Update

This morning Bunbun was literally ricocheting off the walls and wanted to get out and dig. I left him eating bread and pellets.

He got mild diarrhea from a diet change, but it's nothing to worryabout yet. And his glands are still swollen but he seems to be in nopain whatsoever. He's cheerful and bouncy, and eating. I'm stillwaiting to hear from this new vet, which I'm hoping will help.

I don't know what on earth is wrong with him, but I'm amazed how active he is.

Rose

One vet said wait and see how he does if he'sdoing ok otherwise. The other was kind of not very nice and more orless treated me like an idiot.

I don't want to put him through anything bad again. I wish I knew what to do.

Rose

rabbitgirl,

You need to find a good rabbit vet.

Pamnock's advice of an abcess isn't to be ruledout.I think you jumped to disregarding herstatement without having itdiagnosed and trying to decideyourself.First you said his appetiteiseffected, then not; then you said he's notswollen,now he is. It's hard to help youwhen the symptoms change so often.


-Carolyn

Is the area under the chin just "puffy" (not unusual in older bucks), oris there actual lumps, hardness or swelling?



Pam

Carolyn wrote:

rabbitgirl,

You need to find a good rabbit vet.

Pamnock's advice of an abcess isn't to be ruledout.I think you jumped to disregarding herstatement without having itdiagnosed and trying to decideyourself.First you said his appetiteiseffected, then not; then you said he's notswollen,now he is. It's hard to help youwhen the symptoms change so often.

Click to expand...

Sorry about being unclear--to clarify, he wasn't eating fortwo days, then he abruptly started eating again. I'm not sure why. He'snot eating as much as he did as a young buck, but he's hungry when Igive him food.

The swelling: I think that was a recent thing, or I somehow missed itbecause I checked his teeth that time pamnock mentioned it and didn'tsee anything abnormal. I checked again the next day and his chin seemedpuffy (I noticed because it was wet), and I found a large swollen glandon the side of his neck. I honestly don't know why things keepchanging, one day he seems fine and the next he doesn't.

I'm not disregarding anyone's advice, I'm just trying to figure out thebest thing to do in a town where there ARE no good rabbit vets. Andhe's elderly--I don't want to hurt him again by invasive procedures. Hedoesn't seem to be in much pain, if any, so I don't want to cause himpain.

I did have a friend who is a animal breeder (rabbitstoo)examine him. She checked his teeth and found no sign oftooth problems after observing him, although she thought an abcess waspossible in the gland itself.

Sorry to give offense, I'm just trying to do the right thing and it'sreally hard when the vets in town tend to make matters worse, notbetter, through lack of experience with bunnies.

pamnock wrote:

Isthe area under the chin just "puffy" (not unusual in older bucks),oris there actual lumps, hardness or swelling?



Pam

Click to expand...

Pam, I'm sorry if it seemed I was ignoring your advice. I'm definitelynot--I've been calling vets and any experts I can think of for two daysand your explanation seemed very reasonable. It's actually theassumption I've been going on. Thank you so much. It helped me describethings better to the vets.

His chin is puffy and wet. And it smells a little funny. But thenagain, he's kind of like a dog that likes to rub on filthy things (ie.under the female's cage). He's chinning things as usual and washing hisface, so I'm inclined to think the puffy part isn't painful. Maybe, asyou said, that's normal in an older buck. He is very sexually activeand has always had a fat wet chin. Maybe not quite this fat, but....

However, just yesterday I found a very moveable lump (feels like myglands do when I'm sick or something) on the side of his neck (NOT inthe puffy part, farther back). He doesn't like when I touch it but I amnot sure if that's because it's tender or because he's always hated metouching his neck and head.

My friend the bunny expert didn't think it was a tooth abscess, though,because she checked and then fed him stuff and watched him chewing.

Let me know if I'm unclear. It's really hard to describe these kind ofthings sometimes. I love my boy, and I want to do the right thing, andI'm so afraid of hurting him more after the past few months. I let avet badger me into a treatment that could have killed him, and I feelawful about it. So I appreciate all your advice.

Right now, he's showing interest in food, washing, people, females, etc.etc. but doesn't look 100%.

Many thanks,

Rose

Oh yeah--Pam, the puffy chinpart is softand I don't feel lumps IN it. His bottom teeth look ok and he chewssticks and stuff.

I would see if you can find a good rabbit vet inyour area. The House Rabbit Society has a list of recommendedvets. It's not normal to feel lumps under the skin in theneck area. Nor is it good for the chin to be continallywet. It may just be wet due to chinning on wet objects, butthis can lead to fungal or bacterial infections.

Pam

Thanks!

Rose

Thanks rabbitgirl.

I apologize if I upset you, that was not my intention. The detailed explanation helped to describe the lump/swelling.

Along the jawline area should feel symmetrical on both sides. Sinceyou've determined that there is a lump or swelling there, that's reallysomething that would have to be treated medically.

Keep looking for a good vet. It's probably a blessing in disguise thatthe others treated you as they did. I wouldn't want that type of persontreating my rabbit.

In the meantime, if you can pick up some NutriCal, do so in case hegoes off his feed again or substantially decreases his amounts.

Keep us posted. I'll say some prayers for you and BunBun.

-Carolyn