Rabbit Has Tumor Need Advice

[havikryan]

Unfortunate this has to be my first post but I've got nowhere else to go as all my family thinks about is money money money so have to look for advice online.

I've currently got a female bunny who has a tumor on her stomach, it's quite big, I'd say half as big as a golf ball, been to the vet and they said they'd have to remove it which would take half a year and send it away to see if it is benign or not, the costs don't matter for me what I need to know is what is best for her.

As you may have noticed I didn't mention her age, that's because I got her from a rabbit shelter and they found her on the street so her age is unknown, she's been with me for 6 years so she's at least 6 but could be much older and that's where my concern comes from, from looking online the older a bunny the higher the risk the procedure and just the stress itself could be fatal so I don't know what to do and what's in the best interest of her.

She's currently still active, hopping around, eating, sitting with her other bun friend, same behavior as always so she isn't in pain, not yet anyways, vet couldn't tell she was in pain either so even more reason why I'm conflicted, is it really right for me to put her through surgery which could not only be fatal but could also be pointless if it turned out it has already spread?

If someone could please just give me advise that would be appreciated, first time I've owned a bunny or even a pet for that matter and have never had this happen before so I don't know what would be the best thing to do.

I've tired googling for ''tumor in older rabbit'' but it barely gave me any good results at all, even when googling ''surgery in older rabbits'' all I get is spay/neuter results

 

[CB Millicent]

This is a tough one. Rabbits are so sensitive and the older buns are at a much higher risk when undergoing surgery or a procedure. Having 2 elder buns myself, I would be inclined to start supportive care and not have the surgery due to the high risk of the bun dying on the table.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. It is so very difficult when our buns start to have physical maladies.

 

[Popsicles]

Did your vet say what organ the tumour is in? Is it in the skin, or actually inside the tummy? Did your vet take a needle biopsy at all? Would be useful to know what kind of tumour it is because that will give a better idea of if it is likely to have spread. It doesn’t always come back with a clear answer and thats why you often have to remove the mass and send it off, but often it should at least give a few cells to look at for an idea. Another way to check if it has spread would be to have an x-ray too look for any other masses, particularly in the lungs.
It’s a very difficult decision, which really is one that only you can make, as there isn’t a right or wrong answer. If she is comfortable and you don’t wish to put her through any more, then it would be perfectly reasonable to keep her happy for as long as possible.

 

[havikryan]

Did your vet say what organ the tumour is in? Is it in the skin, or actually inside the tummy? Did your vet take a needle biopsy at all? Would be useful to know what kind of tumour it is because that will give a better idea of if it is likely to have spread. It doesn’t always come back with a clear answer and thats why you often have to remove the mass and send it off, but often it should at least give a few cells to look at for an idea. Another way to check if it has spread would be to have an x-ray too look for any other masses, particularly in the lungs.
It’s a very difficult decision, which really is one that only you can make, as there isn’t a right or wrong answer. If she is comfortable and you don’t wish to put her through any more, then it would be perfectly reasonable to keep her happy for as long as possible.

the tumor is on the outside under her belly but could feel it go deep into her skin, the vet opened it and after looking at it she determined it was a tumor, she did say I can get an x-ray scan to see if it has spread but say if it hasn't spread, would it be best to remove it then? it would be half a year of her having to go back and forth from home to the vet so I truly don't know if that's a good thing to do or not

This is a tough one. Rabbits are so sensitive and the older buns are at a much higher risk when undergoing surgery or a procedure. Having 2 elder buns myself, I would be inclined to start supportive care and not have the surgery due to the high risk of the bun dying on the table.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. It is so very difficult when our buns start to have physical maladies.

what exactly do you mean by supportive care?

so you'd recommend against it?

 

[Popsicles]

What do you mean by your vet “opened” it? If they cut it open they should have removed it there and then, and you can’t know if a lump is cancer or just benign by just looking at it. It depends how much money you want to spend - you could do the X-ray and check for spread. If it hasn’t spread, could get it removed (and tested!) and that could be the end of it. And if t has spread it might be less worth putting her through getting it removed.
Why would getting the lump removed mean she has to go back and forth to the vet for 6 months..?

And supportive care would mean painkillers/anti-inflammatories if she is in pain, and making sure she is kept well fed and hydrated etc.

 

[havikryan]

What do you mean by your vet “opened” it? If they cut it open they should have removed it there and then, and you can’t know if a lump is cancer or just benign by just looking at it. It depends how much money you want to spend - you could do the X-ray and check for spread. If it hasn’t spread, could get it removed (and tested!) and that could be the end of it. And if t has spread it might be less worth putting her through getting it removed.
Why would getting the lump removed mean she has to go back and forth to the vet for 6 months..?

And supportive care would mean painkillers/anti-inflammatories if she is in pain, and making sure she is kept well fed and hydrated etc.

she has this sort of scab wound growing all over the tumor, the vet opened the scab wound to see if it was a tumor or something else(forgot name of it) that's what I meant by opening it, they opened the scab that was growing over the tumor.

the Vet told me it can take half a year to get it removed? I can call again to verify if that is what she said if you say that isn't accurate or doesn't make sense.

And you think her age isn't an issue? she is at least 6 but could be order, at the moment her behavior is still the same it's always been so the tumor isn't affecting her yet so maybe age isn't an issue?

 

[Popsicles]

Right, well that still isn’t enough to determine if it is a tumour or not.
Yeah that doesn’t sound right to me, it would take one operation to remove it..?
6 isn’t particularly old, and even if she is older I think as long as she is well in herself and they do a proper pre-anaesthetic exam (maybe some bloods too to check liver function etc) then it shouldn’t be any more of a risk than with a younger rabbit.

 

[havikryan]

Right, well that still isn’t enough to determine if it is a tumour or not.
Yeah that doesn’t sound right to me, it would take one operation to remove it..?
6 isn’t particularly old, and even if she is older I think as long as she is well in herself and they do a proper pre-anaesthetic exam (maybe some bloods too to check liver function etc) then it shouldn’t be any more of a risk than with a younger rabbit.

I called again just now they say it will take just 1 operation to remove it but recovery can take from 7 days up to 2 weeks

well she isn't exactly 6, I've got her for 6 years so she's older than 6 as when I adopted her she wasn't a baby and the shelter didn't know her age so she could be 6, 7, 8, 9 or even 10 I don't know and that's where my doubt comes in.

 

[Popsicles]

Yes, that is normal, but recovery from a lump removal won’t be drastic, especially if the lump is just in the skin?
It will just be a case of the wound healing.
Yeah age isn’t really a factor with anaesthetics - it is more important the animal is healthy. If your vet (who is good with rabbits?) does a good clinical exam, some blood tests to check organ function, etc, then the risk won’t be any more than for that of a younger rabbit.

 

[Courtney88]

My (approximately) 8 year old rabbit had a tumor removed last year, also on the skin, and he recovered just fine. That was his second tumor removal (the first was when he was probably around 4 or 5 years old). His tumors were smaller, probably a little bigger than the size of a pencil eraser, but because they were just on the skin, it was easy enough for the vet to remove them. Before his second surgery, I asked if there were any concerns with the anesthesia that they use that might be a problem with an older rabbit, and I was told that the medications they use are safe in older rabbits even with kidney and liver problems because they won't accumulate like you might need to worry about with human anesthesia. Do you think they can do a biopsy of the tumor before surgery? That way, they can see if it's cancerous or benign. We did the biopsy after his surgeries and fortunately they weren't cancerous, but maybe if you're concerned about the risks of surgery you can get a biopsy first and that will help you in your decision to operate vs let the bunny live with the tumor. Good luck with everything!

 

[havikryan]

thought I'd give a last sad update, after spending some more time with her, I decided to go through with the operation and get the tumor removed, sadly however luck was not on her side as she did not make it through the operation, did the checks, blood checks, liver checks and all that but apparently it was just not meant to be today she will be getting cremated so that I can get her ashes.

now I'm left with just 1 bunny and I'm heartbroken, she never wanted to be petted or anything yet I loved her so much, I miss her so much

 

[PeachyBun]

Very sorry for your loss, you obviously cared very much for her. I know it's not much consolation but she did have 6 years of loving care that she would not have had if you hadn't adopted her.

 

[Imbrium]

I am so very sorry she didn't make it. At least you gave her a wonderful life for six years... and perhaps this way, she got to go peacefully under anesthesia rather than potentially suffering from side-effects of the tumor. All we can do as bunny slaves is make the best decisions we can with what information we have and hope for the best. What I'm getting at is, please try not to beat yourself up wondering what might have been if you hadn't tried the surgery. Things tend to happen for a reason, even though we often can't see what that reason is (or don't see it until much later).

I'm glad you were able to get her cremated - somehow, having your beloved pet's ashes always seems to help the grieving process. When our Layne died last January, we could barely afford to get him cremated and definitely couldn't cough up for a nice urn... but I broke out my arts-and-crafts supplies and spruced him up. I'm pretty proud of the results . Now he's like a little guardian angel watching over us.