Chippy's got a lump (benign cystic teratoma.....extra ingrown mammary gland)

[Michaela]

Oh I just saw this thread, poor Chippy!

Praying it's nothing serious, Jim. ray:

 

[Haley]

Oh poor Chippy!

I really hope its an abscess that can be removed easily. I wonder if your vet will biopsy it first or just go in to remove it.

With Max's abscess, they did a needle biopsy which told them it was an abscess. We went in later to remove the abcess. With Basil, the vey decided by feeling it that it was definitely either a tumor or abscess but either way it would need to come out so instead of two procedures he just did one to remove the thing. It came right out and that was that (it was an abscess after all). I almost think doing the one procedure was so much less stressful (and less expensive) for us, but then I think if they do the biopsy (which shouldnt cost too much) and find out its an abscess you could try to treat it with aggressive antibiotics before considering surgery.

Let us know how the appt goes, Jim. I'll be thinking of Chippy.

 

[JimD]

Thanks everyone!

I'm on my way in about 10 minutes.

Updates when I return.


ray:

 

[LuvaBun]

Keeping you and Chippy in my prayers, and praying for the lump to be something simple.

Please let us know how you get on at the vet

Jan

 

[Michaela]

Any news yet Jim? ray:

 

[JimD]

I just got back.

When the vet first examined her, things didn't look too promising.

The mass had almost doubled in size since yesterday.

He did an xray and recommended doing a biopsy.
When he did the biopsy, the lump ended up being almost completely clear liquid.
The lump is smaller than a pea now....you really have to look for it to find it.
The xray showed no internal masses or attachments (digital xray is so cool)

We'll get the lab results back on Monday.
Prognosis is much better than before.

Chippy is doing fine and was munching down on hay last I checked.

Not out of the woods yet, though.

I really really like the vet. It was well worth the ride and wait time.
The office was a mad house when I got there, but seemed to run smoothly despite.

The bill came to $334.....$200 of which was for the biopsy/lab and the balance was for the xray and office visit.
I didn't think that was too bad (MrsD will probably have a kitten though:?)

 

[pumpkinandwhiskersmom]

So glad that the lump is so drastically reduced....hope this is just the beginning of good things to come.

ray:

 

[Haley]

Im so glad shes doing ok. So does the vet think its like a cyst or something then if it was mostly clear liquid? I really hope that just draining it helps. Keep us posted!

 

[JimD]

pumpkinandwhiskersmom wrote:

So glad that the lump is so drastically reduced....hope this is just the beginning of good things to come.

ray:

It's amazing....she looks so much better and is acting better, too.

And your hopes are the same as mine....thank you.

 

[Michaela]

Oooh good, some encouraging news. :bunnydance:

Must be such a relief on Chippy to have it so drastically reduced (and a relief for you too of course ). I too hope this is a good sign.

 

[JimD]

Haley wrote:

Im so glad shes doing ok. So does the vet think its like a cyst or something then if it was mostly clear liquid? I really hope that just draining it helps. Keep us posted!

The key will be the results of the biopsy.

We're hoping and praying that is benign.

He seemed to be very optimistic......but I don't want to get my hopes up there too high.

He won me over when he put his hand on my shoulder and said,

"I'm so sorry that I upset you today....and I know I did. I'm glad you brought Chippy to me because another vet may have said that it wouldn't be worth even doing a biopsy and you should just put her down. After draining it, I don't think things are as bad as I first thought."



And his staff is good, too. The one vet tech (named Jim, too!)said he's like a drill sargent, but he's earned their respect so they don't mind....too much .

ANNND, you should see all the pics of his patients....horses, pigs, rabbits, ducks, chickens, lizards, snakes, sugar gliders, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hedge hogs, ferrets, and a whole bunch more.
And they were clearing a health check on a WALLABY!!!:biggrin2:

 

[JimD]

Michaela wrote:

Oooh good, some encouraging news. :bunnydance:

Must be such a relief on Chippy to have it so drastically reduced (and a relief for you too of course ). I too hope this is a good sign.

Dr. Cattiny went from preparing me for the worst....to saying things may not be too bad.
I'm hoping for the best.

Chippy is doing well, and I think she'll forgive me..... eventually. I'm getting a lot of "the butt" :bunnybutt:
It's probably sore, and looks a bit swollen (her chest...not her butt).
I'll let her out later and see if she'll let me put a sock of warm rice on it (her chest...not her butt). She's been staying out of my reach, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[JimD]

I think I'll go pick some dandelions for her now.

 

[LuvaBun]

i can't tell you how pleased I am to hear this . Hopefully, the biopsy results will show that there is nothing sinister going on.

The vet sounds awesome - such a lot of 'different' species he treats is a good sign.

Had to smile at the thought of Mrs D having a kitten

Jan

 

[JimD]

LuvaBun wrote:

i can't tell you how pleased I am to hear this .

Had to smile at the thought of Mrs D having a kitten

Jan

Thanks, Jan.

And MrsD DID have a kitten over the bill. :grumpy:
I mentioned that it cost less than a day in NYC to see a Broadway play (she does this about once a month), and we may have saved a bunny's life.:expressionless Didn't make much of an impression. To bad. What's done is done...and what needs to be done will be done, too. I'll sell one of the kids....or the dogs?.....no, the kids.


However, I'm thinking that an abscess the size of a golf ball would have cost another thousand dollars to remove surgically. Now we may be able to treat it with meds instead.

 

[polly]

I am so glad it went well. Just need to keep my fingers crossed till after the results for you now

And sell the kids :rofl:that just made me laugh

 

[JimD]

JimD wrote:

I think I'll go pick some dandelions for her now.

She ate about a half a dozen greens, and I left the rest for later.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Jim, it sounds like it was a fluid filled cyst. Hopefully it's nothing!

I sure hope we hear more good news from you soon!

Mrs. Jim = it happens to all of us......

 

[Flick]

$334 is not bad at all. We spent $560 on Pixel in February for GI stasis. And today I paid $1,500 for surgery that may go as high as $2,000. Pixel developed lumps under her chin which the vet found during the GI stasis check. Did an aspirated biopsy on them and it's not cancer, so we put it on the back burner being more concerned about the stasis. She developed more lumps that grew together into one lump about an inch deep and half an inch wide. That freaked me out. We had to take her to a surgeon who specializes in soft tissue. The regular vet could remove the lumps, but there was afraid there wouldn't be enough tissue left to close the wound.

So, surgery was today. She's doing fine. Vet said that the tissue from the tumors is not normal, so it will be sent to a lab for analysis.

She's staying at the vet's overnight. It's a vet hospital and they have staff there 24/7 so the patients are never left unattended. Should come home tomorrow. And, I'm sure that we, too, will be given a massive amount of "bunny butt" and "flick offs".

We're sending prayers your way, hoping Chippy gets a clean bill of health. And, I hope this helps Mrs. D to feel better about the vet bill.

 

[Maureen Las]

Gee..I wonder what the fluid filled lump is? Never heard of cancer that looked like that
I have a feeling that Chippy will be fine.....

and your wife sounds just like my husband

(How could a play come before a rabbit's health??????????????)