Lymph Nodes

Hello,

I need a little advice, I posted a thread on here a couple of weeks ago regarding lymphoma. I have since had my bun in the vets for some blood tests and scans to see if there were any masses and how her organs were functioning. They also did a biopsy on a couple of the lymph nodes which surprise surprise did not come back with anything.

Her organs are functioning well and she is bright in herself but white blood cell count is low. My dilema is the vet wishes to put her out again and take the whole lymph node out, no charge but I dont know what to do.

If it comes back as lympoma which is pretty likely it will mean chemo but chemo is dangerous for buns even if it is really palative and he has no experience in treating buns with chemo. On the other hand it would be nice to know how advanced this thing is and how long me and her partner have with her. I am not sure whether to put her through such an ordeal, having a whole lymph node out seems extreme but then again the other tests would have been for nothing.

I know a lot of you would never even contemplate the above but I had to find out whether there were any masses and how her organs were so I thought it wouldnt hurt to have the lymph test at the same time.

i've no knowledge of anything like this i'm afraid. i just wanted to wish you and your bun well xxx

Where is the enlarged LN ?

Fairy13's bunny had chemotherapy for leukemia over 18 months ago. It didn't seem to have any adverse side effects and he has been in remission ever since

Had this in a ferret a few years ago.The node kept swelling,time and time again.The node was even lanced a couple of times (as it abcessed)...abs given but nothing.
Eventually we removed the node.
ferret had a very slight eye slant as a result...(vet hadnt done this on a ferret before)...yet Min went on to live out till 12 and thats fab for a ferret.(I have her ashes...she was a lovely girl.Kept biting me constantly till we discovered she was in pain.Never bit after the op).
Are you gonna go through with the op??????

All lymph nodes are swollen. one is the size of a small walnut but that is the

....one that they did the biopsy on.

Ferrets get lymphoma......its not good in ferrets.:shock:

he has no experience in treating buns with chemo

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I would want to be sure he was getting advice from someone who has (no offence to him, but it's always good to get guidance from someone with experience).

It's good that he's willing to contemplate further treatment, not just choosing the "it's too difficult, your rabbit will have to be PTS" option. Good luck

Thanks everybody, still not sure what to do. Its so hard. Its like the other biopsys were in vain. Vet did say that its very risky this time with the anastetic as she will be out for longer.

Yeah I could try the chemo with him or if anybody knows of any other rabbits that have had chemo I could maybe try them. Im sure my Vet will contact the right persons and maybe Francis to see what the correct dose is etc, but is it going to be stressful driving her an hour every other week to be put under for an I.V, (i think thats how they do it??????)

funnyface1 said:

Thanks everybody, still not sure what to do. Its so hard. Its like the other biopsys were in vain. Vet did say that its very risky this time with the anastetic as she will be out for longer.

Yeah I could try the chemo with him or if anybody knows of any other rabbits that have had chemo I could maybe try them. Im sure my Vet will contact the right persons and maybe Francis to see what the correct dose is etc, but is it going to be stressful driving her an hour every other week to be put under for an I.V, (i think thats how they do it??????)

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I would want to be sure of the diagnosis before giving chemo. Lymphoma and lymph node infections can both give the same appearance so removal of a node and laboratory analysis is definitely the best way to proceed if you are willing to go ahead with chemo. If however you decide that chemo is not something you would do then surgery would give no benefit.
We use chemotherapy in rabbits in some cases where we feel they will have good quality of life with this approach. They have a catheter put into a leg vein when they are awake so don't need repeat anaesthetics for the chemotherapy. The chemotherapy protocol will vary depending on what type of tumour, what stage it is at and what woudl fit with your rabbit's personality and your vet's equipment - there is no single protocol for all bunnies.

Thanks Marie, that is good to know. If all lymph nodes are up could that still mean an infection. All the blood tests indicated no infections and scans did not reveal any tumours.

Muppet, your little white bun with the black cheeks in your picture is exactly the same as my other bun, i have never seen one so similar!

The white and grey one is Muppet himself He's a real sweetie. I dont think he photographs well, he's more handsome in real life!

funnyface1 said:

Thanks Marie, that is good to know. If all lymph nodes are up could that still mean an infection. All the blood tests indicated no infections and scans did not reveal any tumours.

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agree i would treat as an infection also what age is the bun our bun chelsea was like this right before the end we never found a casue adn infection was ruled out by a top vet but as she was 11.5 we had other sisues also at teh time..she sadly passed away due to age i think getting a second vet n opinion is highly recommended especially as chemo is relativly unknown or unheard of in buns xx

Muppet, I love his name, my white bun is called Funnyface only because thats what his name was at the rescue, I think he may be a little brain damaged as he sways bless him. x

Gosh:? I really do not know what to do. The vet is on holiday from Friday and he would like to do the op tomorrow. I really must call him because I forgot to ask him what will happen if he removes the lymph node totally. Surely that must be very very painful, the one he is removing is on her bag leg and is about the size of a walnut. I suppose in human equivalent terms that could be a booby or a ballbag. Ouch

She is a little on the larger side about 6 years old and I think having something like that done will decrease her mobility for a while.

I am thinking about taking her in, I do feel bad about it, but it will mean all the other tests had done will be in vain. and she would have gone through all of that for nothing.

funnyface1 said:

Gosh:? I really do not know what to do. The vet is on holiday from Friday and he would like to do the op tomorrow. I really must call him because I forgot to ask him what will happen if he removes the lymph node totally. Surely that must be very very painful, the one he is removing is on her bag leg and is about the size of a walnut. I suppose in human equivalent terms that could be a booby or a ballbag. Ouch

She is a little on the larger side about 6 years old and I think having something like that done will decrease her mobility for a while.

I am thinking about taking her in, I do feel bad about it, but it will mean all the other tests had done will be in vain. and she would have gone through all of that for nothing.

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does the op need doing urgently? or could it wait until he gets back? what happens if for some reason you need to go back, is there another rabbit vet who will beable to take over?

Good question, I did wonder that myself and as its the second time she will be going under in the last week I think it may be a little riskier.

I would not trust anybody else with my bun but they are all good at the place I go too. I will see about going in after he is back from holidays. And he may rush the op. He did seem very keen to get her in tomorrow though. I just worry that she may go downhill in the next couple of weeks. But I could just be paranoid.

funnyface1 said:

Good question, I did wonder that myself and as its the second time she will be going under in the last week I think it may be a little riskier.

I would not trust anybody else with my bun but they are all good at the place I go too. I will see about going in after he is back from holidays. And he may rush the op. He did seem very keen to get her in tomorrow though. I just worry that she may go downhill in the next couple of weeks. But I could just be paranoid.

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it's difficult isn't it. maybe phone and speak to him and ask him why he seemed keen for her to go in soon. and also what would happen if he was away and something happened.

did he seem to think she would go downhill in the next couple of weeks?

what do you feel is the right thing to do?

Hmm load of food for thought. I really do not know what to do I was going to take her in but maybe he wants the diagnosis as quick as possible to treat her while she is still well to take it.

Thanks for this, I will ask the questions tomorrow and go from there. I did kind of say to him I was contemplating not going ahead with treatment because of lots of reasons but he didnt say much maybe he was busy.

I only just got my other bun over a nasty abscess, and I thought that was a tough one. I thought abscesses were the cancer of buns and impossible to treat but boy was I wrong!

Thank you everybody for all your help xxxx