This is my first real post (other than introductions!) on the forums, so I thought before I dive into things that I'd give a brief history on Mina's health.
Mina is my 10 1/2 year old bunny. I'm not sure of her breed, but she's never weighed more than 3 pounds so she's got to be at least half mini or dwarf or something! In ten years, she had a total of 2 tummy upsets, which were solved by the next morning with a little hay and a lot of love. I have felt incredibly lucky to have such an exceptionally healthy bunny. It wasn't until very recently that things have started going downhill for her.
Late in September, I found a lump on her stomach, very low down behind one of her legs. The vet diagnosed it as a mammary tumor, and she went in for surgery to have it removed. During the surgery, they found another much smaller lump higher up on her chest, and so they removed that as well. She came back from surgery, and she recovered rather quickly, already wanting to play and race around just days after! She had just one night of abnormal droppings, and two nights of a slightly decreased appetite. I was amazed by her!
Everything seemed fine, and the vet said that we'd keep a close eye on her for any future lumps, but that it appeared that they got all the lumps that were present. Unfortunately the biopsy results indicated that the lumps were cancerous, but the vet said there was a decent chance she might die of old age before the cancer even returned anyway. But just a few weeks later, she started to act a little bit "off". She wasn't as perky as usual, and within two days, she stopped eating. I took her to the vet and he discovered an abscess on the inside of her mouth which, at the the time, he believed was due to an overgrown molar. She had the molar trimmed and was sent home. That was 3 weeks ago.
Over the next few days, she hardly ate, and would only eat things that were very soft. He had me giving her Enercal, but she wasn't taking any roughage. He said this was to be expected, but to let me know if it persisted. Well, it persisted. I called him up when she stopped producing any poop.
He examined her about two weeks ago and said that if we didn't get her GI system back on track within a few days, she was going to die. I was given a mixture of Laxatone, Enercal, papaya tablets, and yogurt to give to her as force feedings. Amazingly, after just two force feedings, her appetite started to return, and she showed some interest in veggies again. Over a few days more of this, she was eating pellets again. She started pooping again, and after a few days, her poop was even the normal size and shape! Again, she amazed me. Unfortunately, I was still concerned because I found another small lump on her chest, behind her left front leg, practically in what would be her armpit. It was so well hidden that I'm not even entirely sure I'd have found it already if not for the fact that I was giving her lots of gentle tummy massage during her stasis issues!
For the past 9 days, she's been eating on her own, and will eat anything *except* hay. I suspected this was because her tooth was still causing her some discomfort, and since the vet wanted to take another look at her tooth once she was on the antibiotics for 3 weeks, I took her back last night for another look at that, plus to have the lump checked out. The news wasn't so good.
The abscess is still there, although it is much smaller than it was. The vet is concerned since he was expecting it to be gone by now, as she's been on Baytril for 3 weeks now. He's also very concerned about the lump on her chest, and suspects this "could" mean the cancer has returned. It's about the size of a marble, and was not there just two months ago when she had the surgery, so it's grown that big in that short amount of time.
For now, he's indicated that we should keep her on the antibiotics for another 2-3 weeks to see if we can get rid of the rest of the abscess, and then take it from there. He feels the tooth issue is more pressing to take care of, but that we have to keep an eye on the lump on her chest as well. She doesn't even seem to notice the lump yet, so that's somewhat comforting. We really can't take her in for surgery for it yet since she was just under anesthesia for the dental surgery a few weeks ago, and he's concerned about how she'll handle it. So now it's a waiting and hoping game.
I'm so happy that she's over the stasis, but I feel so lost now otherwise. I want to do all I can for her and help her so that she doesn't suffer. Has anyone else been through anything similar to any of this, or have any kind of advice to offer?
I do know I'm lucky to have had her for this long, and that she's old, and that her time is coming...but she's still so spry and pleasant and friendly, and aside from the previous stasis issues, doesn't seem to be suffering at all. I'm not ready to give up on her.
Thank you for listening to me vent and rant here! I'm so glad to be surrounded by other bunny lovers here who understand the delicate issues that bunnies can be confronted with!
Mina is my 10 1/2 year old bunny. I'm not sure of her breed, but she's never weighed more than 3 pounds so she's got to be at least half mini or dwarf or something! In ten years, she had a total of 2 tummy upsets, which were solved by the next morning with a little hay and a lot of love. I have felt incredibly lucky to have such an exceptionally healthy bunny. It wasn't until very recently that things have started going downhill for her.
Late in September, I found a lump on her stomach, very low down behind one of her legs. The vet diagnosed it as a mammary tumor, and she went in for surgery to have it removed. During the surgery, they found another much smaller lump higher up on her chest, and so they removed that as well. She came back from surgery, and she recovered rather quickly, already wanting to play and race around just days after! She had just one night of abnormal droppings, and two nights of a slightly decreased appetite. I was amazed by her!
Everything seemed fine, and the vet said that we'd keep a close eye on her for any future lumps, but that it appeared that they got all the lumps that were present. Unfortunately the biopsy results indicated that the lumps were cancerous, but the vet said there was a decent chance she might die of old age before the cancer even returned anyway. But just a few weeks later, she started to act a little bit "off". She wasn't as perky as usual, and within two days, she stopped eating. I took her to the vet and he discovered an abscess on the inside of her mouth which, at the the time, he believed was due to an overgrown molar. She had the molar trimmed and was sent home. That was 3 weeks ago.
Over the next few days, she hardly ate, and would only eat things that were very soft. He had me giving her Enercal, but she wasn't taking any roughage. He said this was to be expected, but to let me know if it persisted. Well, it persisted. I called him up when she stopped producing any poop.
He examined her about two weeks ago and said that if we didn't get her GI system back on track within a few days, she was going to die. I was given a mixture of Laxatone, Enercal, papaya tablets, and yogurt to give to her as force feedings. Amazingly, after just two force feedings, her appetite started to return, and she showed some interest in veggies again. Over a few days more of this, she was eating pellets again. She started pooping again, and after a few days, her poop was even the normal size and shape! Again, she amazed me. Unfortunately, I was still concerned because I found another small lump on her chest, behind her left front leg, practically in what would be her armpit. It was so well hidden that I'm not even entirely sure I'd have found it already if not for the fact that I was giving her lots of gentle tummy massage during her stasis issues!
For the past 9 days, she's been eating on her own, and will eat anything *except* hay. I suspected this was because her tooth was still causing her some discomfort, and since the vet wanted to take another look at her tooth once she was on the antibiotics for 3 weeks, I took her back last night for another look at that, plus to have the lump checked out. The news wasn't so good.
The abscess is still there, although it is much smaller than it was. The vet is concerned since he was expecting it to be gone by now, as she's been on Baytril for 3 weeks now. He's also very concerned about the lump on her chest, and suspects this "could" mean the cancer has returned. It's about the size of a marble, and was not there just two months ago when she had the surgery, so it's grown that big in that short amount of time.
For now, he's indicated that we should keep her on the antibiotics for another 2-3 weeks to see if we can get rid of the rest of the abscess, and then take it from there. He feels the tooth issue is more pressing to take care of, but that we have to keep an eye on the lump on her chest as well. She doesn't even seem to notice the lump yet, so that's somewhat comforting. We really can't take her in for surgery for it yet since she was just under anesthesia for the dental surgery a few weeks ago, and he's concerned about how she'll handle it. So now it's a waiting and hoping game.
I'm so happy that she's over the stasis, but I feel so lost now otherwise. I want to do all I can for her and help her so that she doesn't suffer. Has anyone else been through anything similar to any of this, or have any kind of advice to offer?
I do know I'm lucky to have had her for this long, and that she's old, and that her time is coming...but she's still so spry and pleasant and friendly, and aside from the previous stasis issues, doesn't seem to be suffering at all. I'm not ready to give up on her.
Thank you for listening to me vent and rant here! I'm so glad to be surrounded by other bunny lovers here who understand the delicate issues that bunnies can be confronted with!
