Surgery for 8 year old rabbit?

[Ap27]

Hello hoping to get some fellow rabbit owner thoughts… my rabbit is 8.5 and recently found a blueberry sized lump of his foot which developed over maybe a 2 week period. The lump was bleeding and very open/sore

Bun has been to the vet who prescribed antimicrobial meds, which did nothing… then painkillers and antibiotics which we are half way through and also seem to be doing nothing either… but they wanted to try this before more serious treatment.

Without diagnostics we can’t be sure if it’s some type of skin cancer, but the vet wasn’t overly optimistic.

The lump is on the bottom of his foot so the vet is unsure how successful surgery would be, cancerous or not, as there isn’t really enough skin there to close the gap of what would be removed. Diagnostics and surgery would be a minimum of £900.

Bun has definitely aged in the last year, moving very little and sleeping pretty much constantly, but otherwise the vet only saw him a few weeks prior for annual check up and was happy with him.

I think because the lump has appeared so suddenly and because buns hide their pain it feels so premature to be making a decision about euthanasia. And I hate that money comes into it but treatment options are very expensive for what may be a horrible stressful time for bun and a negative outcome for him anyway.

I feel so guilty for even considering not trying for him and keep asking myself what it’s it not cancer, what if the surgery is successful and he pulls through and I could of given him a chance….

What would you do?

 

[Mileybun]

What a hard decision to make
He's not a bad age at all!
There is very little skin on the bottom of a rabbit's foot as you say, I think it would be a difficult one with regards to healing as well as he will naturally still be using the foot.
You know your bun best and will be able to tell if he is really unhappy.
I suppose you could go ahead with the surgery, and if the vet isn't able to close the wound properly let him go whilst he is asleep. But of course that's an awful lot of money to spend either way.
I'm so sorry I can't say yes or no and make the decision easier for you.
Perhaps book a chat with the vet and discuss things at length with them - they're likely to know honestly what the best option would be, even if they can't decide for you.
Remember whatever you choose you are doing with love for him because you don't want him to suffer, and he won't blame you either way.

 

[Ap27]

What a hard decision to make
He's not a bad age at all!
There is very little skin on the bottom of a rabbit's foot as you say, I think it would be a difficult one with regards to healing as well as he will naturally still be using the foot.
You know your bun best and will be able to tell if he is really unhappy.
I suppose you could go ahead with the surgery, and if the vet isn't able to close the wound properly let him go whilst he is asleep. But of course that's an awful lot of money to spend either way.
I'm so sorry I can't say yes or no and make the decision easier for you.
Perhaps book a chat with the vet and discuss things at length with them - they're likely to know honestly what the best option would be, even if they can't decide for you.
Remember whatever you choose you are doing with love for him because you don't want him to suffer, and he won't blame you either way.

Thank you for replying … still no decision made but think we will talk to the vet again this week to help make the choice

 

[Mileybun]

Best of luck with whatever happens - he knows you love him and that's the most important thing

 

[JBun]

Did the vet try and do a FNA? If it was an abscess, it should be fairly easy to tell from the presence of pus in the lump.

If it for sure isn't an abscess but might be cancer, I think you do have to consider the quality of life your bun will have going forward. Will surgery help restore a good quality of life or prolong potential ongoing health issues and continued pain.

These old age issues are difficult to know how best to deal with sometimes.