Invasive post surgery worry

[Lati]

Hey everyone,

We had some very bad news recently that our baby has cancer and that it is malignant. She's had one surgery to remove the lumps, the surgery should only have lasted 30 mins but due to the amount of tumors found she was under for 2 hours. We have to go back in a few weeks for her to have another operation and we can then see how aggressive it is and whether it is a good idea to continue having surgery.

My concern is that even though she seems fine and she is acting normal, eating, drinking, scratching and other normal bunny things but she is moving slower and more delicately, she seems to lose a bit of balance when she tries to clean and she isn't flopping which she used to do all the time, (I should point out the surgery was 2 weeks ago) and she is just not the same as before the surgery, obviously we know it takes time to recover but this is our first time dealing with this, we're scared and worried because she is our world.

Has anyone been through anything similar? Can anyone give us some information or tell us about their experience? We're just so worried and it's so upsetting seeing her this way.

 

[Musta-Eyolf-Pedes]

I've never gone through anything like that, but I can tell you that's a pretty major surgery. I wouldn't worry about how she's acting, even 2 weeks after something that invasive it'll still be tender. If you're really worried, it can't hurt to make an appointment just to have her checked up on.

 

[Aki]

I wouldn't be too worried about how she acts as long as she isn't showing signs of pain and continue eating / pooping normally. I'm guessing your rabbit had pain meds like Metacam for at least a week after surgery, didn't she? I would examine her, gently palpating her everywhere and watching the stiches to check there is no painful area / infection.
Some rabbits recover immediately when you do something unpleasant to them, while some others can feel wary or off-kilter for a pretty long time. I've never had to deal with cancer, but my doe (who can hide for hours after getting her nails trimmed) was skittish, refused anyone touching her backside (including other bunnies) and stopped grooming her lower belly for about a month and a half after her spay (she looked a fright, the amount of dead fur was astounding). I was very worried, because after his neuter, my buck was acting perfectly normal. But I think the experience just scared her... She went back to normal on her own in the end.
I hope it's just something like that in your case too...

 

[Lati]

Thanks for the info guys. She went to the vet yesterday and he said it's normal after such an invasive procedure, we're just worried about her and it's sad seeing her like this. Hopefully she'll be back to normal in a few weeks, she's only just turned 5 so it's come as a bit of a shock that she's so ill.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

After reading the first post I was wondering about the age. One of our boys went in for what we thought was a tooth problem. At the second surgery the vet determined it was bone cancer, so we gave him some antibiotics and kept him going for 3 more months--he was over 11. Another of ours just left for the bridge developed a soft lump behind his front leg--figured if it was a fatty tumor so it could be ignored mostly and if it was malignant we'd have to make that last trip to the vet that we all hate. He passed 3 months later and we think he was around 13--he was a rescue and we had over 12 years. To us it's about the quality of life--that's what you need to use as a measure on what to do,