mammary lumps

Question
Hi Dana,

We are a small, fledgling rescue located in Ontario dedicated to finding homes for "last chance" bunnies in shelters.  One of our newly arrived rabbits seems to have developed lumps  under all her nipples.  The two located closest to her rib cage appear to be largest.  

She is an adult bunny who is not spayed.  It is unlikely that she is pregnant.

We will of course be taking her to the vet but we were wondering what we should be expecting as far as a possible prognosis.  We have a few "medical" bunnies at the moment so we were hoping to put off her spay a little bit.  Could this be a false pregnancy or a hormonal imbalance?  Could spaying her be a possible treatment?

Thanks,

Kareen  

Answer
Dear Kareen,

If the mammary gland enlargements are soft and pliable, she may be lactating due to a false pregnancy (or a real one!).  

If the masses are firm, they could be either abscesses or infected glands (mastitis), or they could be mammary tumors.  The vet will be able to tell with a biopsy.

I hope it's nothing serious.

Mastitis can be treated with the antibiotics appropriate to the particular infection:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

Mammary cancer is a worse prognosis, of course.  But it would seem strange for her to develop tumors in *all* her breasts at once.  So I hope that's not it.  If it is, though excision of the tumors with good margins *and* spaying her would be the most aggressive treatment.

Good luck, and thank you for all the good you do!

Dana