Rabbit with tumour

Question
dear Dr. Kremple, My rabbit Cuddle (5 years old), a Netherland Lop has been diagnosed with bladder tumor. Her abdomen is big and distended and I can feel the tumor about the size of a golf ball. She was given meloxicam 0.1ml daily. She is still active, clean herself and play with her friend BunBun. Lately I notice she is getting more anorexic even though she still has good appetite.I feed her hay, parsley, carrots, salad leaves not head lettuce , bananas and apples.
It is very sad to see her lose her weight. There might be a possibility that the tumor shrink and the vet said he can then operate on her.
Please I need your help , if you know any ways of slowing down the weight loss or any foods that can make her gain weight.

Thank you so much for your help.

sincerely,
Lisa Low from Vancouver, Canada

Answer
Dear Lisa,

The tumor takes energy to grow, and it is taking its toll on your bunny.  If the vet is sure this is a bladder tumor and NOT a uterine cancer, then it might be too risky to operate.  However, if the choices are to surgically remove the tumor vs. allowing her to waste away from the cancer, then I would opt for the surgery, as long as it is clear that there are no other tumors spread to other areas of her body.  If that is the case, then it would not help to remove the primary tumor.

IF she is not spayed, then I really would wonder if this might be a uterine tumor, as these are much more common in unspayed females than bladder tumors.  In either case, I hope you can find a vet with enough expertise to remove it.  I hope you can find a rabbit-savvy vet here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana