Millie: Lump of fur on her back / Arthritis treatment

[Moonstone]

Millie has a large lump at the top of her back above her spine. I'm pretty sure it wasn't there yesterday, it's grown really fast.

I will check her out again in the morning but I think she needs a vet visit (terrible timing as I was due to move a load of stuff from house to house tomorrow, I don't even have my car with me, just a van I hired that I'm not great at driving.)

But tumours can't grow that fast can they? I'm thinking it's a cyst or something. It doesn't seem to hurt her when I push on it.

She's almost a birthday girl, eleven years old on Monday.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Could be an abscess. Impossible to say without seeing it. She hasn’t had any injections or vaccinations lately has she ?

Hope the vet can help x

 

[bunny momma]

I agree that it is probably not a tumor since it grew too quickly. It sounds like some sort of fluid accumulating in that area. A vet may be able to aspirate the lump during the office visit.

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you both. No injections or vaccinations lately. We lost her bunny friend nearly two months ago but she seemed to adapt well, has latched herself onto me instead. I have an appointment for her at the hospital at 10.15. Just going to hope for the best.

 

[olices]

Poor Milie, I hope its nothing serious and just a cyst

 

[Moonstone]

Not serious at all! Am very relieved. This is going to sound silly but it was a lump of fur. She has short thick fur and I've never groomed her because she's always kept it so immaculate (unlike Archie who looked like a toy with the stuffing coming out without a daily going over). But now Archie isn't around to help, and she has arthritis, there's a bit on her spine she can't reach so it built up into a lump, she was probably pushing fur in that direction. After lots of pulling it apart, the vet's table looked like a white fleece and she had a normal spine! Phew.

On another matter - she's on the highest metacam dose for the arthritis but does still crunch her teeth a bit a night when she's talking to me though her expression is a happy one (except when in the carrier, I do think travel is more painful now). The vet said that's all they do and to take her to the exotic place if I need more help. Is there anything else that can be done? I have a herbalist vet visiting us on Monday as I was thinking maybe tumeric, willow bark, omega 3... that kind of thing? She is on those joint tablets but that's yet more sugar.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Not serious at all! Am very relieved. This is going to sound silly but it was a lump of fur. She has short thick fur and I've never groomed her because she's always kept it so immaculate (unlike Archie who looked like a toy with the stuffing coming out without a daily going over). But now Archie isn't around to help, and she has arthritis, there's a bit on her spine she can't reach so it built up into a lump, she was probably pushing fur in that direction. After lots of pulling it apart, the vet's table looked like a white fleece and she had a normal spine! Phew.

On another matter - she's on the highest metacam dose for the arthritis but does still crunch her teeth a bit a night when she's talking to me though her expression is a happy one (except when in the carrier, I do think travel is more painful now). The vet said that's all they do and to take her to the exotic place if I need more help. Is there anything else that can be done? I have a herbalist vet visiting us on Monday as I was thinking maybe tumeric, willow bark, omega 3... that kind of thing? She is on those joint tablets but that's yet more sugar.

Lots more that can be done. Other types of analgesia such as paracetamol, Tramadol or Gabapentin, acupuncture, laser therapy, physiotherapy, massage.

 

[Preitler]

.....
On another matter - she's on the highest metacam dose for the arthritis but does still crunch her teeth a bit a night when she's talking to me though her expression is a happy one (except when in the carrier, I do think travel is more painful now). The vet said that's all they do and to take her to the exotic place if I need more help. Is there anything else that can be done? I have a herbalist vet visiting us on Monday as I was thinking maybe tumeric, willow bark, omega 3... that kind of thing? She is on those joint tablets but that's yet more sugar.

What dose is this? My vet used an outdated handbook that said 0,1-0,3mg/kg, but that's below the therapeutic range and didn't work. I started to see results at 0,4mg/kg and went up to 0,6.

 

[tonibun]

So pleased it was nothing serious for Millie and hope you can find something which will help with her pain. x

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you all. She's on 0.7ml metacam twice a day which I was told is the max for her size, she's 1.9kg roughly, so that's a bit more than 0.7ml per Kg. She started on 0.4ml x 2. I think I'll see what happens with the herbalist and then try the exotic vet if I still have concerns. She hates travelling and the exotic vet is over an hour away so I don't want to do anything requiring regular appointments. I don't know if I could do massage or physio myself? She does still dash around excitedly when food is coming, I know she's not at the pain levels she had before the metacam but I also know she's likely to get gradually worse.

 

[Moonstone]

Oh, you can actually buy cold lazers for pets to use at home.

 

[bunny momma]

What a lovely surprise to learn her spinal lump was accumulated fur. She may benefit from extra warmth if she is not as comfortable at night. Her medicam does is similar to my Heidi's dose and Heidi has cancer. We also added gabapentin.
I am interested in what the herbalist will suggest.

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you bunny momma. The herbalist vet was lovely, very gentle with her and knowledgable about rabbits. She watched Millie move about the pen as we were discussing her medical history and said from the way she hopped, she it looked like her lower spine was less mobile than it should be and her upper and middle sections were doing all the work, her cat-like stretches indicate this too. I had noticed the stretches but not the hopping, I suppose it happened gradually. Gentle examination confirmed it, she's stiffer and has lost muscle tone around her lower spine in the her hip area too. What was nice is that neither of us had to hold Millie down to be examined, we just bribed her with peas!

She's going to send me a report with food suggestions, recommended herbal tinctures, grooming advice, and information about laser treatment. She's also going to speak to a physio she knows about Millie as apparently I can change her environment to make sure she's getting the right range of exercises. The aim is to reduce Millies pain, reduce inflammation, try to increase mobility (though she's unlikely to get a full range of movement back), and provide strengthing support to her liver and kidneys (to help her cope with the metacam) and gentle support for her immune system as she's getting older. Also we aim to stop the joint support tablets she's having, supporting her in other ways as the corn sugar in them isn't healthy for her.

On lasers she said that cold laser therapy is only available in vets and the devices only sold to professionals (because there are safety issues particularly with eyes). However, she uses infrared treatment, and she said she thought that I could learn to do that for Millie and it would be very soothing pain relief for her.

Millie's birthday is today, she's 11 and apparently not acting her age at all! She said older rabbits used to be rare but now they are seeing more and more of them, she was saying it's the first generation of rabbits who've had enough space and an appropriate diet and vets are really seeing the results of that now.

Millie's insurance is with Pet Plan and I can get up to £750 worth of complementary therapies for her per year with an excess of £50. The excess is actually less than the £80 excess for a normal vet visit. On going treatment will be fairly inexpensive I think as I can do most of it myself.

 

[joey&boo]

I hope some of the suggestions work well for Millie. Wishing her a very happy 11th birthday too

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you, joey&boo.

 

[bunny momma]

I am glad you had such a positive visit with the herbalist vet.
Happy 11th birthday to Millie. She is very lucky to have you researching ways to keep her comfortable, mobile, and healthy in her golden years.

 

[Moonstone]

Update: I started Millie on the herbal medicine a few weeks ago and I'm pleased to say she's become a more active bunny again. I've been trying to watch her hop to see if she's using the rear of her spine more but the truth is that she's zooming around so fast now it's hard to process! I was sent physio exercises and discovered she's already doing them (there's a lot of stretching for treats) though I was also told it's good to have a variety of different floorings for her which I haven't yet sorted out. I'm also yet to introduce the recommended dried herbs. Just started with the infrared wand (which I'm told her insurance will pay for) so can't really comment on that yet. She's still mainly grooming her front areas but I have seen her licking her hips a few times now since being on the herbal medicine. She's also teeth crunching a lot less. She does still lie down but then if I make a move she's immediately up and dashing towards me just in case I had the thought of giving her something tasty. She's a lot more bonded to me now having lost Archie, she's a really sweet bunny and I'm so pleased everything is easier for her.

 

[Omi]

Well I don't know how, but I have somehow completely missed this thread! Firstly I'm pleased that Millie's lump turned out to be just fur. Also sending a happy belated birthday to her.

I'm very impressed at what the herbalist vet advised, particularly at the emphasis on the right range of exercise for bunnies, which is something that I very much agree with. I think her overall aim for Millie is the right one. I'm so pleased also that you are seeing good results already and hope that the improvement in Millie's mobility is maintained.

 

[joey&boo]

Oh wow it's very inspiring to hear how she helped Millie. To hear of her zooming around....how lovely. What are the herbs? Can I also ask what the issue with the corn syrup in the joint support tabs was? Is it all sugars or that specific sugar?

I had the same with my Mouseypie. When Rudey left my vet said she was too fragile to bond to another bunny & that I would need to be her honorary rabbit. At the time she was the most aloof of my rabbits so I thought no chance. Before long she was a cuddle bun & a pro at getting what she wanted through gestures, nudges & glares

 

[Moonstone]

The herbs she's having in her water are ashwaganda, devil's claw, prickly ash and milk thistle. The first three are anti-inflammatories (I actually take devil's claw myself for joint pain) and the milk thistle is largely to support her liver with dealing with the metacam. All are tinctures and I burn off the alcohol by pouring boiling water onto the drops and waiting for it to cool before I give it to her. I do recommend seeing a herbal vet before using tinctures as this mix was designed specifically for Millie and I've been warned of contraindications and possible side-effects (the side effects are on higher doses than I decided to give). It's important to have the rabbit examined and get the dose right. I don't know what concentration Millie's are as they were on prescription and made up for her. I've also been given a list of dried herbs for her which I intend to buy separately as they are quite expensive when packaged together here https://www.hoptoforage.co.uk/product-page/senior-support-mix. Her new joint support tablets are from Sherwood pet health. Yes, it's about avoiding all sugars which aren't healthy in general (though there is a compromise with the metacam as she needs it and it does make it tasty enough that I can put it on her tablets). I found the herbalist here: https://herbalvets.org.uk/find-a-herbal-vet/.

I love that Mouseypie changed like that. Millie was the same, so shy with me when she had Archie but she's turned really soppy now. I suspect her of sitting on me just to prevent me from getting up and going away. It's great being an honorary rabbit, isn't it?