DeepSeaGoddess
Well-Known Member
Ok, it is me again! Seems like I'm always asking the questions out here but not providing any help! I attribute it to that I've only had rabbits for about6 months now.
This time, I'm looking for opinions as if what would you do if it was your rabbit? Here's the details:
For my female rabbit whom I rescued from the outdoors last November, 3 weeks ago, we noticed a small lump behind her front right leg....almost like it is in her 'armpit'. It was not there a month before as we had held her to trim her claws and would have noticed it. It is about the size of a golf ball. We immediately took her to the vet who examined it. It was 'soft and squishy', not really hard, and did not appear to be attached to anything. She did not think it was characteristic of a cancerous tumor or anything. She thought it could possibly be a hematoma. Well, that day, she aspirated it to look at some of the cells. She did see some blood in it and when she looked at the cells under a microscope, she didn't see anything abnormal. So, at that time, she recommended watching it for 2 weeks to see if it went away on its own.
I took her back for the follow up last week as it was still there.
It has not really gotten any bigger or anything. This time, we saw a different vet who basically said we have two options: 1) remove it via surgery and have it analyzed or 2) aspirate again but send the cells to a pathologist to analyze. She mentioned that this may come back inconclusive.
We didn't want to just immediately put her through surgery without at least seeing if the pathologist would be able to determine anything. So, we opted for option 2.
Last night, the vet called with the results. The pathologist has seen inflammatory cells amongst fat cells in the sample they have. Although they did not see any cancerous cells or anything, they cannot rule out soft tissue sarcoma because the sample they had was small.
So, my option now is to leave it alone or go through the surgery to remove it. It is a tough decision because of the risks associated with anesthesia to remove it.
I do not know how old she is. I know she is at least 2 because several neighbors told me she had been living outside for a year or longer. I had her spayed in January and she recovered just fine......after going through issues with her pulling stitches out and then staples out for several weeks post-surgery but, she finally recovered fine.
Her activity level is fine. She eats fine, drinks water, poops, eats her hay, and other than this, appears to be fine. It does not appear to really bother her. She weighs 9 pounds now.....she has gained 1 1/2 pounds since the last time at the vet in January.
So, I'm looking for opinions or advice from you guys knowing you have way more experience with rabbits than me! What would you do?:? I just do not know what the right decision is. In addition, the vet is also on the fence. She said if it was a dog or cat, absolutely take it out but, for exotics, there is the risks associated with the anesthesia.
Thanks so much again for reading this and listening....
Renea
This time, I'm looking for opinions as if what would you do if it was your rabbit? Here's the details:
For my female rabbit whom I rescued from the outdoors last November, 3 weeks ago, we noticed a small lump behind her front right leg....almost like it is in her 'armpit'. It was not there a month before as we had held her to trim her claws and would have noticed it. It is about the size of a golf ball. We immediately took her to the vet who examined it. It was 'soft and squishy', not really hard, and did not appear to be attached to anything. She did not think it was characteristic of a cancerous tumor or anything. She thought it could possibly be a hematoma. Well, that day, she aspirated it to look at some of the cells. She did see some blood in it and when she looked at the cells under a microscope, she didn't see anything abnormal. So, at that time, she recommended watching it for 2 weeks to see if it went away on its own.
I took her back for the follow up last week as it was still there.
It has not really gotten any bigger or anything. This time, we saw a different vet who basically said we have two options: 1) remove it via surgery and have it analyzed or 2) aspirate again but send the cells to a pathologist to analyze. She mentioned that this may come back inconclusive.We didn't want to just immediately put her through surgery without at least seeing if the pathologist would be able to determine anything. So, we opted for option 2.
Last night, the vet called with the results. The pathologist has seen inflammatory cells amongst fat cells in the sample they have. Although they did not see any cancerous cells or anything, they cannot rule out soft tissue sarcoma because the sample they had was small.
So, my option now is to leave it alone or go through the surgery to remove it. It is a tough decision because of the risks associated with anesthesia to remove it.
I do not know how old she is. I know she is at least 2 because several neighbors told me she had been living outside for a year or longer. I had her spayed in January and she recovered just fine......after going through issues with her pulling stitches out and then staples out for several weeks post-surgery but, she finally recovered fine.
Her activity level is fine. She eats fine, drinks water, poops, eats her hay, and other than this, appears to be fine. It does not appear to really bother her. She weighs 9 pounds now.....she has gained 1 1/2 pounds since the last time at the vet in January.
So, I'm looking for opinions or advice from you guys knowing you have way more experience with rabbits than me! What would you do?:? I just do not know what the right decision is. In addition, the vet is also on the fence. She said if it was a dog or cat, absolutely take it out but, for exotics, there is the risks associated with the anesthesia.
Thanks so much again for reading this and listening....
Renea
