Anyone see improvement?

[nuttymeg]

I posted the other day my vet said my rabbit has a tumor in her leg. Im in the process of getting second opinion as i felt the vet wasnt too sure. When palpated the area he first said its smaller and felt better. Then i get told after xrays its a tumor. I just dont see how he can comment its smaller. Tumors dont shrink. So i started salt water baths yesterday even though theres no open wounds.

Shes barely using this leg. Shes eating drinking as normal. Still alert. Still clucks at me. Based on the photos does anyone see any difference in them? I think i do but maybe some fresh eyes looking at it will see something i dont.

 

[nuttymeg]

This is today

 

[Imbrium]

They look about the same to me; perhaps a little smaller in the second photo... though I have no experience with tumors/cancer...

I'm sorry your poor bunny's going through this... it's good she doesn't seem too bothered by it, though. If your vet thinks it's a tumor, what was his suggestion for treatment plans? If you're not confident in the vet's expertise, a second opinion is probably a good idea.

Hopefully, someone else who knows more about this stuff will come along and give better answers than me . If you don't get the help you're looking for, try sending a PM to JBun, our health and wellness moderator, in case she didn't catch this thread - she's always got excellent and very knowledgeable answers to things. I know a LOT about rabbits, health issues in particular, but she blows my knowledge out of the water, lol.

 

[nuttymeg]

I am having her medical records transferred so i need to wait for those to be looked over.

The vet who was seeing her is not specifically a rabbit vet. He seems them on ocassion but i feel hes not all that confident in them. Whatever it is around that joint is kind of squishy slightly moveable when put between two fingers and moved around. I brought her into my family almost 2 years ago. She came from the most disgusting place id ever seen. The 7 hours we drove there and back to get her was so worth it. Lady thought she was blind. Shes not. She had one litter with me here and shes caged with her daughter. Her daughter is huge for an english angora shes just shy of 10 pounds and no shed not fat shed just huge.

I want to do everything for her mom. Its driving me mad mentally this is happening. I run every option in my head. My vet wanted amputatuon. No biopsy nothing. He said the outcome is all the same. But how can that be?
If a biopsy is done i can find out exactly what she has. If its malignant i can ask for a chest x ray to see if its moved. If it has i let her be. If its an infection and based on where it is i can amputate. What if its arthritis? That wasnt even mentioned. Infact i wasnt given any useful information. Just said amputate. The xray had a hazy appearance.
I will just take it a day at a time and hope for the best.

 

[Imbrium]

If it's movable, I'm inclined to immediately distrust the vet for wanting to amputate without even trying to excise just the lump (especially without biopsy). I'm even more sure than in my previous post that you should trust your instincts to get a second opinion. Couldn't it just as easily be a cyst? It doesn't seem like the vet has tried all that hard to explore all the possibilities. Definitely get someone else to look, biopsy and check if it's metastasized (assuming it even IS cancer for sure).

 

[nuttymeg]

Thats exactly what im trying to say. Not everything has been looked at. When he initally saw her 2 weeks ago he said abscess. Gave pain meds and antibiotic. I couldnt afford xrays at the time. Two weeks after he first saw her i took her back as i thought its not improving and got xrays. At that second appt he said it felt better and smaller then his tone changed completely after the xrays saying its a tumor with very slim chance its an abscess. Ive had everyone in my house feel her kump we all agree its somewhat squishy. Firmish but squishy. Touching the lump doesnt hurt her but try bending thst joing and her front paws curl up in pain.

I told my husband i didnt feel right when he said nothibg can be done. I brought up an aspirate for it. Not the vet. I brought up the amputation based on what he was saying.

But i teally think the second opinion is badly needed.

 

[Playdoh52]

I think you need to look at the local rabbit vet list here on the rabbit house society >>>https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

I have a rabbit who is now mostly or fully recovered from a fractured knee cap. I took my rabbit White Foot to the closest experience rabbit vet without taking her to my state college (very expensive). The experienced Rabbit vet told me she still had ear mites in one ear, had urine scalding, and a bad leg. Without even doing x-rays because she was trying to help us on a budget. She could tell by feeling her that her knee cap was broke and suggested we give her surgery. But she had already been healing on her own for 4 weeks. So she said it maybe possible for her to use the leg again if it heal. So we kept her in a confined area for 5 more weeks and she improved so much that she now has total use of the leg with the fractured knee cap. No surgery, just got lucky that it was a hair line fracture i guess. Get a second opinion. Below is my video blog on youtube of her progress. I hope you find a local rabbit vet that can help you!!!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoUDv-HDcO19mMe9zCMRIXsHsh4GyCnVS

 

[somebunnylovesme]

If you get a second opinion from another that is a vet savvy do ask for your money back. I went to a vet that said they were savvy with rabbits. They diagnosed my rabbit totally wrong and were pushing meds. The x-rays that the vet took were horrible. I felt uneasy about the whole experience. I took my bun to another vet and they were able to identify the problem and the x-rays were clearer. The rabbit savvy vet told me to take their x-rays to that vet and ask for my money back.

I did get my money back from that quack of a vet and the vet said " If your bunny gets worst bring your bun in" I was like heck no!

 

[nuttymeg]

The vet that tequested the medical info hasnt been responsive to me since yesterday so i dont know what to do now.

Soaked her joint again just now and a massive difference from 2 days ago. I hope its clearing up. The salt water seems to be helping a lot. Here are more photos. Thanks to everyone who chips in advice. My head has been constantly thinking about this im almost zombie like because of it.

Its comforting when someone can say they get it or understand what it feels like to be helpless....

 

[JBun]

If soaking it helps(which it definitely appears to be in the photo, I see a drastic reduction) then I would just continue to do that. It's almost looking like the swelling may resolve itself with just that, and if so it was probably just inflammation for whatever reason. Still might be a good idea to get a second opinion from the experienced rabbit vet even if the swelling does go down completely.

Is it the new rabbit vet that hasn't responded to you? If so, they may not have received your records yet and are just waiting for them to come in before talking with you. Try again and if they still don't get back to you and you have the option of finding another rabbit vet, maybe look for a different one. Not all rabbit vets are good. I've had to go to several before I found one I liked.

 

[nuttymeg]

If soaking it helps(which it definitely appears to be in the photo, I see a drastic reduction) then I would just continue to do that. It's almost looking like the swelling may resolve itself with just that, and if so it was probably just inflammation for whatever reason. Still might be a good idea to get a second opinion from the experienced rabbit vet even if the swelling does go down completely.

Is it the new rabbit vet that hasn't responded to you? If so, they may not have received your records yet and are just waiting for them to come in before talking with you. Try again and if they still don't get back to you and you have the option of finding another rabbit vet, maybe look for a different one. Not all rabbit vets are good. I've had to go to several before I found one I liked.

 

[nuttymeg]

The new vet was expecting the records yesterday. I just cant help but feel the original vet knows he is wrong. Its not shameful to admit it if thats the case. But to just shrug any other options off to go to drastic procedures seems so wrong. As im typing this i saw her hop. Of course not fully but certainly better. I really cant be any happier

 

[JBun]

Vets can be funny about it when they know you are going to a different vet for another opinion, particularly if they may have made any mistakes in diagnosis or treatment, as it could be something they could be held accountable for legally. But you have every right to have copies of your records. They are obligated by law to provide you with that info when requested, though how long they have to provide the records varies by state. (for the US)
https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pages/Principles-of-Veterinary-Medical-Ethics-of-the-AVMA.aspx

1. "Veterinarians are obligated to provide copies or summaries of medical records when requested by the client. Veterinarians should secure a written consent to document that provision."

This has a brief overview of some states laws, but for the actual law you would need to go into your own states laws(or the laws for your country if not in the US) and look it up.
https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/StateAndLocal/Pages/sr-confidentiality-patient-records.aspx

So if they continue to not respond to your records request by the allowed time for your state(country) you may just have to go in there and ask for your records. Might not be a bad idea to have a print out of the requirements of the law stating your right to the records.

 

[nuttymeg]

Second vet finally got the records!
And she suspects an abscess. So wants to do surgery to explore it. What a relief. So glad i listened to my gut and went with a second opinion.

 

[Lauren Kiernan]

Good luck!

 

[zuppa]

The new vet was expecting the records yesterday. I just cant help but feel the original vet knows he is wrong. Its not shameful to admit it if thats the case. But to just shrug any other options off to go to drastic procedures seems so wrong. As im typing this i saw her hop. Of course not fully but certainly better. I really cant be any happier

Glad she's feeling better now please keep us updated

 

[Imbrium]

I really hope the exploratory surgery goes well and the new vet can get her all fixed up!

 

[nuttymeg]

I finally hadvthe second vet see my girl. It is definitely an abscess. She aspirated twice. First time small amount came out. Second attempt needle barely in and the pus flowed out.
She gave her pen g on my request and squeezed out what she could. Hopefully now she can begin to recover. Getti g the second opinion was my best move.

 

[Imbrium]

Wow, that's great news! Sounds like she'll be able to make a full recovery.

 

[JBun]

I'm really glad you went ahead and got that second opinion. An experienced rabbit vet can really make a big difference in getting the correct treatment.