Linzielegs
Warren Scout
We have a french lop who was a rescued rabbit and is now around 2 years old, we have had him for 18 months and has been kept as a house rabbit for the past 12 months. During the time we have had him he had pneumonia twice both times were hit and miss if he would survive but thankfully he made it, he also had a skin infection but again recovered. Following specialist rabbit vet advice, he has a totally natural diet of hay and greens with the odd carrot or apple as a treat and since then has not been ill since June 2011.
However, the last few weeks he has been a bit quieter than normal, not much but he was such a bossy rabbit before we could see a difference. Over weekend he went off his food a bit eating maybe half what he would normally and hardly moving in his cage and not coming out of his cage in the day when the door was open. I also found a pea sized lump on his side that feels like a cyst, connected to the skin but nothing else. Yesterday morning he had a pooey bum, was hardly eating, had cold ears and was really floppy. Obviously took him to the vets yesterday and when they checked him over they found a lump in his tummy which they said was in his lymph node. They took bloods and then rang me this morning and said his bloods didn't show any major organ failure but his white cell count was really really low which is indicative of lymphoma or a very bad infection. Apparently they need to do a laperoscopy to get inside and see if the lymph node is swollen because it is draining from an intestinal infection, or if it is cancer and if it is to see if they can remove it or not. They said during the op they will either fix him up or just not wake him up again. Problem is he just isn't strong enough to survive the operation at the moment, they said to bring him in straight away so he could be put on a drip and be put in an ICU tank to help him stay warm, they are also going to syringe feed him and give him some stronger painkillers that I can't give him at home. They are hoping if they can stabilise him they can look at operating as soon as he is able.
So here's the question, should I be putting him through anymore? The vets said that the op is painful and invasive and they don't really know what they are going to find so can't give me an idea of the outcome, they think it is worth taking a chance if I can afford the op but am just so frightened I'm going to be putting him though all this pain and if it doesn't work then it's for nothing. Please don't think I'm giving up on him, I'm not, I can't tell you how many nights I stayed up with him syringing water in his mouth, tucking him under my jumper with hot water bottles to keep him warm, hand feeding him bits of food to get him to eat anything, I've always done anything I can for him. It's just that this time there doesn't seem to be much chance of it being treatable but he is in so much pain and the op will just be worse. Has anyone been through this? Anyone got a happy ending story for me? Daft as it probably sounds I am desperately upset for my little guy and scared of getting it wrong for him.
However, the last few weeks he has been a bit quieter than normal, not much but he was such a bossy rabbit before we could see a difference. Over weekend he went off his food a bit eating maybe half what he would normally and hardly moving in his cage and not coming out of his cage in the day when the door was open. I also found a pea sized lump on his side that feels like a cyst, connected to the skin but nothing else. Yesterday morning he had a pooey bum, was hardly eating, had cold ears and was really floppy. Obviously took him to the vets yesterday and when they checked him over they found a lump in his tummy which they said was in his lymph node. They took bloods and then rang me this morning and said his bloods didn't show any major organ failure but his white cell count was really really low which is indicative of lymphoma or a very bad infection. Apparently they need to do a laperoscopy to get inside and see if the lymph node is swollen because it is draining from an intestinal infection, or if it is cancer and if it is to see if they can remove it or not. They said during the op they will either fix him up or just not wake him up again. Problem is he just isn't strong enough to survive the operation at the moment, they said to bring him in straight away so he could be put on a drip and be put in an ICU tank to help him stay warm, they are also going to syringe feed him and give him some stronger painkillers that I can't give him at home. They are hoping if they can stabilise him they can look at operating as soon as he is able.
So here's the question, should I be putting him through anymore? The vets said that the op is painful and invasive and they don't really know what they are going to find so can't give me an idea of the outcome, they think it is worth taking a chance if I can afford the op but am just so frightened I'm going to be putting him though all this pain and if it doesn't work then it's for nothing. Please don't think I'm giving up on him, I'm not, I can't tell you how many nights I stayed up with him syringing water in his mouth, tucking him under my jumper with hot water bottles to keep him warm, hand feeding him bits of food to get him to eat anything, I've always done anything I can for him. It's just that this time there doesn't seem to be much chance of it being treatable but he is in so much pain and the op will just be worse. Has anyone been through this? Anyone got a happy ending story for me? Daft as it probably sounds I am desperately upset for my little guy and scared of getting it wrong for him.
