I have a 4year old french lop that has always been fit and healthy. I got her at a year so never knew if she had been speyed. Yesterday afternoon Daisy and her conti partner were in the garden as usual and all seemed well. When I went to put them back in their shed I felt she did not seem quite right. So I fed them some greens as usual and she refused them. i left it half an hour and then took her indoors to watch her closer. Still no interest in food so trip to tesco to get some herbs etc. No interest, which is unusual. She had shaken her head a few times recently but when I checked her ears all looked good. So I thought I would give her a dose of metacam in case she was in pain. After a while I managed to get her to eat quite a lot. So decided to put heater on and put her back with her conti partner rather than keeping her in the house overnight.This morning not her self and not eating. So I rushed her to the vets at 9am. Her ears were fine, her teeth looked fine but when he felt her abdomen and he felt a hard lump, which could possibly be in the uterine area.So he took her in to X-ray her. Phone call this afternoon said it wasn't a bladder stone which I didn't think it was cos there had been no straining. But the mass did not show on X-ray but he can feel it.So he has decided to keep her in and has put her on a drip and is stabilising her with the thought of operating on her tomorrow to see what the mass is. Naturally I am really concerned that she will pull through all this. Any thoughts or ideas on whether you think a small mass would be enough to stop her eating and what is the head shaking about? I wondered if something else could be going on to put her off her food and the lump was a secondary issue. I asked him if her spine was ok as was wondering if it was arthritis and the pain could be making her shake her head and go off food, But he said it looked ok. Just wanted your ideas as have to make decision in the morning about op. X
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poorly bun
- Thread starter bluelop
- Start date
MightyMax
Banned
Oh Bluelop I'm so sorry to hear about Daisy. You've certainly had your fair share of troubles
Well of course we can only speculate, but on reading the first bit of your post I thought the issue may be to do with the teeth, as you managed to get her to eat after Metacam. I hope the vet will give her teeth a thorough look at (and possibly X-rays if he thinks necessary?) to see if there are any issues there.
It's so difficult to know whether a lump could be uterine cancer, as you don't know if she's spayed and of course that's a possibility. If it were that putting her off her food I would suggest it might be advanced and possibly spread, so perhaps best not go down that route of speculation as it may be totally something else.
I am still leaning towards teeth being implicated, but I am sending loads of good vibes for Daisy tomorrow. I am glad your vet is making sure she's a strong as possible before operating on her.
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
I had an unspayed female mini rex. Over the years she had several episodes of stasis, so I presumed it was just another one. To my surprise she had a uterine mass. She was 9 years old at the time and she had surgery the next day. I could not believe the size of the cancerous tumors that were removed. They were the size of 3 golf balls and she was not that large of a bunny so they must have been pressing on her other organs. Given the size of the tumors her prognosis was poor,yet she lived until she was 13.5 years old when she died of an unrelated issue. I expected to have more warning, like bleeding or other signs before the tumors got that large. I learned from this and now my young girls are spayed. I now have healthier girls and as an added bonus, the spay probably will save me a lot of money in vet payments in the future.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Could the Vet do an abdominal ultrasound before opening her up ? An US may provide more detailed information about the mass. Personally I'd also want a ful bloodl profile run before any surgical intervention. I really hope you receive some better news today xx
Thank you for your replies . I did mention to him on the phone yesterday afternoon about how the metacam made a difference and wondered if there could be tooth issues but he said he checked them. But hAve been thinking in the night whether the two x Ray's he took would of included skull as to rule out other issues . What would the bloods show please Jane ?
biscandmatt1
Wise Old Thumper
agree with the ultrasound and bloods before going ahead with surgery :wave:
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
As all Vets set their own fees it really isn't possible to say how much it would cost. Obviously if your Vet does not have U/S facilities then it would require a referral elsewhere. If time is of the essence and of course if the Rabbit is not insured finances have to be considered (for most of us anyway) so a referral for diagnostics may not be an option.
A full blood profile would give some information about major organ function and possibly give some indication of the presence of an active infection and/or inflammation.
It is unlikely that the previous Xrays included the skull as it sounds as though the Vet was focusing on the primary cause being located in the abdomen.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Do let us know how things are going xx
AS she has shaken her head intermittently over the last week would you (perhaps a couple of times a day only} think it worth having a skull x ray done in case it was root problems etc? I know if this lump is there it has to come out but just worried that if its not the cause of not eating will still be a problem for her. Sorry for the questions but just a bit out of my comfort zone with the decisions.
You are in a dilemma! Sometimes they shake their heads when they don't understand something - so if she is not feeling right or has pain this could be causing her to shake her head. We just can't give you the answer you want I'm afraid, you will have to trust your Vet or find a Vet with an US first before going ahead with invasive treatment for something the Vet isn't sure about. I do hope the Vet considers each step before going ahead and hope it all works out well.
MightyMax
Banned
I hope you have a few more answers by now. Please post back if there's anything we can help with.
Without looking in her mouth whilst sedated (I'm assuming your vet doesn't do conscious dentals?) then it's difficult to really know the state of the teeth. Particularly right at the back.
I did not have to make the decision this morning. The phone rang just as I was leaving for work to say she had died in the night. I was just not expecting that as when I phoned last night they said she seemed OK and was being syringe fed and taking it ok. I asked for a post Mortem as I needed answers. The vet phoned my husband this afternoon to say it was a uterine tumour and had signs on her intestine. Her teeth were fine. So he puts her death down to the tumour. Thanks so much for your replies. I have to accept she has gone and nothing will change that.x
MightyMax
Banned
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
Dear Bluelope,
I am so sorry for your loss. She was fortunate to have a person who loved her for so long and got her into the vets care. Rabbits are experts at soldiering through ailments so you don't realize they are ill until they are very ill and then it is hard to diagnose.
She will live in your heart always and you in hers.
