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Does anyone have experience with skin growths?

H

HouseBunHun

New Kit
Hello, hoping someone else has come across the same issue. My indoor mini lop is 7 years old, mostly blind and hard of hearing but had a vet check last month and her heart/lungs/stomach are all healthy. She eats and drinks well and is active in between old lady naps. She’s up to date on vaccinations.
She has a growth on her ear that looks warty/a bit like a brain and is soft and skin coloured. The growth came up quickly and vet did a biopsy, which was inconclusive as there weren’t many cells in the stuff they took, but it was ruled to be almost certainly benign. At that stage we were told our options were to either have most of her ear surgically removed under anaesthetic, or to wait and see if it grew. Given her age, hatred of going to the vet and the stress it may put her through, we decided surgery wasn’t the best option for her at that time.
Now a month on the growth has increased. She still has no other symptoms and aside from the occasional annoyed ear flick, she doesn’t seem to be affected by the growth, but I obviously am concerned because it’s increasing in size and the vet can’t tell us what exactly it is. Does anyone have any experience with this type of skin growth please? It has begun to crust over a little so I’m hoping it will dry up and drop off but at best I’m just crossing my fingers. I don’t think it’s fair to put her through ear removal surgery, but I also don’t want to have a healthy and much loved member of the family pts if there’s another option. I have 2 other rabbits who are in the same room (but separated by a wire fence as she fights with them) and they don’t have any sign of anything similar. I have photos but don’t know how or if I can attach them. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
HouseBunHun said:
Hello, hoping someone else has come across the same issue. My indoor mini lop is 7 years old, mostly blind and hard of hearing but had a vet check last month and her heart/lungs/stomach are all healthy. She eats and drinks well and is active in between old lady naps. She’s up to date on vaccinations.
She has a growth on her ear that looks warty/a bit like a brain and is soft and skin coloured. The growth came up quickly and vet did a biopsy, which was inconclusive as there weren’t many cells in the stuff they took, but it was ruled to be almost certainly benign. At that stage we were told our options were to either have most of her ear surgically removed under anaesthetic, or to wait and see if it grew. Given her age, hatred of going to the vet and the stress it may put her through, we decided surgery wasn’t the best option for her at that time.
Now a month on the growth has increased. She still has no other symptoms and aside from the occasional annoyed ear flick, she doesn’t seem to be affected by the growth, but I obviously am concerned because it’s increasing in size and the vet can’t tell us what exactly it is. Does anyone have any experience with this type of skin growth please? It has begun to crust over a little so I’m hoping it will dry up and drop off but at best I’m just crossing my fingers. I don’t think it’s fair to put her through ear removal surgery, but I also don’t want to have a healthy and much loved member of the family pts if there’s another option. I have 2 other rabbits who are in the same room (but separated by a wire fence as she fights with them) and they don’t have any sign of anything similar. I have photos but don’t know how or if I can attach them. Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

Pictures would be helpful, here is how to upload them to the Forum

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?475766-Tutorial-How-to-Post-Photos
 
HouseBunHun said:
Hello, hoping someone else has come across the same issue. My indoor mini lop is 7 years old, mostly blind and hard of hearing but had a vet check last month and her heart/lungs/stomach are all healthy. She eats and drinks well and is active in between old lady naps. She’s up to date on vaccinations.
She has a growth on her ear that looks warty/a bit like a brain and is soft and skin coloured. The growth came up quickly and vet did a biopsy, which was inconclusive as there weren’t many cells in the stuff they took, but it was ruled to be almost certainly benign. At that stage we were told our options were to either have most of her ear surgically removed under anaesthetic, or to wait and see if it grew. Given her age, hatred of going to the vet and the stress it may put her through, we decided surgery wasn’t the best option for her at that time.
Now a month on the growth has increased. She still has no other symptoms and aside from the occasional annoyed ear flick, she doesn’t seem to be affected by the growth, but I obviously am concerned because it’s increasing in size and the vet can’t tell us what exactly it is. Does anyone have any experience with this type of skin growth please? It has begun to crust over a little so I’m hoping it will dry up and drop off but at best I’m just crossing my fingers. I don’t think it’s fair to put her through ear removal surgery, but I also don’t want to have a healthy and much loved member of the family pts if there’s another option. I have 2 other rabbits who are in the same room (but separated by a wire fence as she fights with them) and they don’t have any sign of anything similar. I have photos but don’t know how or if I can attach them. Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

Hi yes, strangley enough my bunny Treacle has a growth on her ear that sounds very much like you are describing. Treacle is almost 8, and has had her growth for approximately 3 years. It started off very small but has grown over the last year. Vets have confirmed it is benign and like you say, appears to be a wart. They have ruled out surgery as it is on the top of her ear near the head. It doesn't bother her, and she will let me touch it. I was advised to dab a drop of saline solution on it if she catches it, but so far haven't needed to. Be interesting to see what yours look like.

Edit, have just seen your photo, and yes this does look very much like Treacles.
 
Last edited:
Pets mum said:
Hi yes, strangley enough my bunny Treacle has a growth on her ear that sounds very much like you are describing. Treacle is almost 8, and has had her growth for approximately 3 years. It started off very small but has grown over the last year. Vets have confirmed it is benign and like you say, appears to be a wart. They have ruled out surgery as it is on the top of her ear near the head. It doesn't bother her, and she will let me touch it. I was advised to dab a drop of saline solution on it if she catches it, but so far haven't needed to. Be interesting to see what yours look like.
Click to expand...

Hi Pets mum, thanks for replying! This is really interesting to hear yours has had something similar and also a relief that your bunny has been healthy in spite of the growth. I’ve attempted to upload pics so please let me know if I’ve done it right and you’re able to see them!

Edit: thanks for taking a look. Ok that makes me feel a bit less alarmed then, Dolly’s is the same it doesn’t seem painful as she’s let me have a look at it and apart from the extra weight on her ear she seems unbothered, so I think I’ll continue to monitor and not distress her with another vet visit.
 
HouseBunHun said:
Hi Pets mum, thanks for replying! This is really interesting to hear yours has had something similar and also a relief that your bunny has been healthy in spite of the growth. I’ve attempted to upload pics so please let me know if I’ve done it right and you’re able to see them!

Edit: thanks for taking a look. Ok that makes me feel a bit less alarmed then, Dolly’s is the same it doesn’t seem painful as she’s let me have a look at it and apart from the extra weight on her ear she seems unbothered, so I think I’ll continue to monitor and not distress her with another vet visit.
Click to expand...

Yes do keep an eye on it, and contact vets again if you are worried, or it changes. Others on here may have experience too, so will be interesting to see. Hope your bunny keeps well x
 
Pets mum said:
Yes do keep an eye on it, and contact vets again if you are worried, or it changes. Others on here may have experience too, so will be interesting to see. Hope your bunny keeps well x
Click to expand...

Thank you, and the same for Treacle x
I’m hoping there’s more of us as well with similar experience, as if something is common and doesn’t seem to cause too much bother for the rabbits then that will be a big reassurance!
 
while not how yours looked, Luna had a skin tag in her ear, it honestly looked like a poop :lol: because if its size (and she never cared) we never operated on it. it didn't hurt to touch, I think namely she just didn't appreciate her ear being examined more than anything else. eventually it shrivelled up and came off I assume as it disappeared
 
InspectorMorse said:
Was it a FNA (Fine Needle Aspiration) that was taken rather than a tissue sample ?

The latter likely to give a more accurate result

It could be a Papilloma

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Viral_diseases/Pap/Papilloma.htm


Can you obtain the opinion of an Exotics Specialist ?
Click to expand...

Hiya, yes she put a needle in through the inner ear and took a sample that way so I’m guessing that’s fine needle aspiration. The vet said it was inconclusive but she’s confident she took an adequate sample. Have had a look and there doesn’t seem to be an exotics specialist as such near me, but I could ring around some vets in nearby villages and ask. I know in the past with my giant lop they rang for some advice from another branch of the vet surgery, but I think that was more to do with procedure rather than bunny specific.

I have had a look at papillomas as my husband thought it could be that, but it doesn’t seem to fit with the horn-like description or any of the pics we looked at. Would be good if it was something similar though and fell off on its own, as it’s grown quite rapidly and I’m worried it will get too big and start causing her trouble. I don’t want to put her through an ear amputation!
 
binkyCodie said:
while not how yours looked, Luna had a skin tag in her ear, it honestly looked like a poop :lol: because if its size (and she never cared) we never operated on it. it didn't hurt to touch, I think namely she just didn't appreciate her ear being examined more than anything else. eventually it shrivelled up and came off I assume as it disappeared
Click to expand...

Super glad whatever your bun had seemed to resolve itself, I hope Dolly’s does the same!
 
Hi all, just wanted to post an update as I was really grateful that people took the time to reply and give advice.
So we took the decision to watch and wait with the growth on Dolly’s ear. Unfortunately, it rapidly increased and became scabbed, crusty and weeping. She was clearly irritated by it and even scratched her eye trying to worry at it. It was a difficult decision and one that we spent a lot of evenings worrying over but yesterday we went ahead with surgery and most of her ear was removed.
Dolly’s been really strong and came through it well, especially as she’s an older lady. We were able to bring her home last night and she’s on 2 types of strong painkillers for the next while because they don’t want her to feel anything and scratch at her ear, as well as drops for her eye twice a day. She’s quite dopey partly from the anaesthetic and the medication, and we are still feeding oxbow food by syringe as she’s not feeling up to eating yet. She had a follow up appointment this morning and an injection to stimulate her guts and she’s actually been to the litter tray a couple of times so I’m super hopeful that she’ll be on the mend in no time.
Thanks everyone again for your advice. They have sent the mass to the lab and fingers crossed it is determined to be benign, as I wouldn’t want to have put her through surgery only to discover she has something more sinister that has spread.
 
HouseBunHun said:
Hi all, just wanted to post an update as I was really grateful that people took the time to reply and give advice.
So we took the decision to watch and wait with the growth on Dolly’s ear. Unfortunately, it rapidly increased and became scabbed, crusty and weeping. She was clearly irritated by it and even scratched her eye trying to worry at it. It was a difficult decision and one that we spent a lot of evenings worrying over but yesterday we went ahead with surgery and most of her ear was removed.
Dolly’s been really strong and came through it well, especially as she’s an older lady. We were able to bring her home last night and she’s on 2 types of strong painkillers for the next while because they don’t want her to feel anything and scratch at her ear, as well as drops for her eye twice a day. She’s quite dopey partly from the anaesthetic and the medication, and we are still feeding oxbow food by syringe as she’s not feeling up to eating yet. She had a follow up appointment this morning and an injection to stimulate her guts and she’s actually been to the litter tray a couple of times so I’m super hopeful that she’ll be on the mend in no time.
Thanks everyone again for your advice. They have sent the mass to the lab and fingers crossed it is determined to be benign, as I wouldn’t want to have put her through surgery only to discover she has something more sinister that has spread.
Click to expand...

I wondered how your bunny was getting on. Sorry to hear that she had to have surgery, but really pleased that she has come through it ok. Hope the results come through as nothing sinister. Lots of vibes for Dolly xx
 
Thanks so much everyone, I really do appreciate the kind messages. She’s actually had a munch on some herbs this evening and used her tray again so I’m really relieved!
 
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