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Thymoma-advice/thoughts etc welcomed

bunniesgalore

Alpha Buck
Mark Rowland looked at the xrays for Rupert and believes he has a Thymoma.
Currently Rupert is pretty strong but tires quickly and gets very fast breathing when he shakes. His appetite is affected but he will eat veggies and treats! His eyes are redder, his third eyelid prominent and often his eyes are quite bulgy.
Other than that Rupert's skipping and binkying a bit, washing himself and Milly, and often appears to look and behave completely normally.
He's on 2ml metacam and zantac too.
We're hours from a referral centre/vet so that's not feasible as he's not up to travelling. I also don't want him overly poked and prodded if ultimately we've not got long.
We can get an MRI and we're planning on more xrays on Monday so my vets and me can see what Mark Rowland can as my vets have been focussing on Rupert's tummy with not a mention of a chest issue.
I've been reading about things we may be able to do to help Rupert's breathing such as steroids and also Sandostatin. Does anyone have any experience of thymoma, treatment etc and also some idea of timescale, what to expect etc.
I am absolutely distraught, Rupert has so much life left to live. We love him so much.
Thank you.
 
I have had 3 Rabbits with Thymomas. All had palliative treatment which included steroid injections, diuretic injections and in one case a covering antibiotic as the Rabbit also had a chronic Pasteurella infection. Once on treatment two Rabbits did quite well and had about another 10-11 months of good quality life. The third one was not so fortunate and his Thymoma was of the more aggressive kind, he deteriorated very quickly and only had about 8 weeks of life from diagnosis.

Most Thymoma's are slow growing and dont spread to other organs. But one type is more aggressive, as mentioned above

Surgery can be carried out in some cases and a CT scan is usually needed to assess if the particular Rabbit is a suitable surgical case.

I am sorry that Rupert may have a Thymoma and I hope that he can remain comfortable for as long as possible.
 
I'm sorry Rupert has been diagnosed with Thymoma.

Jane has summed it up pretty well in that most thymoma are slow growing as I looked into it when my bun was diagnosed. Unfortunately my bun had the more aggressive type and once diagnosed deteriorated very quickly :cry: (3-4 weeks). The op is pretty invasive and risky.

Your vet could do the "wheelbarrow" test which I believe is usually quite conclusive as to whether it is thymoma i.e. if their eyes bulge.

One of my friends buns has been diagnosed a few weeks ago and she is also trying some "alternative" medicine, so far he seems to be doing OK. He is also on other meds.
 
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