Arthritis? Tumors? What's going on?

[johnsonfarm]

I have an older mini rex buck that was left at our house with 11 other bunnies a couple years ago. I found homes for the rest but kept him. He's never been in great condition but recently he's developed tumors all over his legs and feet! And it's almost as if his bones are all being twisted, his spine is curved so that both hind legs go off on one side. His front paws curve upward so that it looks like he's walking on his ankles. But there's no sore hocks. He eats and drinks fine and gets around like an old man, it doesn't really seem to bother him, but he looks awful. My husband says he really should be put to sleep and we don't have any rabbit "friendly" vets in our area.

Now my older (3 years old) doe has similar looking tumors on her front paws and her back is beginning to curve. Has anyone heard of this? Is it something contagious or is it just old age? I can't find anything to match it in any books. Any suggestions or info is greatly appreciated, I'm afraid I'm going to lose 2 bunnies very soon.

 

[naturestee]

That is bizarre. Are they related to each other?

Where are you located? There are some great rabbit vets around, including some that won't cost you an arm and a leg. PM me if you don't want to broadcast your location on the internet.

How old is the buck? And the doe isn't very old at all at 3. Many places such as the HRS say rabbits live 7-10 years and I've been seeing more and more hit double digits with no health problems. 3 is like a 35 year old human.

Edit: Just checking but what do you feed them and what kind of cages are they in, ie wire floor?

 

[Maureen Las]

I don't have a clue as to why a young rabbit would be developing the same symptoms as the older rabbit?

All I could find was this article ..with old rabbit paralysis described

nothing related to tumors on the legs/
http://www.hrschicago.org/articleslay.html

 

[tonyshuman]

hmm... sounds like it's time to see a vet. Especially since it's in more than one of your bunnies. sounds a little like rickets in humans--which is a vitamin deficiency. like naturestee said, 3 really isn't that old for a bunny. I know of two very good rabbit vets here in Madison, and it might be worth the drive. I've been to the UW vet school's clinic, which is excellent, and the East Towne Pet Clinic. other members here are in other parts of the state too. Here's our Library article on WI vets: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11639&forum_id=9

 

[johnsonfarm]

Thanks so much for the links, the closest vet I can find is Green Bay or Wittenburg, both about 2 hours south of us. The only thing I can think of after reading the articles is maybe cancer? But it's weird to show up in both bunnies isn't it? They aren't realated as far as I know, and I don't know how old the buck is, as I said he was dropped off, and I've had him for 2 years now.

They eat mostly timothy hay and pellets, with fresh veggie treats now and then. They also have mineral wheels that they lick. They are on wire floors but they have grass mats and wooden platforms, and they get outside time too.

Wow, that's good to know 3 isn't that old, I thought they only live 4-6 years. Maybe I should quarantine them untill we know what's going on.

 

[Maureen Las]

There are 2 things I want to ask about..

are the mineral blocks actually "Mineral" or are they the white salt blocks
the other thing that crossed my mind is that you said they have outdoor time.
Do you know what bot flies are?

Usually the larvae will burrow in and around the jaw or neck but I have seen them in other places on rabbits. If both rabbits are outside a lot it could be possible that the lumps are advanced stage bot fly larvae. if they are you would see a breathing hole in the middle of each lump with something moving inside the hole.
It probably is not that but it it would be worthchecking because we get cats at our shelter that are just full of them

you are in WI.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12921&forum_id=10

 

[johnsonfarm]

Yup, they're the brown mineral blocks.

They do have outside time too, so I'll do some more research on the bot fly thing. Only, wouldn't the abcesses go away after a while if it were bot flies?

 

[Maureen Las]

The flies don't always leave the rabbit in a neat little way emerging from the breathing hole.

They can cause a lot of damage (if that's what it is) and should be removed in one piece without being broken with a tweezers by an experienced person.

We had a rabbit at our shelter that had a bot larvae die inside the hole which caused an infection and had to be removed by a vet.

I don't want to be alarmist. it's really that i can't imagine why your rabbits would both get tumors on their legs.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

What happened with your bunner? I followed this thread.

Let us know!

 

[johnsonfarm]

My buck ended up being euthanized still not sure what my doe has. Will update when I know more.

 

[Maureen Las]

so sorry .................

 

[johnsonfarm]

UPDATE

My doe died as well, and one of my other bunnies mysteriously died as well, he stopped eating and drinking but no abcesses or loss of motion.

The reason I was given was old age.

I wish I lived somewhere with more vets around

I just hope it doesn't spread any further. So far so good.

 

[naturestee]

I'm so sorry.:sad:

The other bun that died- the one that stopped eating and drinking- could just have had GI stasis. Although there are a lot of different things that can cause a bun to stop eating (any sort of pain or illness really), spring and fall seem to be common times for GI stasis to crop up for no real reason. Some suspect it's from viruses or rabbits ingesting their hair when they molt.

Here's some info in case you notice the same thing in another of your rabbits. They can be nursed through it, depending on the actual cause. Vet treatment is prefered but that's obviously not an option where you live.:?

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

I still can't think of any reason why two unrelated animals should have such similar severe symptoms. Unless they are actually related, which could be possible. Did the doe come from someone in your area? The only way to get a better answer on what happened to them would have been to send their bodies to the vet college in Madison for a full necropsy (animal autopsy). That could get really expensive, and it's too late anyway.

Were you breeding the doe? If possible, I'd avoid breeding any of her offspring just in case. I don't have any actual breeding experience though so you can take that recommendation with a grain of salt.

I really hope this is over and none of your other rabbits get sick.ray:

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I am so sorry for your losses:sad:. I'm here if you need a friend.:hug:

 

[johnsonfarm]

Thank you so much for your advice and comfort, it means alot. I really really miss them and cried when my 3rd bunny (Mr. T)died, he was my favorite, and my brother in law even misses him and my 2 year old misses him too... he wanted to hold him and I told him that his bunny was gone, so he asked if he went for a ride in the car! I told him "something like that". That's so hard.

The first doe (Brownie) and the first buck (Sprout) I got from different people in our area, but I suppose it's possible they were related. I do have Brownie's daughter and I won't be breeding her anyway, I was keeping her quarantined as I thought maybe she could be a carriersince she had contact with her mom.