercup:
     A few weeks ago Buttercup began to show signs of dental problems. We got her teeth checked and trimmed but she still seemed unhappy. We again realized that these were early signs of an abcess developing. Bicillin was begun as a course of treatment.  Within a few days she picked up and although we have not finished the full course yet she is back to her happy self.

I hope these two examples will give encouragement to anyone facing this problem with their rabbits.  I certainly believe that Bicillin has cured our houserabbits

DONALD BELL and family