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Large testicle

22 10:09:53

Question
Dana, i have had my rabbit for 4 years but we found him so we are not sure how old he is but he was rather old when we found him. Just recently(a week a go) i noticed one of his testicles was really big, when i checked him yesterday it felt big, warm and hard. when i checked it today it seemed a bit smaller but i'm not sure.  I have looked in my rabbit care book and it says it could be hutch burn but his hutch is quite  clean and gets cleaned out regularly and the testicle isn't scabby. I would really appreciate some information about it or some ideas of what it is before i go to the vets.
Thank you very much.

Answer
Dear Danielle,

This doesn't sound like "hutch burn" (whatever that's supposed to be; some of these "diseases" are made up by breeders, and they do little more than describe the condition of a neglected rabbit!), which isn't going to happen to a well pampered bunny like yours.  It is more likely that this is either testicular cancer or an abscess.  Either case would probably best be treated with a neuter, if your bunny is a good surgical candidate.

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and I'd recommend bloodwork and a complete physical to determine whether your boy is a good surgical risk.  Castration isn't a major operation (though males reading this might disagree!), and does not take long.  If he's in good health, it's probably in his best interest to remove the testicles and prevent this from ever being a problem again.

I hope this helps.

Dana