Advice on older bunny

Hi,
I've just signed up here and looking for a little advice from people who have maybe dealt with this or something similar before..

One of my rabbits- Snowy had sick, I took her to my vet and they ran tests.. they said its most likely cancer with something possibly wrong with her bladder too.
She is 5 years and 10 months and my vet said that because of her age its too risky to operate and right now the best thing to do is just make her comfortable.

Snowy is still eating and drinking, but she drinks far too much water which results in her weeing all the time and getting soaked in wee.. its winter where I live so I can't be bathing her all the time.

I'm doing the best i can to keep her dry, cleaning her cage every day and on sunny days putting her out on the grass in her run which she enjoys.

But she stills seems to be getting wet from her wee, I think she has urine burn on her feet? well they seem quite red anyway. is there something I can put on it?

I really don't want her to be in pain, and I really love her to bits! I know eventually I will have to make the choice to get her put to sleep when things get worse but how do I know when that time is right? Since she is still eating and happily jumping around I don't want to do it yet.. but at the same time I think she must be miserable when she is getting wet with wee!

any advice on what to expect with her illness (if you had a rabbit with cancer) how long they lived for after being diagnosed? how to make her more comfortable?
and also if I do bath her, I'm worried the small animal shampoo will irritate her urine burn.. anything more gentle that can be used?

sorry if these questions are all over the place, any advice is much appreciated!

here is a picture of snowy:


and snowy with her best friend Nudge (my male bunny)



thanks, Sarah

Poor snowy, have never had to deal with the 'c' word before but at 5yrs 10mnths shes not really an old bun, more middle aged. Can you get a second opinion from another vet? I understand that sometimes these things are very costly, good luck with whatever you decide. :thumb:

p.s snowy is adorable x

bubsnfudge said:

Poor snowy, have never had to deal with the 'c' word before but at 5yrs 10mnths shes not really an old bun, more middle aged. Can you get a second opinion from another vet? I understand that sometimes these things are very costly, good luck with whatever you decide. :thumb:

p.s snowy is adorable x

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Honestly the vet I took her to is the best small animal vet in my area, and I can't afford many more vet visits at the moment unless I decide to go ahead with the operation.. I think maybe because she is ill and 5 yrs 10 months that makes her a bigger risk to get spayed and spaying might fix the problem or it might not.. so its hard :/
thanks for your advice snowy say's thank you !

sarahmichelle said:

Honestly the vet I took her to is the best small animal vet in my area, and I can't afford many more vet visits at the moment unless I decide to go ahead with the operation.. I think maybe because she is ill and 5 yrs 10 months that makes her a bigger risk to get spayed and spaying might fix the problem or it might not.. so its hard :/
thanks for your advice snowy say's thank you !

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Where do you live? We may be able to find you a very bunny-savvy vet near to you. Just under 6 years isn't old and I wouldn't hesitate to get a 6 year old bunny spayed with a bunny-savvy vet. Hope you manage to get something sorted for her. Let us know how you get on.

Mackers said:

Where do you live? We may be able to find you a very bunny-savvy vet near to you. Just under 6 years isn't old and I wouldn't hesitate to get a 6 year old bunny spayed with a bunny-savvy vet. Hope you manage to get something sorted for her. Let us know how you get on.

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I live in Australia, Victoria in Shepparton..
I'm just really worried that If I do choose to get her spayed, that there will still be another problem and what if she doesn't improve

Ah, thought you were in the UK so not really able to help you out much with a vet in Oz. Not really sure what to suggest. If it were me, I still think I'd proceed with a spay as it could be the uterine cancer that is causing her bladder issues (??? tumour pressing on her bladder). If you leave her, she's only going to get worse. An operation is clearly risky given that she's not in the best of health but is there a choice here? However, I'm not a vet so I guess the best you can do is have a long discussion with your vet and take it from there. Hope your bunny stays comfortable and whatever you decide, just know that you're doing what YOU think is best for her, not what anyone else thinks.

sarahmichelle said:

I live in Australia, Victoria in Shepparton..
I'm just really worried that If I do choose to get her spayed, that there will still be another problem and what if she doesn't improve

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I will ask on Facebook as I follow several rabbit rescues in Australia and they might have some idea :wave:

Firstly welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear Snowy is not so well.
I would contact these guys - see link below - and see if they can suggest a referral centre that your vet can seek advice from.
With the distances in Australia that would seen like a good option.
An experienced bunny vet could tell him what tests etc to run.
At 5 Snowy is not an old rabbit actually. More middle aged as you will see from the ages of the buns on here.
It would be good to stay in contact with the Boingonline people as they are so bunny knowledgeable & will be able to give you some ideas & support from an Australian perspective.

All the best to you & Snowy.

http://www.boingonline.com/

KB said:

Firstly welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear Snowy is not so well.
I would contact these guys - see link below - and see if they can suggest a referral centre that your vet can seek advice from.
With the distances in Australia that would seen like a good option.
An experienced bunny vet could tell him what tests etc to run.
At 5 Snowy is not an old rabbit actually. More middle aged as you will see from the ages of the buns on here.
It would be good to stay in contact with the Boingonline people as they are so bunny knowledgeable & will be able to give you some ideas & support from an Australian perspective.

All the best to you & Snowy.

http://www.boingonline.com/

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thank you! the vet they recommend on that website is actually only 2 1/2 hours away and I'm thinking it might be best to take her to a specialist bunny vet to get the spay done so I'm going to look into that!

I have no advice but so glad you've been given some helpful links , good luck I hope the vet can help, your girlie is just beautiful.

sarahmichelle said:

thank you! the vet they recommend on that website is actually only 2 1/2 hours away and I'm thinking it might be best to take her to a specialist bunny vet to get the spay done so I'm going to look into that!

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Great I looked at the Victorian vets & wondered if any were close (ish) to Shepperton.
Hopefully they will have some answers.

sarahmichelle said:

thank you! the vet they recommend on that website is actually only 2 1/2 hours away and I'm thinking it might be best to take her to a specialist bunny vet to get the spay done so I'm going to look into that!

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I got these two recommendations from the Facebook group Australian Bunny Carers & Friends:
Bendigo Animal Hospital
Seymour Central Vet

One person recommended asking this rescue what vet they use: http://www.rabbitrunaway.org.au/

24 Hour Vet Clinic

One page's advice:

You could probably also ring a good vet to get advice over the phone and get them to fax or email the Shepparton Vet with any guidance as many vets do not know much or what they are looking at with bunnies. I'd recommend Melbourne Rabbit Clinic if they provide advice over the phone.

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I hope this helps!