I took in a 5 year old male bun on Monday from a family that were struggling to care for him due to family illness. My girl had lost her companion recently so I was thinking about a friend for her when I heard about this already neutered lad. I knew he was a big boy but he is really overweight. When I got him home I weighed him and had a good look over him. He has a large dewlap so I was concerned he was actually a she. He is definitely a he but I found a large tangerine/small orange sized lump in his dewlap which explains why it is so large. I didn't notice when I collected him and unless you had a good feel in the fat I guess you wouldn't notice. With all that has been going in with the family I can understand how it was missed.
Once I saw him moving about a bit I could see that it hangs down quite a lot. It gets in the way when he cleans and before too long it will really hinder his cleaning and eventually eating and movement.
I took him to a rabbit savvy vet on Wednesday. She agreed it felt very attached which I know isn't usually a good sign. She got a small sample via needle but it wasn't pus and was difficult to get more than a little blood. She called later to say there are some cells and they don't look nasty but she couldn't be sure. We'd need to send it off to have a better idea but she wasn't confident of the sample so it may still be inconclusive. We decided to book him in for exploratory surgery in the hope it can be removed. We could then take a better sample to send away.
He also had some spurs on his molars that she used a rasp on. I'll ask them to have a better look when sedated. She thinks we caught them in time so that an appropriate diet will do the rest. His was fed sweetcorn, apple and carrot a lot in his previous home which explains a lot.
I've done some searching of threads on the forums and so far lumps in the dewlap are mostly fatty or abscesses. I really hope this is the case. The attached nature of this lump obviously has me concerned. I guess we will have to wait and see what his op on Friday brings. This was the earliest she could do and it will give him a chance to settle in as he's been quite phased by the move and subsequent vet trip. I haven't decided on a name yet as the lump situation has thrown me and I guess I'm a little scared to get too attached. He's an agouti and white with dutch type markings. I'm working on gaining his trust at the moment as I don't think he's had good people experiences in this life. He was hutch bound and now has lots of space which I think was quite scary for him too.
Clare
Once I saw him moving about a bit I could see that it hangs down quite a lot. It gets in the way when he cleans and before too long it will really hinder his cleaning and eventually eating and movement.
I took him to a rabbit savvy vet on Wednesday. She agreed it felt very attached which I know isn't usually a good sign. She got a small sample via needle but it wasn't pus and was difficult to get more than a little blood. She called later to say there are some cells and they don't look nasty but she couldn't be sure. We'd need to send it off to have a better idea but she wasn't confident of the sample so it may still be inconclusive. We decided to book him in for exploratory surgery in the hope it can be removed. We could then take a better sample to send away.
He also had some spurs on his molars that she used a rasp on. I'll ask them to have a better look when sedated. She thinks we caught them in time so that an appropriate diet will do the rest. His was fed sweetcorn, apple and carrot a lot in his previous home which explains a lot.
I've done some searching of threads on the forums and so far lumps in the dewlap are mostly fatty or abscesses. I really hope this is the case. The attached nature of this lump obviously has me concerned. I guess we will have to wait and see what his op on Friday brings. This was the earliest she could do and it will give him a chance to settle in as he's been quite phased by the move and subsequent vet trip. I haven't decided on a name yet as the lump situation has thrown me and I guess I'm a little scared to get too attached. He's an agouti and white with dutch type markings. I'm working on gaining his trust at the moment as I don't think he's had good people experiences in this life. He was hutch bound and now has lots of space which I think was quite scary for him too.
Clare