Old & maybe sick.

[Nummy]

Hello everyone.

I have a lovely 9 year old dutch rabbit. He is a lovely little guy I got as a rescue around 7 years ago. I noticed recently that he has a large lump on his stomach which the vet said was a fatty lump which is acording to her common for old rabbits. He also has dental issues and I discovered a abcess on his jawline aswell. I am starting to wonder if the "fatty" lump is an abcess too because he does not like it when it is touched. He recently had a bout of stasis which is quiet common for him, but I have to wonder if the slow down in his eating is becaus of his new lump on his stomach and his abcess on his jaw. The thing is, I am unsure if I should even consider any invasive surgery at his current age since he is already living a long life according to lifespan statistics. I fear a surgery will end up being the end of my little friend. I guess I am looking for some advice on what I should do in this situation. Should I just let him live on the way he is for as long as he can go provided he is not in any pain? He won't lay down in a relaxed position for a while, but I don't know if it is because of the lump or the stasis. He seems energetic for the most part, still humping his teddy and all lol. He is still bright eyed and as sweet as always just seems a little uncomfortable at times. I don't want to do surgey on him at all. I have read that rabbits are hard to treat for abcesses and they tend to reoccur. I don't really have the budget to do a big surgery that may not be successful 100%. I love my little guy and I just want to him to be his peaceful self in his old age. Any suggestions? What would you do at this point? :?

 

[Maureen Las]

I have an older rabbit who has a fatty lump on his side but it is not attached and is loose; it doesn't bother him at all although it is quite large. The vet biopsied the lump and was able to see only fat cells. Did your vet biopsy the lump? The process involoves placing a needle in the lump and examining a few cells from the lump under a microscope.
If your rabbit has dental issues they need to be addressed whether there is a jaw abscess or not because dental issues will cause discomfort in the rabbit and also abscesses
Some abscesses will respond to antibiotic therapy alone but not if theire are infected teeth or tooth roots
If the dental issues are severe you may not want extractions done but in the hands of an experienced animal dentist or vet he could still have molar trims ( if his lab work is OK and the vet feels that he would do well OK under anesthesia.)
I would not want to let a rabbit with dental problems just live out the rest of his days without intervention.


Also I would want to find out exactly what the lump is? if it is a malignancy and it was my rabbit I may just let him be ..

This is something that you definitely need to think over. Whatever... you don't want him to live his final days in pain.
if you doubt your vet try for a second opinion.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12548&forum_id=9

 

[Nummy]

Well the lump on his belly is quite large too. It is soft and squishy and movable. The vet did not do a biopsy on the lump but I could at least do that for him under a general anestetic I am guessing. He doesn't like his belly touched at all in any case I suppose nor his feet.
I am watching him tonight and he seems in a good mood. His eating is picking up since last Friday and he is being very cuddly. The vet that does his teeth said he has no teeth on the one side (not sure which side) but his dental issues have never been really severe, just had to get some trimmed/filed from time to time. He had an abcess before and it harded into bone or something or at least that is what I was told. The one I found though recently is movable and I am not sure if it causing any pain but I will have the vet do an exam on his teeth and check the abcess now that I discovered it. I will try medication for it at least, but I don't want to cut into him so to speak because I am scared it will stress him out to the point of death. Some of his teeth have actually fallen right out while at the vet while he is getting his teeth done. The vet said he has old man teeth lol. I will look into that at least.

How does your rabbits lump feel to the touch? is it firm or squishy? My rabbits lump is quite large, but he seems normal for the most part.

 

[Maureen Las]

My rabbit's lump is squishy ..and soft


They don't have to put a rabbit under anesthesia to get a a tiny amount off a needle to place on a slide

I haveseveral older rabbits and I would not be quick to do surgeries on them either.

 

[Nummy]

Good to know they don't need anestetic for the biopsy. Also I am comforted knowing your rabbits lump is also soft and squishy. I won't worry to death over it at least till I get a biopsy to rule out anything major. I am going to book him in to see the vet for his teeth too after the holidays as all the vets hours are all over the place. I hope my little guy is okay. He seems so... at least tonight he is. Thank-you for your response too, it's nice to be able to have someone to compare lumps with lol.