Has anyone seen a lump like this on their bunny before?

[Cricketke]

I have been greatly neglecting the holding and one on one time with my pair of buns for a bit. My husband and I were trimming their toenails the other day and noticed that Cream had this growth on her neck. I'm afraid it is some kind of cancerous growth. Problem is, I just buried my dad and that took all of my extra money. Now I have to wait for a few weeks until my husband's check comes closer to Christmas before I can get her in to the vet. I lost a previous bun to kidney cancer and it was so hard on this pair, I can't imagine how hard it would be on Cookies if we lost Cream. I rescued the pair from an apartment complex where someone had just thrown them out in KC. It was in July and the kid's easter bunnies were no longer cute and cuddly, I guess. They sure weren't equipped to live in the wild. Some of the tenants that helped in the catch, said they had seen them out for 4 days. Here are some pics of Cream's growth. It is dry, with no drainage. I think Cookies licks it though. 

 

[Mileybun]

So sorry to hear about your dad
I wonder if it could be a cyst, or possibly an abscess
Does it move freely with the skin, or does it feel firmly attached to the structures underneath?

 

[JBun]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

That actually looks like it might be a botfly, especially if there seems to be a hole there at the top and because of the bulbous shape. Good thing is they can be removed, though it needs to be done correctly to not risk crushing the larvae and releasing toxins, preferably by an experienced rabbit vet if you want to be absolutely safe. Your rabbit may also need meds if there's a secondary bacterial infection.

Medirabbit: botfly

If this doesn't appear to be a botfly but more possibly an abscess, facial abscesses are most often caused by a dental infection.

Medirabbit: facial abscesses

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Abscesses
Or if a possible tumor, it may not necessarily be cancerous.

To me, that has the closest appearance of a botfly, but that's just a guess. It would take a proper examination by a rabbit vet to determine the actual cause of the lump.

https://rabbit.org/veterinarians/

 

[Mileybun]

@JBun I had no idea about that - we don't get those here!
Well you learn something new everyday. And a bit gross, poor bun
At least it's easy to remove, if that's what it is!

 

[Cricketke]

It is freely moving with the skin, it isn't red at all around it. I don't know if it would be a botfly. My buns are never outside, since they were rescued a year and half ago. I've dealt with them on cows, but never bunnies. The ones we had in the barns as kids never got botflies bites/ larvae.

It is firm and doesn't seem to cause her any pain or discomfort when I mess with it, other than "Mom quit messing with my neck bump already. Cookies (her sister} said it's fine."

 

[rabbit_friend]

Just saw this post today, and wanted to say that my bunny had a very similar-looking lump near his eye in 2019. It was hard, looked terribly weird, and was getting bigger. Given the very tricky location, I was very concerned about doing surgery, but since it looked so gnarly, I was more concerned about it being cancerous and, even if not, growing to impinge on his eye. My vet did an amazing job removing it December 2019, almost exactly 4 years ago. It was not malignant and has never recurred. He did have another soft lump under a front arm 2 years later, which I also had removed. That bunny is now 11-1/2.

From the path report on the eye lump:
COMMENT:
Follicular infundibular cysts are common skin lesions and consist of
cystic hair follicles filled with abundant keratin. They commonly
present as solitary intradermal or subcutaneous nodules. Cysts are
typically covered by intact epidermis unless ruptured, which can
result in ulceration and secondary bacterial infection. Complete
excision, achieved here, is considered curative.

Another one of my bunnies had a lump under his armpit that several vets declared as benign. I tried to get them to remove it several times, since it was getting bigger, but they said it wasn’t necessary and might be risky given that he also had a respiratory infection. Within a year it grew so large that he could not get up from lying down and we had to have him put down. So I am very committed to removing any lumps as soon as possible!