Thymoma, Fat Tumor, Infection?

I joined this forum to see if I could get the opinions of those people who are tried and true bunny lovers. I have a bunny who is 7 1/2 named Sis. Sis is a very large girl (8 lbs 7 oz) and a bit overweight. She has had a couple of ear infections in the last year. She recently got another infection (she's a lop) and I took her to the vet. She had drops for the infection, but three days later he left eye started slightly protruding (as in can see her 3rd eyelid). She also has labored breathing. The vet did an x-ray and saw what she thought might be a thymoma. But, she wanted to get an ultrasound and didn't want to jump to conclusions. She gave me Baytril (oral), Baytril (ear drops), and Ciprofloxacin (eye drops). I treated her with those items for about two weeks (as long as it took to get ultrasound) It seems that her eye looked a little better and the vet was leaning more towards a fat deposit after doing an ultrasound. She gave me steroids for 7 days to see if it helped with the breathing. It has!
The vet said that if we wanted a more precise answer, we would have to take her to Cornell University where they have an amazing animal hospital. I am torn.
A couple of questions: Should I just take her to Cornell to find out for sure? What other things may cause protrusion of 3rd eyelid? Should I just get more steroids from her vet? I have read a ton of these threads and am hopeful to get some thoughts other than my own!

vhatch said:

I joined this forum to see if I could get the opinions of those people who are tried and true bunny lovers. I have a bunny who is 7 1/2 named Sis. Sis is a very large girl (8 lbs 7 oz) and a bit overweight. She has had a couple of ear infections in the last year. She recently got another infection (she's a lop) and I took her to the vet. She had drops for the infection, but three days later he left eye started slightly protruding (as in can see her 3rd eyelid). She also has labored breathing. The vet did an x-ray and saw what she thought might be a thymoma. But, she wanted to get an ultrasound and didn't want to jump to conclusions. She gave me Baytril (oral), Baytril (ear drops), and Ciprofloxacin (eye drops). I treated her with those items for about two weeks (as long as it took to get ultrasound) It seems that her eye looked a little better and the vet was leaning more towards a fat deposit after doing an ultrasound. She gave me steroids for 7 days to see if it helped with the breathing. It has!
The vet said that if we wanted a more precise answer, we would have to take her to Cornell University where they have an amazing animal hospital. I am torn.
A couple of questions: Should I just take her to Cornell to find out for sure? What other things may cause protrusion of 3rd eyelid? Should I just get more steroids from her vet? I have read a ton of these threads and am hopeful to get some thoughts other than my own!

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Hello and welcome to the Forum :wave:

You ask a lot of very interesting questions, and if you are unsure of the competency of your own vet, or wish for a second opinion, I would go ahead and get one. No one on a Forum can equal the advice given by a specialist who has your rabbit and her case history in front of him. But I'm sure you know all this already

So that said, I would Private Message Bunny_Babe on here, as I believe her bunny had a Thymoma and she has a lot of very good information.

Here are a few links, although you may have read them all as you've been devouring info from what I can gather :lol:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/search.php?searchid=7144102

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...ioration-how-does-it-happen&highlight=thymoma

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...third-eyelid-ud-(-He-s-gone&highlight=thymoma

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?430294-Third-eyelid-showing&highlight=thymoma

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...s-thymoma-another-bad-night&highlight=thymoma

I wish you lots of good luck and best wishes in the care of your lovely friend xx

Hi and welcome to the forum. Sorry you have found us through the worry of a bunny, but I think a lot of us found it this way (I know I did - teeth problems!).

One of my buns was diagnosed with Thymoma a few years ago now. There is a "wheelbarrow" test that your vet can do and if that shows that both eyes protrude then it "could" be a thymoma.

This thread may help you with some different experiences:
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?421951-Thymoma-UD-At-the-Bridge-now

The only way that they can tell for sure is via a biopsy but I was not prepared to put him through that as I did not feel that it would help if it was diagnosed so we did try some meds which helped a little for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately for mine, we lost him within the month as there are different types of thymoma (some are slow growing).

Jacks-Jane has also had a couple of bunnies with it and they were treated with steroids I think which lasted about a week until the next one was due. I know that 1 of her bunnies lasted over a year with palative care. I also have a friend who called me when her bunny was diagnosed and again hers survived for over a year.

If you are unsure of your vets ability then I would certainly research on here as it was practically unheard of when Homer was diagnosed. Things have moved on and people are more aware as bunnies are tending to live longer. Don't be afraid of asking your vet questions and challenging them or getting a second opinion.

Please feel free to pm me if you want to ask anything but I know others have shared their stories on here about treatments which you may find helpful and have had longer term experience of it than me.

If you need any help in finding a bunny savvy vet in your area, put a post in Rabbit Chat with the title "Bunny savvy vets in XXX?" I just looked up the University and you are based in the US so that may be more difficult.

Just a thought - if it is just 1 eye have they done a skull x-ray to rule out abscess behind the eye?

Also there could be glaucoma if the eye is swollen/possibly cloudy?

I hope that it is something minor and the meds help. Sending Sis nice gentle nose rubs.

vhatch said:

I joined this forum to see if I could get the opinions of those people who are tried and true bunny lovers. I have a bunny who is 7 1/2 named Sis. Sis is a very large girl (8 lbs 7 oz) and a bit overweight. She has had a couple of ear infections in the last year. She recently got another infection (she's a lop) and I took her to the vet. She had drops for the infection, but three days later he left eye started slightly protruding (as in can see her 3rd eyelid). She also has labored breathing. The vet did an x-ray and saw what she thought might be a thymoma. But, she wanted to get an ultrasound and didn't want to jump to conclusions. She gave me Baytril (oral), Baytril (ear drops), and Ciprofloxacin (eye drops). I treated her with those items for about two weeks (as long as it took to get ultrasound) It seems that her eye looked a little better and the vet was leaning more towards a fat deposit after doing an ultrasound. She gave me steroids for 7 days to see if it helped with the breathing. It has!
The vet said that if we wanted a more precise answer, we would have to take her to Cornell University where they have an amazing animal hospital. I am torn.
A couple of questions: Should I just take her to Cornell to find out for sure? What other things may cause protrusion of 3rd eyelid? Should I just get more steroids from her vet? I have read a ton of these threads and am hopeful to get some thoughts other than my own!

Click to expand...

You may want to get another opinion.
How important is it to you to have a more solid diagnosis and would having a diagnosis change the course of treatment for your bunny?
I have a very rabbit saavy vet and sometimes I do not have a 100% sure diagnosis due to either the inability to get one in a live animal or difficulty in getting one, especially if there is concern about the bunny having extended general anestesia for a tricky procedure. Is there another possible diagnosis that is not being addressed with the existing treatment protocol?

hi and welcome to the forum I will as mods to move this thread to the health section where you may get more response

Thanks for all of your thoughts! I decided to make an appt. at the veterinary hospital affiliated with Cornell University. I called my vet to let her know and she prescribed me enough metacam to get her through until her appt. in a couple of weeks. Sis is steady right now, she has not gotten worse since her vet appt. So, it seems that the metacam is helping with her breathing. Thank you again for your thoughts!

vhatch said:

Thanks for all of your thoughts! I decided to make an appt. at the veterinary hospital affiliated with Cornell University. I called my vet to let her know and she prescribed me enough metacam to get her through until her appt. in a couple of weeks. Sis is steady right now, she has not gotten worse since her vet appt. So, it seems that the metacam is helping with her breathing. Thank you again for your thoughts!

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Still thinking of you Vhatch. I hope all goes well and Sis remains stable.

Finally had our appt. today! No tumor - just fat! Needless to say, she has to go on a diet - supposed to lose 2 pounds!! Any food suggestions? She loves pellets. I looked into pellets that were hay based and I am going to try those. They are expensive, but worth it if I can get her to be more healthy. We are a happy bunny family knowing we can fix her problem!

vhatch said:

Finally had our appt. today! No tumor - just fat! Needless to say, she has to go on a diet - supposed to lose 2 pounds!! Any food suggestions? She loves pellets. I looked into pellets that were hay based and I am going to try those. They are expensive, but worth it if I can get her to be more healthy. We are a happy bunny family knowing we can fix her problem!

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I am glad to hear that there appears to be no tumour.

When a Rabbit needs to loose weight it is essential that it is done gradually, especially if the Rabbit is very obese. Losing too much weight too quickly would do more harm than good. A weight loss rate of 1%-2% per week is the absolute maximum.

A Rabbit's diet should be based on 80%-90% hay, pellets being just a tiny portion if fed at all. Is your Rabbit a good hay eater ? Not only is a mostly hay/grass diet essential for maintaining a healthy weight, it is also essential for healthy dentition and GI tract function. Did your Vet check your Rabbit's teeth. If your Rabbit has so far had a mostly pellet diet then dental problems might already be an issue and this could make hay eating in sufficient quantities impossible. So I would certainly want the teeth to have been checked.

There are some suggestions about what to feed your Rabbit on these links

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/Feeding130807.pdf

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/going_green_oct_06.pdf

Exercise is also an essential for all Rabbits and if your Rabbit has not had much in the way of exercise then this too needs to be introduced gradually.

Good luck xx

vhatch said:

Finally had our appt. today! No tumor - just fat! Needless to say, she has to go on a diet - supposed to lose 2 pounds!! Any food suggestions? She loves pellets. I looked into pellets that were hay based and I am going to try those. They are expensive, but worth it if I can get her to be more healthy. We are a happy bunny family knowing we can fix her problem!

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Wonderful, that's great news!!

Hopefully you can put things to rights now and all is well

That is great news.

Jane has given some great advice. I do feed mine with Oxbow Bunny Basics which is hay (not alfalfa) based pellets as well as plenty of hay.