multiple tumors in many rabbits

[nuttymeg]

I have 8 english angoras. 3 males 5 females. Three of my girls in the past year have had tumors,first one last july had a mammary tumor,it was removed with a spay. Last month my 2 year old started having bloody urine,not mixed it was distinctly red pooled in the middle of urine. She went in for a spay. Now just 3 days ago i was trimming the first bunny as she was going in to remove a recurring tumor from last year,well while trimming her i found 2 more so 3 in total. Called the vet and decided at that time we would not do anything until we do xrays/ultrasound to see if its anywhere else. So my other girl took her place at the vet for a mammary mass. That mass ended up being a cyst and she too was spayed. Her ovaries were covered in cysts.

I am beginning to question why the high rate of tumors in my girls. Its been suggested i put them on a non gmo feed,but here in Canada that is pretty much impossible to find. If i were to make my own feed for them what supplements should i be adding. From what ive read cysts like what my girl had on her ovaries is pretty rare. It wasnt something i expected,she was very very round,she looked pregnant. I am attaching photos of her surgery,one is graphic.

 

[LolaE]

I'm not too sure of your specific situation, but risk of ovarian cancer and related tumours/illness is pretty high for unspayed female rabbits. If you spayed your female rabbits, it might dramatically decrease the likelihood of them developing tumours, cysts, and the like (unless there is actually something else causing it in your case). It sounds like your sick rabbits are all at least a couple years old and unspayed, which puts them in that high-risk category. How did the rabbits fare after being spayed? Did the tumours come back, or did that seem to solve most of their health concerns?

I'm sorry to hear about your trouble--I hope they're all holding in there alright.

 

[JBun]

It could be the breed. An old research study found that there were certain rabbit breeds that were very prone to developing uterine cancer, particularly as they age and get older. So that could be what's going on with your rabbits. That the breed is especially prone to it. It could also have to do with the genetic line if all 3 does are related. Now if you were also having issues with the males, I would say an environmental factor or a problem with contaminated food or water was more likely the cause.