Den
Mama Doe
Nancy has had a small growth/lump just inside the left hand side of her mouth for a while now. My vet had been monitoring it. It has not stopped her eating. She is on daily Metacam for arthritis and does not show pain from it.
On Monday she had an elective dental. A recent health check showed one of her teeth was growing towards her cheek and if left would cause problems, possibly another abscess, so we felt a quick dental now, rather than waiting for her to have problems, was the best way forward.
Whilst under GA we opted to have a biopsy of the small growth and also an xray.
My vet rang yesterday with the results of the biopsy which indicated a Peripheral Ameloblastoma. He explained this type of tumour is unlikely to spread to other organs and is usually localised, but can affect the jaw bone as it grows.
He also explained it is extremely rare. The lab had only ever seen this in 4 other rabbits and were quite 'excited' about it and referred to other specialists before passing the results to my vet.
To remove the tumour will involve major surgery and possible facial reconstruction. I have every faith in my (Exotics) vet to do this, however it was his suggestion to continue to monitor as we have been doing and if/when it starts to affect her adversely we will have 'the decision' to make.
Nancy will be 9 soon, is an EC bunny and given these two factors we decided not to put her through such major procedure.
The lab have asked if we are happy for Alex (vet) to give them feedback on how this progresses with Nancy which I have agreed to. Apparently of the other 4 rabbits the lab were aware of, one was a lot younger than Nancy and had the tumour successfully removed, one was put to sleep immediately on receiving diagnosis and there was no feedback on the other two.
I realise there is more than one lab doing such tests and wondered if anyone else has experience of this type of tumour?
Please could I ask you keep my girl in your thoughts.
On Monday she had an elective dental. A recent health check showed one of her teeth was growing towards her cheek and if left would cause problems, possibly another abscess, so we felt a quick dental now, rather than waiting for her to have problems, was the best way forward.
Whilst under GA we opted to have a biopsy of the small growth and also an xray.
My vet rang yesterday with the results of the biopsy which indicated a Peripheral Ameloblastoma. He explained this type of tumour is unlikely to spread to other organs and is usually localised, but can affect the jaw bone as it grows.
He also explained it is extremely rare. The lab had only ever seen this in 4 other rabbits and were quite 'excited' about it and referred to other specialists before passing the results to my vet.
To remove the tumour will involve major surgery and possible facial reconstruction. I have every faith in my (Exotics) vet to do this, however it was his suggestion to continue to monitor as we have been doing and if/when it starts to affect her adversely we will have 'the decision' to make.
Nancy will be 9 soon, is an EC bunny and given these two factors we decided not to put her through such major procedure.
The lab have asked if we are happy for Alex (vet) to give them feedback on how this progresses with Nancy which I have agreed to. Apparently of the other 4 rabbits the lab were aware of, one was a lot younger than Nancy and had the tumour successfully removed, one was put to sleep immediately on receiving diagnosis and there was no feedback on the other two.
I realise there is more than one lab doing such tests and wondered if anyone else has experience of this type of tumour?
Please could I ask you keep my girl in your thoughts.
Last edited: