Mystery Lump – Thoughts needed!

[Sam_go]

My girl Jaina has a lump on her jawline. Now I know what you’re thinking! Abscessed tooth!! Its been ruled out already. I had two vets look at it already and both agree its not an abscessed tooth. It didn’t respond to antibiotics, her jaw motion while chewing is normal, and it doesn’t cause any pain when touched. 

I first took her to our primary vet, then had the “exotics” vet at the animal hospital I work at look at it as well. Our primary took x-rays as well, and was stumped. She advised (and the vet I work with agreed) that we leave the lump alone. The only real solution would be to operate and have it removed, which would have risks and could cause issues down the line from scar tissue and such. 

We didn’t go to the specialist. I honestly don’t have the money for it, and since both agreed that the best course (and easiest on her) would be to leave it alone, I took their advice.

I’ve since adopted a second bun (they’re not bonded yet, we’re working on it.) I’ve noticed that Nymeria eats and drinks like three times as much as Jaina does… And I’ve now noticed that their poops are different. Nym’s are slightly moist and break apart easy, while Jaina’s are hard, a lot smaller, and difficult to break apart. 

I’ve already started calling local exotic hospitals for their pricing so I can begin planning… But I wanted to ask if you guys think I could continue to let this be. She eats normally, and honestly has a much stronger drive for people food than rabbit food. I was a very lenient bun-mom when I first got Jaina, I had no idea what I was getting into, and was so under-prepared for what I took on. And my Jaina is the most stubborn, opinionated, and down right beotchy animal I have ever met. If I’m eating something, she’ll jump a 5 ft gap from the back of the couch to my lap just to steal some food. Sometimes I wish I had an “easier” bun as my first, but I love her to the moon and back and wouldn’t trade my beotchy-bun for anything <3

Sorry for the rambling, let me know what you guys think though!! I’m going to be re-doing my budget soon, and if you guys think I should bring her in sooner, then I’ll adjust accordingly!!!

[Bam]

Has the lump increased in size since you first noticed it? Malignant lumps tend to grow faster than benign lumps.

As for poop and appetite – no 2 buns are the same. If Nymeria eats more (and she should, since she’s named after a dire-wolf) esp fibrous food like hay, her poop will be bigger and more brittle than Jaina’s. When I had two buns, their poop and eating preferences were not the same. Individual differences between buns are normal, it’s changes within the same bunny that can have a significance. Like if Jaina used to eat more and have bigger poop and that’s nolonger the case.

My Bam does that types of leaps for food too. He will fly through the air for hoomin snacks. He once landed smack in a plate of baked butternut squash =) Bunnies don’t readily take no for an answer =)

[jerseygirl]

Maybe have it biopsied? Is the lump covered in fur or looking bare now?

If she is producing some smaller, dry poop, having her sedated and inside her mouth checked out thoroughly wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Do the buns drink from a water bottle or bowl?

[Sam_go]

The lump has grown, then shrunk (to the point that I couldn’t feel it anymore,) and now its back.

Jaina used to eat more, and its decreased over time. It was slow enough that I didn’t really notice all her changes until I got Nym (who does eat as much as a direwolf!!) It got really bad after Jaina caught bordatella. I work at an animal hospital and we were having a kennel cough outbreak, and I didn’t know that the same strain of bordatella that dogs get is the ones that rabbits get… aaaand I brought the virus home on my clothes and she caught it. Not exaggerating, but she came extremely close to dying. Went for a total of 36 hours without pooping, and 48 without eating. She was stable when I went to bed, and really really bad when I woke up. Her nose was so snotty her whole face was wet, and you could hear all the mucus in her lungs as she struggled to breathe. When I syringe fed her Critical Care, she didn’t even try to eat it… she just let it dribble out of her mouth. We spent two days doing syringe feedings every few hours until her attitude started to reappear and she eventually got better and started eating.

Could that whole event put her off hay somehow…?

She is stasis-prone. Even with me brushing her in shedding season (I do my best, she hates physical contact that she’s not in the mood for,) she still ends up ingesting enough hair to string her poops together. But even when that’s not flaring up, she still has very hard, dark, dry poops…

Jerseygirl: she has a bowl. Its one of those gravity-filling ones that she can’t flip. My thoughts initial thoughts were that its a dehydration issue, but switching from bottle to bowl didn’t help.
The lump is covered in fur. It feels like its attached to her jawbone. Its firm, but not as firm as bone, but still has some give to it. Doesn’t cause her any pain when touched, pressed, or messed with in any way. It just annoys her because she’s a diva

Nym has a bottle still. We’re still working on the bonding process so they’re not together yet.

Oh and the poops/eating hasn’t changed since I got Nym. If anything Jaina has become a bit better about some eating aspects. She’ll eat the healthier pellets now because she one saw me giving them to Nym and got all upset when I gave her pellets from a different bag…. Like I said, total diva

[Sam_go]

I haven’t been able to change her hay type yet. I want to get the sampler from Small Pet Select, but money is fairly tight right now. I called up a few local exotic specialist’s offices and gotten their office visit fee, so I’m starting to set aside what I can to take her in

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