Lump on rabbits side

[rabbit123]

Hi,

We've got a 9 year old rabbit which has lived outside all it's life. A couple of years ago we noticed a lump under the fur when picking the rabbit up. It just felt like a fatty lump (not huge - perhaps half the size of a golf ball) and as she was getting on a bit we left it alone. She also has a couple of other small pea sized lumps.

The main lump is on her side but sort of underneath so you can't see it normally. Today when I picked her up I noticed that it was no longer fur covered and was now red and looked quite sore - however when I touched it, it was hard and she didn't flinch at all. I put her down and she hopped off across the garden.

She seems to be moving around fine, she goes up and down between the different levels in the hutch (it has 4 levels). She seems herself in every way except that she has been losing a bit of weight over winter.


The rabbit is female and lives with two other younger female rabbits - they all get on well and live in a huge outdoor hutch. I've no idea what breed of rabbit it is as we got her and her sister from a farmers auction for a pound each to stop them going for ferret food! Unfortunately her sister died two years ago during a cold spell in the winter. Our garden is enclosed so we tend to leave them out all day if the weather is nice.


I guess what I want to know is am I ok to just leave it? I don't really want to take her to the vets as she is old anyway and doesn't seem to be in any pain. I've got to admit none of the rabbits have ever been to the vets - we've never had anything wrong with them. We do have a very good vet though which we take the dog and cat to.

 

[missyscove]

Hi and welcome to RO!

It sounds like it may be an abscess to me which can usually be treated with antibiotics but may also need to be lanced or removed surgically.
If it were my rabbit, I'd take her into the vet to have it looked at. Rabbits really should have an annual checkup every year just like dogs and cats. I'm not sure where you're located (although you said one pound each, so I'm guessing UK) but in some places rabbits should even be vaccinated although here in the US the diseases we can vaccinate for don't really exist.

 

[molly]

If it's been there for a couple of years, it's more likely a mammary tumour, especially if she's intact. It could be an abscess also or both but I think an abscess would have cleared up or caused problems sooner. The lump has likely lost fur because it has grown to the point that she is dragging it. It could very well become ulcerated or rupture at this point and that would be very painful for her. I would take her to a rabbit savvy vet (not all cat and dog vets are knowledgeable and experienced enough with rabbits/exotics to treat them - there is a forum dedicated to rabbit savvy vets) and at least discuss what can be done to make her more comfortable and when to consider humane euthanasia. She may seem fine to you but don't forget that rabbits hide pain/illness/discomfort until it's unbearable and she's outdoors, so you may not be able to observe her as closely as you would a cat or dog you spend more time with.

I also second the comment about vaccines. I live in North America so it's not an issue here but I know that Myxomatosis is almost always fatal and easily preventable.

 

[tonyshuman]

I'm not sure what it is, because it sounds like an abscess from your description of how it looks, and like a tumor based on its having been there for a long time and that she's been losing weight. I agree that a vet is necessary. It's possible that it is indeed bothering her and at least some pain medicine or cream on the skin could be used to make her more comfortable. If it is a tumor, it could be quite large and causing her more distress than you may know. We hear a lot of stories of rabbits "suddenly" having some disease that would have been apparent if they were a cat or dog, or if they were watched more closely. As prey animals, their instinct is to hide discomfort to avoid being prey. If she isn't doing "happy bunny" things, like running around and doing binkies (and yes, older bunnies still do binkies, I have buns around 8 and 7 years old that do tons of binkies), it's hard to say if she's in discomfort or not.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

To the Vet.

 

[rabbit123]

Thanks for the replies and sorry for the delay in updating.

We took her to the vet who wasn't entirely sure what it was - cleaned it up prodded a bit and said we could pay for an operation to remove it but due to her age she would be better to be left alone.

So we're just keeping an eye on it and cleaning it.

She's a lovely gentle rabbit - she's still bounding round the garden and looks happy enough. Still has urges and climbs on the other two!

She doesn't look uncomfortable when you touch the lump, but she looks a bit uncomfortable now if we pick her up.

 

[minmelethuireb]

Did the vet try to aspirate the lump just to make sure it's not an abscess? Though, with it being there that long, it's more like a tumor.

9 years old is pretty old for a bunny, so surgery would be fairly risky. I agree that it's probably better just to keep her comfortable. I hope you can still have a lot more time with her.