Hi everyone im new on here & i need some help with a sad situation

Hello, I'm sorry this is a long post.

we are abit stuck at the moment about what is best for our bunny rabbit. fudge is 8 and I found a lump on her tummy last night and a trip to vet found out the lump isn't an abscess so most likely a tumour. Upon further investigation she has cancer in her womb (had no idea about the importance of geting a doe spayed when we brought her 8 years ago) and we now have two options...

Option 1: Dont operate to have her womb and lump removed as she is 8, she may not cope with the operation and it may not be successful. We could let her live the rest of her days as she is, theres no real sign of discomfort as yet (e.g blood when urinating, discomfort when handling her) and then have her pts when the cancers spread and shes uncomfortable/in pain.

Option 2: Is to operate have it all removed and hope for the best gto try and prolong her life. If it doesn't work we can then atleast say we tried.

I really dont know what to do for the best as she is an old bunny. I would love to try and save her with the op but i feel it may be worse to put her through the operation at her age. I thought i would post on here to see what other people would do in this situation. Any opinions/thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Me personally 8 is a very good age for a rabbit and I suspect that she probably has cancer elsewhere or it will probably reoccur. If she's happy and completely fine in herself at the moment I really wouldn't want to put her through an operation that could cause her pain or further complications. Its entirely your choice of course. I just don't necessarily agree with putting old rabbits through such operations if there's a chance its not going to improve their quality of life.
When I got my brothers 10 year old netherland dwarf to care for he had a huge tumour on his face. In that case I did let him have the surgery and got him neutered in the same op. He probably lived for 6 months after but I do believe he was much happier without a huge tumour on his cheek.
Just to me its sometimes questionable as to whether its worth putting your pet through such an operation when there's little to gain from it. I think its purely up to as to what you do and don't feel pressured into doing something you don't want to do. How advanced is the cancer? and has the vet said it is likely to have spread?
Helen xx

Sorry to hear about your Bunny

Before deciding whether to do the op or not I'd want the Vet to run blood tests (to check liver/kidney function) aswell as an abdominal U/S and chest Xrays.

If all of the above gave no reason to suspect that the UC had metastasised/no abnormalities in liver or kidney function and you have a Bunny savvy Vet I would probably go ahead with surgery. I had a 10 year old Doe spayed (she developed a closed pyometra) and she lived for another 3 years.

Best wishes for whatever you decide to do

The vet didnt really say much about it just that the lump on her tummy by her front legs may be related and that it may grow and rub when she moves causing discomfort. I was told to watch out for signs of blood, which after checking her just now she has some in her litter tray
The vet also said that if she was 4 or 5 then we should definately go for the op and that 8 is a good age.
At the bottom of my heart i feel she should be left alone and when the time comes and she deteriorates then i will have her pts. This is proving to be a very difficult decision!

Leanne_20 said:

The vet didnt really say much about it just that the lump on her tummy by her front legs may be related and that it may grow and rub when she moves causing discomfort. I was told to watch out for signs of blood, which after checking her just now she has some in her litter tray
The vet also said that if she was 4 or 5 then we should definately go for the op and that 8 is a good age.
At the bottom of my heart i feel she should be left alone and when the time comes and she deteriorates then i will have her pts. This is proving to be a very difficult decision!

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Are you certain it was blood and not orangey brown wee ?

Could the Vet take a biopsy of the lump ? It may not be a malignant tumour at all.

Hi :wave: In saying the lump on her tummy, do you/the vet mean that its separate from the cancer in her womb? in which case the cancer has already spread to surgery would be fairly futile as it would continue to grow in other sites.
If the lump on her tummy is the uterine cancer, and it is that large and palpable (you can feel it on the surface) then its probably already quite large and advanced, so even if there is no evidence yet of secondary tumours, she probably does already have them.

Personally i would agree with making her comfortable and not doing surgery. As you say, she is of a good age and surgery and consequent medication, nursing and healing etc would be very hard upon her little body, and she may not survive anyway. If the vet is fairly certain that it is uterine cancer and thinks it may have spread, function tests and x-rays etc wont reveal anything useful to therapy or prognosis etc.

Its a very hard decision to make but i tend to err on the side of minimal invasion and maximum quality of life, even if thats shorter than you want.

All the best, keep asking questions if you need to - ask your vet lots of questions too, make sure you are fully informed of all the options. xx

Im thinking its definately blood as its bright red in the shavings, very odd how its only started since the vet had a good feel yesterday.
Vet said that the lump may be completely unrelated, its a very hard lump and can be easily felt but seeing as she has a tumour in her womb i cant see it being something different?

We have just worked out tonight that fudge is actually only just turning 7 next month! so not 8 after all. Not sure where the vet got 8 from, must be wrong on her records.

If the cancer was only in the womb and hadnt spread would you still leave it to get worse and not operate?

Thank you for all the replies so far

Jack's-Jane said:

Sorry to hear about your Bunny

Before deciding whether to do the op or not I'd want the Vet to run blood tests (to check liver/kidney function) aswell as an abdominal U/S and chest Xrays.

If all of the above gave no reason to suspect that the UC had metastasised/no abnormalities in liver or kidney function and you have a Bunny savvy Vet I would probably go ahead with surgery. I had a 10 year old Doe spayed (she developed a closed pyometra) and she lived for another 3 years.

Best wishes for whatever you decide to do

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Agree with Jane.

I am bonding a nine year old boy and a 6 1/2 year old female today who have both only just been neutered because their previous homes didn't bother. Because both of them were healthy in other respects they had their ops with no real issues.

If your lady is healthy in general apart from the cancer then I'd probably go for it if she were mine. I do however have to say I have no real experience of cancers. I do know folks who have done everything possible for cancer buns but have not had the outcome they'd have wanted.

Thinking of you - such a difficult decision.

I agree with the Duchess. I had my old bun Daisy spayed when she was nearly 7 (and it was found she had cancer of the uterus). She then lived another 4 years - also having several tumours removed two years after the spay), so I felt it was worth it. However, she did have a history of handling Anaesthetic very well. It is a hard decision for you x

If it were me i would try and weigh up everything. Is she good with anesthetic? Does she have any history of serious medical conditions? Is your vet rabbit savvy in your opinion? I would write down a list of questions to ask, so you get the full picture before making a decision. Has he said if he thinks it's just in the womb or may have spread? If it's spread i would just make her comfortable if it's just in the womb and she's had no trouble with anything else i would take a chance and go for it. But no matter what you decide we know you only have your bunnys wellbeing at heart and i'm sure we will all support you.
Thinking of you both.

Leanne_20 said:

Im thinking its definately blood as its bright red in the shavings, very odd how its only started since the vet had a good feel yesterday.
Vet said that the lump may be completely unrelated, its a very hard lump and can be easily felt but seeing as she has a tumour in her womb i cant see it being something different?

We have just worked out tonight that fudge is actually only just turning 7 next month! so not 8 after all. Not sure where the vet got 8 from, must be wrong on her records.

If the cancer was only in the womb and hadnt spread would you still leave it to get worse and not operate?

Thank you for all the replies so far

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Hi, i think i'd have to work out what the other lump is - if its not cancerous then it may still affect how she'd cope with the surgery. If the other lump is insignificant or can be otherwise resolved, then i would go for tests e.g. x-rays to check if it has spread. If it has spread at all then i wouldnt operate. If the cancer in her womb is quite large then its quite likely it has already spread, even if you cant find the other tumours by feel etc.

Essentially i would proceed with caution and consider all the possible outcomes. There is no point subjecting her to a battery of tests if they dont affect the outcome or your decision.

I really hope it works out for you x

i had the same decision last year my vets said removing it wasnt worth the risk but it was up to me. ( she was also 8) so i left it as she seemed to be not in pain at all and i just monitored her she has an extra 8 months which was the whole summer and then she started to loose weight and i could tell she was getting worse so we took her to vets and had her pts it was the hardest desicion i had to make about whether to have the op but i decided to let her have the time she had less. i know some people will disagree with what i did but in the end im glad with the decision to leave it as she might not have made it through.

best wishes

We have just lost our girl on the 8th of February with a lump in her stomach which was a tumor but she had been spayed.

I personally would just give her all the love you can and make everyday special for her as I think at 8 years of age it just might be too much for her little body to cope with, but whatever you do 'Good Luck' and I will be thinking of Fudge.

hmm i really think the vet was trying to put me off the op because of her age but she told me to go away and think about it.
Parents and I have been chatting this evening because we obviously want what is best, fudgey is my younger sisters pet and shes very upset about it all.
I think we are now thinking about having tests done to see if the cancer has spread and we have questions to ask before we make a final decision.
Dad is sort of against the op though, one of my previous guinea pigs had a cyst which burst and then removed but about two months later we lost her and since then dad has regretted putting the piggy through it all hence the big decision about what to do with fudgey.
she is very happy in herself, seems bright and alert plus shes still eating though she has lost a little bit of weight.
I really appreciate all your replies, thank you

bambi2906 said:

i had the same decision last year my vets said removing it wasnt worth the risk but it was up to me. ( she was also 8) so i left it as she seemed to be not in pain at all and i just monitored her she has an extra 8 months which was the whole summer and then she started to loose weight and i could tell she was getting worse so we took her to vets and had her pts it was the hardest desicion i had to make about whether to have the op but i decided to let her have the time she had less. i know some people will disagree with what i did but in the end im glad with the decision to leave it as she might not have made it through.

best wishes

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hello, did your bunnys urine have blood in it during the time she had left? fudgeys has and i dont know whether that will be causing her discomfort?

Leanne_20 said:

hmm i really think the vet was trying to put me off the op because of her age but she told me to go away and think about it.
Parents and I have been chatting this evening because we obviously want what is best, fudgey is my younger sisters pet and shes very upset about it all.
I think we are now thinking about having tests done to see if the cancer has spread and we have questions to ask before we make a final decision.
Dad is sort of against the op though, one of my previous guinea pigs had a cyst which burst and then removed but about two months later we lost her and since then dad has regretted putting the piggy through it all hence the big decision about what to do with fudgey.
she is very happy in herself, seems bright and alert plus shes still eating though she has lost a little bit of weight.
I really appreciate all your replies, thank you

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I would agree with what you are saying, further tests before you make any final decision.

Good luck with whatever decision you make, it is not easy and you will get lots of support and advice on here from other people who have been through this (me included).

Certainly the mass that sounds like it is her mammary gland and will be an important factor in deciding how much is reasonable to put her through. If it is a tumour that either has spread from the uterus, or is aggressive in growth then I would not be keen to put her through major surgery as it will not give her much longer. Otherwise I would elect to spay her. With uterine changes (both benign and malignant growths) there can be abnormal hormone production that leads to changes and benign enlargement of mammary glands so it may not be a tumour of the mammary gland. I spayed three very elderly does yesterday and one of the three had uterine changes and had swollen glands and had even starting producing milk consistently as a result but there was no tumour of the mammary glands.
Bear in mind that although she appears comfortable, uterine growths can be painful and bunnies will automatically try and hide the fact they are uncomfortable in case a predator notices and considers them an easier target.