>I had a phone call today from a man who's had problems with abscesses.
>He had 5 cases in the last year and the neck swells up to double or three
>times the size with no mark on the outside.  The vet drains it and there
>is loads of puss.  The vet thinks that the throat gets scratched from the
>inside and so allows for the abscess to develop?  The ferrets are on 99%
>kibble and every now and again they get a rabbit.  But the abscesses have
>happened when no rabbit was fed, the man fed a rabbit 5 weeks ago and
>then just kibble since and a few days ago he had another abscess case...
>Has anybody ever heard of this or experienced this?
 
Dear X:
 
There are some syndromes that can do this, but the best way to diagnose
the problem is to either culture the pus, biopsy an affected node, or both.
 
There are truly some bacteria that affect animal species through puncture
wounds, and some species are preferentially affected in the head an neck
through inoculations during feeding.  Actinomyces is one, and is especially
difficult to treat.  Streptococcus zooepidemicus can do this, and has been
incriminated in on-again, off- again outbreaks similar to what you
describe.
 
The key is to culture the pus rather than just drain it out.  An abscess
is almost a pure culture of the bacteria in question in the majority of
cases - then you have an answer, plus you can choose the most effective
antibiotic.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3461]