Please Note - Medical Advice
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I was just wondering if anyone had any information/advice regarding uterine cancer in rabbits or have had any experience with it. What route to go down etc surgery?
Thank You for your message. It’s really hard to know what to do and to weigh up the pros and cons.Surgery is the only option. I would advice that The Vet carries out chest radiographs and a full blood profile first. Uterine cancer spreads, usually to the lungs. Sadly if this has already occurred then surgery will not be curative
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/UterinePolypsHyperplasiaRabbits.htm
https://www.goddardvetgroup.co.uk/do-rabbits-really-get-womb-cancer/
As Jane says, surgery really is the only option to remove the primary site, and check to see if there has been any spread of the disease. Unspayed does are extremely likely to have uterine cancer - I can't remember the statistics, but it was frighteningly high - something like 80% by 4 years old.
I hope all goes well.
Anaesthetic can be risky but the cancer is worse. If you're at a point where the cancer can be removed then I would do it, I lost one of my old girls due to it as it had spread to a point where they couldn't operate and I'll never forgive myself for not having her spayed
My late Black Velvet had uterine cancer. She was a 5 pound mini rex and approximately 9 years old when she became ill suddenly. After she had an exam and X-rays at the emergency vet she had a few drops of blood come from her privates. She had an operation and my vet showed me what he removed. It was shocking to see how large her tumors were for a bunny her size. I still do not know where she kept them undetected. One of the three tumors was the size of a golf ball and the other two were a bit smaller. Black Velvet recovered well from the surgery and enjoyed several more years of our love and care before she went to the bridge from an unrelated illness.
I am sending you and your girl some positive vibes.
Anaesthetics always carry a risk for any species. Many vets carry out surgery on rabbits as a matter of routine, and the anaesthetic risk is very small for an experienced vet. Talk to your vet. If they have little experience in operating on rabbits, I would ask around (or on here) for a recommendation of a rabbit savvy vet in your area that you can go to instead.
Leaving a rabbit with a diagnosis of uterine cancer with no treatment only has one outcome, compared to the risks associated with surgery and a potential good outcome if it has not spread. I'm sure there are people on here who have had rescue rabbits who were spayed later in life and had abnormal changes to the uterus but made a good recovery.
There are no guarantees, but I have put rabbits through some quite major surgery (on jaw abscesses) in a situation where it was by far the better option. I have also had one PTS under anaesthetic as he had an inoperable tumour which was not obvious until he was opened up, and there was no point in allowing him to continue to suffer. Personally, I would not hesitate to go for a surgical option if it was the right option for the rabbit and I had a vet who was used to carrying out similar surgery.
I’m so sorry your rabbit has uterine cancer I don’t have any experience of this but I’m sending lots of vibes.
If your vet is not rabbit savvy, I would arrange to see one.
Thanks for your message. It’s hard to know what to do as I’ve been told that anaesthetic is risky for a rabbit.