Multiple issues with Taffy

[Bunnylova4eva]

I've noticed some different things with Taffy recently and wondered if anyone had input.



Yesterday I found her sore hocks have flared up-every now and then they get really bad. I vetwrapped one of her feet today which she hated but hopefully it helps some. She has carpet in the whole bottom of her hutch and on the ramp up. On the upstairs level is double layered fleece everywhere. She almost 5 pounds so maybe a bit chubby for a mini rex but not too bad. Here's a picture of what both her feet actually look like. Any other tips on things to try for her? The only thing I can think of that made them flare up is she about 2 weeks ago was hopping around outside where our chickens are alot, and in that same area last year she had been hopping and I noticed her sore hocks worse.

Then back in July I noticed this weird lump on Taffy (Here's the thread http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=74171&forum_id=16 ). When we took her to the vet, she did a fine needle aspirate which came back showing cystic fluid/milk protein. She said to monitor it and if it got worse or was really bothering Taffy/showing more problems, we could talk about removing it. So within a few days the lump got smaller and smaller, got kinda knotty, and then was gone. Yesterday I got Taffy out and felt a lump in the EXACT same spot, same size back again. Someone had told me those could come back so I wanted to check and sure enough, there it was. Now when I look back in pictures, I have ones from back in May when I can see that lump so I guess its been going on for a while (coming and going). In june out of the blue she made a whole nest which she had never done before. Taffy's 6 years oldnever been breed and intact. Here's a picture of her and the lump. I thought she was just chubby and in pictures thought of that as fat, now I feel its the cystic fluid.

Any one dealt with this before? I only found one other link with info about something like this - http://www.petmd.com/rabbit/conditions/endocrine/c_rb_mastitis_cystic_septic and they say treatment would involve spaying. A neutering quote from our vet was $450 so I don't even want to know what a spay costs..and then if Taffy would even come through it ok. What are your thoughts on this? Any other ways of treating it? Now that its come back do you think I should let the vet know? She just said to monitor the lump-its no worse than before, just returned.



One other thing I've noticed it her fur has gotten really rough. Maybe like she's not grooming much anymore or something. Any ideas why it'd be like this? She eats 1/4 c. Nutrena premium pellets (I'm looking into switching to Oxbow or another better kind of pellets) and lots of hay. I also try to give her 1/2 c. greens daily.

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

:brownbunnyray::brownbunny

I haven't had experience with either of these conditions, though I've heard that baby socks are good to protect the hocks.

Just wanted to send love and prayers from my house to yours. I'm sure you'll get good advice from others on the site

 

[MiniLopHop]

Gary gets the socks on his hocks treatment when it acts up. I think keeping the weight in check and nails short is really all you can do. Carpeting can be irritating as well. Is it possible to put more fleese down? That also helped Gary.

I'm worried with the rough coat as well she may be fighting cancer. I highly recommend getting her spayed asap.

 

[nc_bunnys]

$450 is too high for a neuter. I would be scared to see what they would charge for a spay! Howie, a 7 year old I adopted 6 weeks ago was neutered w/blood work for $127. That was on Aug 7th, few weeks ago. I was worried with Howie being older but he is doing wonderful.

Best of luck to you & Taffy

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Thanks for your replies-any thoughts/ideas are a huge help.

I don't think I'd be able to keep the baby socks on her, but I'm willing to try it. I found one that I put on the foot I hadn't vetwrapped. I found out you can get chew-proof vetwrap so I might look into getting some. I put a bit more fleece downstairs in her hutch. I'm hesitant to put it everywehre as she isn't too good about going to the bathroom in the same spot in her cage. There's some places I left just carpet that's she's peed on-I don't want to messy fleece up there.


Do you think that the rough coat could have to do with cancer? That's the thing I was curious about (what would cause a rough coat)


Here's her and her new little sock and other foot vetwrapped:

 

[MiniLopHop]

I adore socks on hocks pictures!
Here is Gary with his socks on:

The reason I worry about the cancer with the lump and rough fur is that when it spreads it can suck up all the available nutrition. Has her diet changed recently?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

nc_bunnys wrote:

$450 is too high for a neuter. I would be scared to see what they would charge for a spay! Howie, a 7 year old I adopted 6 weeks ago was neutered w/blood work for $127. That was on Aug 7th, few weeks ago. I was worried with Howie being older but he is doing wonderful.

Best of luck to you & Taffy

Well, thankfully the $450 did include bloodwork, painmeds, and fluids but still that is very expensive. And, in my area that is just the going rate. The good thing is, I'm very confident in both vets who work at the clinic where we go-they are very good and I would not be worried at all with them doing if I felt we could afford it. But its not just that-if she has cancer and it has spread, I'm not sure this would be worth it. The Fine needle aspirate she had done didn't show cancer, but she said it still could exist.


On a side note, I forgot about this-she does seem like me touching the lump is painful. I've tried to pick her up several times like I normally do, with my one hand under her right there. She gets really aggresive and tries to bite me and also just flinches away when I press on it at all.
Also, she's seemed to lay in the lower level of her cage ALOT more than she ever did, (she always (her whole life) stayed up in the wooden part of the hutch upstairs 90% of the day) even though its hot out and now is downstairs in there alot, and laying down which she never used to do either unless she was really tired from running around. I don't know if she's not feeling good or just relaxing.

Do you think its worth letting them know the lump is back even if she doesn't seem necesarily worse?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Aww Gary is so adorable with his little socks!


No, we haven't changed the diet really at all recently, except for adding in some extra greens. We never used to give much as far as fresh stuff goes as our bunnies had tummy problems from every little thing for a while.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I would talk to the vet and let them know the lump is back. Hopefully since they know Taffy they will be able to give a more educated guess. If her abdomen is painful I would be a bit worried. Perhaps they can do a biopsy again?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

ok, I'll talk to her and see what she thinks.

I was looking through some topics here on the forum about similar things and it sounded alot like this one..
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=36155&forum_id=16&highlight=mammary+cancer

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Wel, so last night I was checking Taffy and felt the lump and found it was slightly firmer.

This morning, it was even more so that way. It feels like the stuff has gotten really thick. This is just what happend last time-it got firmer, firmer, then small and really firm like there was a little knot in it and then was gone (for the last 3 weeks).

I'm assuming that'll happen that way again. I just don't see why it keeps happening, and now that it seems to be following the same pattern as last time, I'm not sure whether its worth letting the vet know.

 

[MiniLopHop]

How is Taffy feeling? Any update?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Thanks for thinking of Taffy and asking

The lump seems to be getting (gradually) smaller, and the fluid feels a bit thicker still. It's not gone this time as quickly as last time, but still seems to be getting continually smaller.

I asked the vet tech what the doctor meant by "monitor it" and she said let them know if it got bigger or changed. Right now I want to see if in the next couple days if it doesn't continue to get smaller and disappear. Otherwise I'll talk more with the vet about it.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I am rather fond of your bunnies

What a relief you are seeing improvement! I wonder if it could be mastitus? Cows get it all the time, so why not rabbits too? She would have a similar mammary system that might have gotten a minor infection.

Rabbit puss is so thick that it sounds like what is happening, a little bit of an infection her own immune system is clearing up.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

We're back to Taffy's issues again. It hasn't gone away and frankly, I think it has gotten bigger and worse. Her fur lately is extemely rough as well. I'm worried about that too, because my last mini rex (4 years ago) got really rough fur and several months later ended up with what seemed like either EC or kidney disease (didn't find out for sure as she had to be put down as she was really sick). It seems like there must be an underlying thing going on, but I just don't know.

I asked Taffy's vet about it and whether I should bring her back. Before she told me just to watch it. I asked her if she thought Taffy needs to come in again or what she thought and she said if I want I can just keep watching it, or she can recheck it..great, that's basically what I was calling to know about. I'm not sure what good it would do to have her recheck it, excpet to maybe have her do another fine needle aspirate. Last time she said if didn't show cancer but it was possible it just didn't show up (or something to that effect.) Becase of that, I'm wondering if getting another FNA wouldn't be so bad. Thoughts?

Also, Taffy's been pretty aggressive lately so I'm all the more worried about cancer as I feel that's known as a sign.

Oh and one more thing-she's been grinding her teeth it seems. I know some rabbits "pur". I had a bunny who did that alot but Taffy never did. I can feel her mouth/cheek area vibrate like she grinding her teeth and she just ever did that. Plus, she doesn't even look happy when she's doing it, just hunched up not wanting to move around much. I was taking pictures and it was fine, but she just wasn't herself ( and hasn't been in a while; usually she'd be nibbling my clothe and trying to hop away). I'd pose her, and should would just sit there, like a living blob, and not move an inch. Oh, and maybe its just me but her eyes look really squinty.



Pictures (just because I took them so why not post them?!)

 

[JBun]

It sounds like she's in pain and may need to see the vet. I know that parasites can make their fur look bad. Have you ever had a fecal done? It could also be uterine cancer with her not being spayed. I just had 2 of my rabbits spayed at a spay and neuter clinic for cats, dogs, and rabbits. It was alot cheaper than $450. Do you maybe have something like that around where you live?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

In April we had a fecal done for each bunny-Ripley had pinworms, and Taffy didn't have anything.

We do have an inexpensive spay neuter clinic nearby that will do it for $80 I believe. Really though, I'm scared to death of having her anesthetized; since she's 6 and not exactly in the best shape (not to mention the fact that we've never had surgery done on any of our buns!).

 

[JBun]

By the way I love the pictures!

I was scared of surgery too for the 2 that I just got spayed. I was really stressed until they were feeling better, but I'm really glad I did it. One of my girls is older and a bit overweight. She had been peeing everywhere and kept trying to build nests so I was very concerned about her having uterine cancer. She's doing great now. The peeing is almost entirely in the litter box now, and before she was really grumpy and very often lunging at her husbun, now she's much calmer, and nicer. So she seems to be doing really well and it was something that I felt had to be done for her health despite her age. With your rabbit really not feeling well, it might just be something that she needs done for her well being and if she does by chance have cancer, it could also save her life. It's a hard decision, I know. Just do what you feel is best.

 

[Geoff]

I strongly echo the urges to have your bunny spayed, as many times those cystic mammary masses are an indication of abnormal reproductive activity... ie uterine cancer may already be a problem. I would not wait long as this form of cancer is malignant, but slow to spread... this means that removing the malignant uterus can often be curative. but if you wait too long, tumor cells may spread to the lungs or liver (or possibly other places as well).