Sore Masses on Bun, Possibly Cancer?

[MsJuliet]

Hey there!
I have a wonderful feisty little beauty, Chewy. Chewy is a 9 year old female and is as happy as can be. One of the doctors I brought her to noted that she sure doesn't act like an older bunny- she seems to think she is younger and has a lot of vitality.
Chewy has always been delightfully happy and has been blessed with no health problems her whole life. Besides a scratch on the eye once that was easily treated with medicines and completely healed, she has never been sick or had any problems.
I brought her in a few months ago (3-4, maybe?) when I noticed she was having diarrhea and her urine had a slight pink tint to it. The vet thought it was a digestive infection and gave her a prescription for oral antibiotics. As soon as she started taking them, the diarrhea and tinted urine went away completely.
I noticed a scab on her back a few weeks ago, and my father and I concluded it was a pimple, and gave it time to see if it would heal and go away. In about 5-7 days, we noticed that it was not healing and that she had a small spot on her leg where there was very little fur, and the skin was pink. An appointment with the vet was made, and in that time we noticed that the leg wound was leaking pus and that she had a scabby type of bump in her chest area.

Once brought to the vet, the vet took a sample from the sore (all of the sores were actually lumps, like beign cysts) on her back and noted the possibility of some type of cancer, because of her age and that the mass on her back was red, tougher to the touch, and did not have much blood inside of it.

Lab results were inconclusive on if the masses were cancerous or not. My vet told me that it was some type of cancer, and that she would talk to other rabbit specialists about the course of action- removing the masses, putting her on steroids to control the growth of them were options.
In this time, I tried to get an appointment with Dr. Saver from Catnip and Carrots in Long Island, Ny but she was booked for a long time. I was recommended from there to Symphony Vet here in NYC.

I just brought Chewy there and she said the sores were suspicious looking because of the size of the cysts underneath the sores, and also because of the number of them, with one newly discovered one on the side of her mouth. She took another blood sample and they are in the lab now. She says she cant say what it is and has never seen anything like it.
Meanwhile, Chewy is the same- in great spirits as usual, her appetite is large as usual. She does nip at the sores sometimes, but I think just to groom them.

The vet has placed her on antibiotics for the time being, to prevent further infection in the sores and to see how she reacts. This new vet informed me steroids should never be used on bunnies.

Are there any of you who have seen similar cases or have any insight onto this situation? I just want Chewy to be as happy as can be and not have any suffering. My family and I have had a planned vacation in a week and I am so worried to leave her alone for the week- she will be fed and have someone give her medication, but I really want to be here to make sure she's okay.

thanks! sorry for the long post!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

My goodness, that is quite a bit of info. Scary the vet hasn't seen/heard of this.

Thanks for posting all that. Will be eager to know the lab tests now. I'm sorry you're having to endure all this. Hugs.

Keep us posted.

 

[tonyshuman]

I have not seen this before. I wonder if the sores were containing pus at all, which would indicate they were abscessed infections. Do you know what the stuff inside looks like?

It's true that steroids shouldn't be used on rabbits, so it sounds like you have a good vet on your side.

Sorry I can't offer any other info, I haven't seen this before. Best of luck to you guys, and I'm more than willing to help with any info I can offer! If you need any help figuring out what all the medical terms mean, I can help with that too.

 

[MsJuliet]

The vet did say that the one on her back looked a lot like a abscessed infection, but that the one on her knee looked more like a cyst because of the size of the mass underneath.

The second vet (and her current vet) picked off the scabs off her wounds during her visit. The one on her leg bled, and I did not see any pus come out of it. Same with the one on her back. The area around the sore on her back is a little shaved, and from what I understand it is just a hard pink bump that heals by creating very tough, hard scabs over it. However when she was at home before her vet visits, her leg sore was oozing pus here at home.

Do you know what they do to treat abscessed infections, if these are just that and pray to God nothing else? She is on an antibiotic that I don't have the name of right now, but I can find out again and post it.

Thank you so much for your response and help. Thanks for the hugs AngelnSnuffy! Much appreciated.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[MsJuliet]

I just realized she has two small pink sores on the underside of both of her paws. I am beside myself with worry. I feel terrible, they seem to just keep on popping up in places...the other ones did not worry me as much as she only seemed to nip at them to clean them, but if they are on the underside of her paws, then surely it must hurt when she digs/scratches in her cage, even walks?

:?

I just want some answers from the two doctors she is seeing now. I feel terrible sitting idle.

 

[MsJuliet]

I talked to the vet and the results have come back positive- it is some type of cancer, yet they cannot put a name to the type of cancer that it is.

I'm heartbroken, but Chewy is still as happy as ever. She has had a wonderful 9 years with perfect health and happiness, and I want to keep her that way for as long as possible.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

MsJuliet wrote:

I talked to the vet and the results have come back positive- it is some type of cancer, yet they cannot put a name to the type of cancer that it is.

I'm heartbroken, but Chewy is still as happy as ever. She has had a wonderful 9 years with perfect health and happiness, and I want to keep her that way for as long as possible.

Oh hon, I'm so very sorry. Yes, she's had a long life. Poor thing. :hug:

Good on you for checking into it.. .

 

[MsJuliet]

Thanks for the well wishes though, Chewy and I appreciate it.