jaw tumour

Question
QUESTION: I have a (almost) 2 year old female bunny. Just recently I noticed a lump developing on her jaw, close to her mouth. It has grown in size really rapidly and I am concerned that it might be cancerous. The lump doesn't not seem to be attached to the bone, it moves with the skin and it doesn't seem to bother her in any way. She has had multiple ear infections over the past year, could this have anything to do with the development of the tumor??

Also, if the tumor turns out not to be cancerous is it necessary to have it removed surgically??? I'm concerned that she won't survive surgery. As I live in South Korea and the vets don't seem to be too rabbit savvy.

ANSWER: Hi Bernice,

it is either a tumor or an abscess.  I would probably suspect abscess more so than tumor, as a general rule.  It is more common.  She could have cut or punctured the gum or mouth and a bit of infection could have set in, or some of the former bacteria she was dealing with found its way in there and caused an abscess.

It probably isn't a tumor.  Abscesses in rabbits are very hard and are a little pocket of pus.  Rabbit pus is a lot thicker than ours so what you are feeling is the abscess itself.

Bottom line is that you need to get her looked at by a competent rabbit vet.  I could not find any listings for known rabbit vets, but I did find this:

http://rabbits.meetup.com/cities/kr/

This is a page that has a listing of people in South Korea that are rabbit pet owners, broken down by city.  Often other rabbit owners have learned by word of mouth, which vets are good with rabbits.  I would suggest starting to contact some of these people in your immediate area and ask which vets they know of that are good at treating domestic pet rabbits.  

In the meantime I would get her some vitamin drops and add them to her water daily (or put a couple drops on her food pellets), to give her body a little boost.

Would appreciate hearing back from you with any good vets you find.  Good luck!  Lee



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Lee, thanks so much for your quick response. I've found a vet at the Chungbuk University animal hospital (in Cheongju, the city where I live) and apparently they've dealt with this before.

I have another question, not related to the previous one.
I will be moving to the UK in 7 weeks time and I have seriously considered moving my rabbits (I have 2 of them) to the UK to be with me. I've done quite a bit of research and found some excellent quarantine facilities. My concern is that my bunnies won't survive the move, the flight and the 6 month quarantine. I love them so much and am NOT looking forward to leaving them behind, but I feel that if I take them with, it will be for my benefit not theirs. I have friends that are willing to adopt them (at least for a year) and they are familiar with the high standard of care that I've given my gals.
So here is my question...given that I have a home for them to go to in Korea, would you advise that I leave them here, or do you think they'd survive such a hectic change in environment????

Answer
Hi Bernice,

I don't want to make that decision for you!!!  That's a biggie.

I'd say it depends.  It depends because of the trip, and quarantine.  If you cannot fly with them in a carrier next to you in the cabin I would probably not take them for fear they'd not survive the trip.  If you can't visit them in quarantine I probably would not take them because that may be just too hard to do and I would be worried they can't get the medical care you would desire they have if they have problems while in quarantine.  

On the positive side, if you can take them on the plane with you, together in a carrier, that would be good, and they could be together.  If the quarantine situation in the UK is acceptable to you and you think they will be able to get all the necessary care they need while quarantined, they probably will do alright because they will have each other (I assume they can stay together in the same holding cage).  Six months is a long time though.  It would also depend on how much contact you can have with them in quarantine.  If none or very little, I probably wouldn't take them.  

It's a tough decision but there are some practical factors here that may make the decision easier to make, as your first concern is what is best for them.

Lee