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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Seeking Advice Cancer V. Abscess

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    • Hi Everyone,

      I have searched this site in the past for some various questions however, I have yet to post. I got some upsetting news about one of my boys today, so I am seeking advice. I am the Mom to two bunnies, Blake and Braxton, both 3 year old neutered New Zealand mixes. Blake and Braxton came from a meat rabbit hoarding situation at just a few months old. They were skinny, under-socialized and a hot mess. Braxton doesn’t look anything like a New Zealand, he looks like a Black Dutch however, I know he is a biological brother to masses of the hoarding situation which was predominately your typical New Zealand.. Since I got them both as babies, Braxton has always had a sensitive tummy so I keep him on an extremely limited pellet diet, and of coarse  greens and unlimited Hay. He needs occasional teeth trims to keep his tummy happy, I am used to his normal behaviors and I have him thankfully on a pretty good routine.

      Blake on the other hand has faced many medical issues and today was no exception. When I got Blake his nose was caked with green discharge, he was skinny and sneezed frequently. 3 vets, 4 medications, a culture and a nasolacrimal flush while he was neutered and I finally got his nose issues under control. His culture was positive for Pastuerella, so I knew it would be a lifelong struggle but we actually were doing well. Since his neuter at like 8 months, I haven’t had to repeat meds, he had an occasionally sniffly period but nothing serious, and it always was in check before the vet wanted to begin meds. Then, this May he developed an abscess. I noticed it, that same day we were at the vet and the next day, in surgery. My vet was able to remove the entire abscess and x-rays did not locate a problem tooth, nor did they locate obvious bone involvement. We did extended antibiotics and he healed amazingly well.

      Now, rewind to a few weeks ago. Both bunnies were in for their 6 month tooth checks and on exam, the vet noticed that Blake’s eyes appeared not symmetrical in the sockets, it was not noticeable until she mentioned it, and this was on second exam as we were talking about his great healing. We started antibiotics in case it was an abscess starting again, and she told me to watch then for a few days then we would reassess. Well a couple days went by and I noticed it looked a little worse. We continued antibiotics and ran eye pressures which were up in the bigger eye. We started glaucoma drops, which seemed to provide him some relief as he got peppier after starting them however, the eye physically looked the same. At this point my Vet referred me out to someone with extensive surgical exotics specialty. My primary vet is an exotics specialist but due to the location, she preferred an alternate opinion.

      I went to the specialist last week and we could not find hints of an abscess via exam, no hard areas around the eye, jaw, etc. and a normal oral exam. He pulled him from antibiotics to try to get any infection to show itself, and we were slated for x-rays, blood work and potential surgery today. Bloodwork was normal, a mild high liver value but nothing the vet was concerned with, and white blood cell counts that were a low average. Beyond that, x-rays showed no evidence of any dental issues. He even sent them out for radiologist interpretation and received the same result, nor could they pinpoint a retrobulbar abscess. There is note of early bone damage possible on the x-rays and inflammation around the eye is present however, not enough so for the vet to warrant surgery, as he doesn’t want to go in blindly.

      His guess is that this is some type of cancer or mass behind the eye rather than an abscess due to the localized area that it encompasses, good bloodwork  and no dental involvement at all. He recognizes that it may be a thickly encapsulated abscess but worries about surgical access due to the location.

      He is recommending a CT scan which is obviously very expensive and he estimates as 20-30% change that we find something ‘fixable’ through this, rather just to confirm this not a good situation. I am calling tomorrow to get an appointment for a  3rd opinion from another exotics vet. However, I seeking to see if anyone has dealt with a bulging eye, and what was the outcome?

      Blake is acting great. He is spunky, eating well, no tummy issues and is his normal happy self. I hate to not try everything and anything but the vet is worried about putting him through a surgery to open him and find nothing that he can help take out, and I agree. Any guidance is GREATLY appreciated.


    • BB & Tiny
      Participant
      637 posts Send Private Message

        I don’t have any experience with rabbits and eye issues such as this, however my cat had cancer in his eye. I took him in because the color of his eye had darkened. They said it looked inflamed and prescribed drops without checking the eye pressure. He then developed glaucoma and was put on those drops also.

        Upon repeated check ups his eye pressure continued to be high and he was officially blind in that eye.

        It turned out he had a cancerous tumor in his iris. Had they bothered to check his eye pressure before the first drops we could of skipped time, stress, worry and expense and had his eye taken out much earlier. The only symptom of this particular tumor was an increase in eye pressure and the discoloration of the iris.

        Do they continue to monitor the pressure ?

        So sorry you and your bunny are experiencing this.

        Hopefully other member have some experience to offer you.


      • Kokaneeandkahlua
        Participant
        12067 posts Send Private Message

          Welcome-and thank you for the great care you are providing these two rabbits!! You are clearly special to take on two such deserving cases!

          It sounds like the eye pressure was up and glaucoma drops worked. But I’m not clear -was glaucoma ruled out? When I was first reading I was thinking this sounds like glaucoma….we had a dog with glaucoma, many trips to a veterinary specialist, but it did have to be removed. And that solved that. I hope that’s what you are dealing with-has glaucoma been ruled out?


        • tobyluv
          Participant
          3310 posts Send Private Message

            There is a member here who has a rabbit that had cancer of the eye. She never said how the cancer was diagnosed, but maybe you could send her a message and ask about it, and see if her bunny’s case sounds similar to Blake’s. Her name is guineapig724.

            Welcome to Binky Bunny. I hope that Blake will be okay.

          • Thank you everyone for your warm welcome and insight! It is greatly appreciated! I am glad you all have shared your stories with me and I will plan to message the member with the bunny who had eye cancer.

            To add some more information regarding glaucoma. We only did the eye pressures when we started the drops. I feel the drops made him feel better, he acts great and has, but his weight is down slightly since this ordeal. I feel that prior to this all, he has calmed down. He has always been a fiesty guy, neutering didn’t slow him down a second! Lol! So when he started the eye meds, he tried to jump of our his pen, and just an some antics I hadn’t seen for a while, which I attributed to age, which could be the case, but I am not sure. I have Metacam ready for him but the vet rather I not start it until needed.

            However, even on the drops, the eye never looked better. Still bulging, which I know can happen with glaucoma but it is still every susceptible to light and movement, no cloudiness, etc. The specialist I just saw was prepared for enucleation when I made my appointment and when he saw the health of the eye (minus size) he wanted to look inwards for an issue. It sounds to be that it’s the X-rays which lead him away from glaucoma, they make it seem like something is going on behind the eye.

            He told me I can continue my drops or stop them. He doesn’t feel like they are doing any good nor bad. I may just try them till I can get in with the other vet to be sure. I didn’t do them last night because coming out of anesthesia his little eyes are always sensitive.

            I feel like the second vet, said he never even would have though glaucoma, that was more my primary vet who had that idea. I have read quite a few stories of glaucoma buns and it seems like they do fairly well even with removal. So, I definitely want to review that option with the other vet as well. However, the latest vet did not feel that is what we are dealing with unfortunately.

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        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Seeking Advice Cancer V. Abscess