Lightsa has been good over the last few days. He's gained weight, eats on his own, drinks normally, poops normally, and was playing this morning, when I was was feeding and giving him his daily injectable Penicillin. The mass on the side of his face hasn't grown further, but it does hurt him. He flinches when you try and touch it.
I got the results back from last weeks biopsy. The vet took 3 samples. 2 from his face, and 1 from his abnormal testicle. The results as sent to me are as follows:
CYTOLOGY - Fine needle aspirate cytology
SAMPLE: Per submitter, fine needle aspirates of a mass on the right side of the jaw and a swollen left testicle were taken from Lightsa, an 8 year old male albino Rabbit. Seven slides the mass on the jaw and three slides of the swollen testicle were submitted.
DESCRIPTION: Mass on the jaw
The samples are highly cellular, of good quality and are composed of mesenchymal cells mixed with moderate numbers of RBCs seen against an
amorphous basophilic background. The mesenchymal cells seen are present individually or in loose aggregates. They are fusiform and elongate and
have moderate to abundant amounts of moderately basophilic cytoplasm with indistinct cell margins. The nuclei are 2-5x the diameter of a RBC, oval
and have moderately stippled chromatin and contain 1-3 prominent nucleoli that vary in size and shape. The cells exhibit moderate anisocytosis and
anisokaryosis. Heterophils and lymphocytes are present in numbers compatible with peripheral blood contamination. No organisms are seen.
INTERPRETATION: Moderate mesenchymal atypia, probable sarcoma, please see comments
COMMENTS: The mesenchymal atypia described is most compatible with a sarcoma given the lack of inflammation in the background; however, they may
also represent reactive fibroplasia if this lesion has been associated with trauma, inflammation or infection in the past. Additional diagnostics such as biopsy with histopathologic evaluation is recommended if the interpretation does not fit your clinical impression.
DESCRIPTION: Left testicle
The samples are moderately cellular and are composed of epithelial cells present in clusters and occasionally individually mixed with moderate numbers of RBCs. The epithelial al cells are round and have moderate to abundant amounts of basophilic cytoplasm with distinct cell margins. The nuclei are round, central to paracentric and have moderately stippled chromatin and contain a single prominent nucleolus that vary in size. Binucleate forms are rare. The cells exhibit mild to moderate anisocytosis, anisokaryosis and variation in N:C ratio. Heterophils and lymphocytes are present in numbers compatible with peripheral blood contamination. No organisms are seen.
INTERPRETATION: Mild to moderate epithelial atypia, probable normal testicular epithelium, please see comments
COMMENTS: The epithelial cells described most likely represent normal testicular cells. The cells described are not typical of neoplasms that occur in the testicular area. Additional diagnostics such as biopsy with histopathologic evaluation is recommended if the interpretation does not fit your clinical impression.
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The vet (first vet) said he has Sarcoma and we should just make him comfy and let nature take it's course. However she did say surgery was an option, and she could do it for £650 with a castration too, because there is a 50/50 chance that it's benign, or it isn't, and they reduce the mass size now, and he lives on, with us knowing that it will come back and attack other organs later down the line. The Bunny vet was roughly about the same price - and that is who I'd take him to if I went that way.
Either way - with a bill like that, with no option to payment plan it over a few months..... as someone at work said to me when I was crying earlier with news, 'you may well have to accept it's lights out for Lightsa'. ........ I've felt sick ever since, with that dreadful phrase in my head. Can't wait to get home and snuggle my poor lad.
