Increased risk of lymphoma owning multiple rabbits

Ok,
This is a weird question, but here it goes. My sister had contact with a person that is a pathologist and head at a prestigious hospital through her job. She told him it is fun coming to our house because we have lots of bunnies (11). He told her that isn't good. She asked if it was because of respiratory issues, he said yes but that it also increases your chances of lymphoma ( in the humans). As anyone ever heard anything about this? Of course now I am concerned. My rabbits are all kept indoors, all spayed or neutered, fed good quality hay, pellets and greens, and I clean their areas everyday. I did see studies saying there is an increase risk of lymphoma in poultry farm and beef cattle farmers. But is that really the same as keeping rabbits as pets?

I highly doubt that there is a big enough sample group of rabbit owners to make a conclusive study. My guess is he just thinks " animals -> greater risk". Doctors are not always right, to say the least, but their profession makes it a necessity to state their opinions as facts. That's why it's really good to get a second opinion on important matters, you wouldn't believe how often that is completly contrary to the first.

Something to read on that topic.
https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/pet-owners-and-lymphoma/

I wouldn't be surprised if the higher risk with cattle and pigs actually comes from all those chemicals and drugs used in commercial meat production.

Preitler said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the higher risk with cattle and pigs actually comes from all those chemicals and drugs used in commercial meat production.

Click to expand...

This.
And the amount of animal waste theyre around.
So sure if you never cleaned up afyer your rabbits and allowed your house to smell like pure ammonia from all the urine and feces buildup.... then maybe... but even then thats likely more Respiratory issues.

Just because hes a pathologist doesn't mean you should believe a word he says [emoji23]
What do you call a doctor who graduates at the bottom of their class?
And just because theyre "head" doesn't mean they know everything either.
You should see the bogus lab reports vet clinics or people get back sometimes from Pathologist review.... theyre so vague.... and useless half the time.

Well this is kind of an odd thing for a pathologist to say.

I would say that if you keep your animals clean, their environment clean, you are not immunocompromised or immunosuppressed then you are probably fine.

Honestly no one has all the answers with cancer and things are changing all the time. If you are doing your best to keep your enviornment clean then I personally would worry. Some agricultural products have been linked to causing lymphoma but for pet rabbits you probably aren’t going to come into contact with any of those chemicals.

Every doctor has their own opinion and we are taught to not talk down on one another and things we would have said differently. You are not present in that conversations and words or thoughts could have been misconstrued. But with the question would you have a higher chance of getting lymphoma because you own 11 rabbits I would say probably not but best to talk to your GP to get their opinion.

And I don’t believe that you shouldn’t believe the pathologist because ‘what do they know?’. My pathology professors are some of the smartest people I know and are amazing at their job. I don’t think they have any less of an opinion just because they are pathologists. I also disagree with the report comment. Our professors talk a lot about how they are given samples with missing history or background info (sometimes even missing signalment) and they are expected to make a proper diagnosis or differential. I don’t think that’s fair.

Sorry for the long post I’m just a vet student that wanted to share an opinion

Hi,
Thanks to all of you that gave your feedback. I asked my veterinarian, and she had never heard of such a thing. My sister will see the pathologist in a few months, so I told her to ask for more details. I'll keep you posted. Right now I'm trying not to worry too much. But I'm a bit of a worrier.