Lump on stomach

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Bunnylova4eva

Bunnylova4eva

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I just went out to pick Taffers up to let her out for some exercise. I was shocked to feel quite a large lump on her stomach, on her right side about where I think her liver is. It feels really big, about the size of maybe 1/3 of the palm of your hand (at least). It's really only on the one side of her tummy. I was thinking I guess it could just be fat, but it actually is really squishy and moves around when you touch it-it really feels like there's fluid or something there.
I don't know if I've totally been oblivious-for something this big to show up overnight seems kinda impossible. But whatever way you slice it, I'm worried now. Any ideas?

Oh, other info:

She's a 6 year old Mini rex. She isn't spayed, (and cancer was the first thing that came to mind when I felt the lump.) However, its further up on ehr tummy so I'm doubting its uterine cancer.
 
If it's an abscess, pp 85-7 of rabbit Health in the 21st Century is a great resource. It says that surgical removal usually is the best option, though not when the abscess is where that could endanger vital organs. Aftercare can involve a number of things, but the most common seems to be by using sutures around a drain.
 
Well I don't have Rabbit Health in the 21st Century, but I do have her other book "When your rabbit needs special care" which has been somewhat of a help.

Are abscesses commonly really soft like fluid or could something else be going on?

Is there a chance it is some sort of a fat deposit?
 
Bunnylova4eva wrote:
Are abscesses commonly really soft like fluid or could something else be going on?

Is there a chance it is some sort of a fat deposit?
Click to expand...

That's my impression of abscesses, but it's based on a case or 2 on people, not rabbits. And it sounds like they aren't the same, as it says in 21st that the rabbit stuff is the consistency of cream cheese or toothpaste. Ours are watery compared to that.

A fatty deposit, like a love handle? I have no idea, but doubt it unless the rabbit's generally overweight.
 
LakeCondo wrote:
Bunnylova4eva wrote:
Are abscesses commonly really soft like fluid or could something else be going on?

Is there a chance it is some sort of a fat deposit?
Click to expand...

That's my impression of abscesses, but it's based on a case or 2 on people, not rabbits.  And it sounds like they aren't the same, as it says in 21st that the rabbit stuff is the consistency of cream cheese or toothpaste.  Ours are watery compared to that.

A fatty deposit, like a love handle?  I have no idea, but doubt it unless the rabbit's generally overweight.
Click to expand...

Well, she is generally overweight (5 lb vs. I think the normal 4 lb for a mini rex) So I guess by fatty deposit, yeah I mean something like that maybe? I don't know if they could get a random liquidy fatty spot only on one side of their tummy though..?

Whatever the case, I scheduled her an appointment for her Monday. I'm just trying to figure out what it could be, and be sure I"m not taking her for no reason..
 
Doesn't sound like mammary cancer or something though, does it? Being that she's not spayed and all..yes, I'm worrying about her alot. I've noticed her panting ALOT. Maybe its the hot weather but even when Ripley isn't at all, she is. Maybe that's related.
 
Abscesses are usually filled with puss. Depending on where they are they can usually just be lanced and drained. Depending on how big they are or how deep their route is in the body determines if surgical drains need to be put in.

The doctor can also do a cytology or aspirate to see what kind of cells are involved and they will be able to tell if its a fatty deposit or something else and if it is needed to be removed if not an abscess.

As long as she is eating and pooping normally she can wait till monday. You might want to try taking her temperature as an increased temp can determine if there is an infection present such as whats involved with an abscess.

According to the Mercks Vet Manual
"Normal body temperature is 103.3-104°F. Body temperature <100.4°F or >105°F is cause for concern."
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/171313.htm

Animals do not have to be overweight to get fatty lipomas. They usually crop us when an animal is older but is a bigger concern with breeds that are prone to getting cancers especially in dogs. Heres some reading about them
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/72220.htm
And they can just show up on one side.

Mammary tumors are only on the mammary glands and if this mass is no where near her nipples then it is not a mammary tumor
 
Thanks for the links- very interesting. I've never taken their temps before (our vet seems to not recomend it in order to not have us injure them though I've heard you all on here talk about it plenty..)

I'm not sure if its a Mammary tumor-is is definitly near her nipples. Its really big as well as fluidy feeling. It seems if it were an abscess though, the puss would make it feel alot harder. Maybe not though.

According to the merck link, maybe it is a fatty lipomas-that sounds maybe similar. I didn't fully understand from that though if the fatty lipomas have a different feel or look differentiating them??

This is just driving me crazy knowing there's something going on; I can't wait to get her the vet so I know exactly what we're dealing with.
 
Headed out to the vet. :pray:
 
Ok, we're back from the vet and I thought I'd give an update:

She definitly was able to feel the lump on Taffy-she agreed with it being around the mammary gland, but said the mammary gland doesn't look bad. She decided to aspirate and send it to the lab to be looked at & said resluts will be probably back in the next 3 days.
 
Well, a step taken toward an answer.

I haven't mastered it, but you can take the temp from one of those electronic thermometers where you don't actually touch the rabbit. You have to be consistent exactly how far away from the skin & exactly where, & I find that a problem.
 
I hope you get some good news about it. It sounds like an abscess based on what you described.

We woke up one morning when our Hunny was 5 weeks old to find that half her body was nothing but a huge lump. We called the vet and met him in his office on a Sunday afternoon. He spent over an hour working on clearing her out. It was just awful. He wasn't sure if she would survive and kind of told us not to get our hopes up. At 5 weeks she was the tiniest in the litter, 1/2 the size of her siblings in weight (we took the whole litter to be checked out because we found one dead that morning too and the lump on Hunny). Anyway, our girl is a fighter. She hung in there but 7 months later we were still fighting the abscess. Woke up one morning and it was a hard knot as opposed to the soft squishy feeling of the abscess. I rushed her to the vet. She had to be put under anesthesia so that they could excise it and take a look at what was going on. They called me when she was on the table and said that the infection had eaten in to her muscle and in order to remove all of the infection they had to remove all of the muscle. If they left the leg it would, essentially, be dead and 'floppy'. We agreed that amputation would be best for her. She already had a splay leg because of the infection, it occurred right around the same time. She had never seemed handicapped despite not really having use of her leg so her not having a leg wouldn't be much different. She did awesome and everyone at the clinic fell in love with her. She's amazing. :)
 
Ok, I have somewhat of an update:

We haven't gotten the results back for Taffy yet, but there are some things I've definitly noticed in the mean time..I don't know whether to think its good or bad. So the day after we took her to the vet, I noticed the lump seemed a good bit smaller and slightly harder.

Then yesterday when I was holding her, I noticed it was substantially smaller still, but also alot harder-like MyJuneAngel describer- a hard knot.

So I really don't know, I'll probably just wait and see what the test shows when they call and I'll give them an update then.
 
Getting it tested was definitely the right call and there isn't much else you can do until you know what it is. My Fiona had a mammary tumor (she was spayed when we adopted her from the shelter, but we don't know how old she was at the time). We had it surgically removed (~$500) and she lived a year or so after that before we had to put her down because the cancer had spread.
 
Well, I've got an "official" update now; the vet called earlier today while we were out and left a message.

So it sounds like there was no sign of cancer-YAY!(the vet did say it could be the start of something cancerous however so we need to watch that). It showed some sort of Cystic Fluid, and a sign of milk protein so I'm wondering if that maybe has to do with Taffy's nesting recently (she's never been bred or anything).
So for now, the vet said we could do surgery to remove it and send the entire thing to the lab, or wait and if it grows bigger we could remove it. I need to give her a call back and let her know that it has shrunk ALOT in size, a now seems like a little knot.
 
Here we are, several weeks later, and Taffy's tummy lump is back. Should I worry? I guess I can let the vet know and see what she thinks. Before, she told me to monitor it and I told her it went away. Blahh, I thought we were finally through with these issues.

Oh, plus-her sore hocks came back so I've gotta get that better (that's just more of a general rant..her feet have been great since last fall but she's dealt with sore hocks so much. :p )
 
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