I feel like an idiot, I could have checked Apollo’s butt, lol!

I have to go to work but I’ll try to compare butts when I get home, if Luna’s is swollen I’ll make a vet appointment for her.

Ok, so I’ve compared butts, lol. I must say that for such a white bunny Apollo has such a snowy white bottom! There is definitely something going on with Luna’s though. When I press lightly next to it it “expands” in the sense of pushing out as if there was a poop but without any straining or poop, a reaction I didn’t get from Apollo. Almost as if it is a little loose or something. When it does that, there’s the normal pink flesh but then on one side there’s some red flesh as if there was a little internal hernia or something. It’s tough to explain.

It doesn’t look like pictures I’ve seen of a prolapse but perhaps it could be the early stages of one? I don’t know. In any case, we now have a vet appointment set for Saturday morning so I can ensure there’s nothing too serious developing. There’s been no change in her eating habits and as far as I can tell no change in her poop habits either.

I just can’t help but wonder if this is new or I’ve just never noticed it before when checking her bottom fur.

Thanks Wick

Yes, the picture quality wasn’t great Hemorrhoids is certainly another option, thanks for the suggestion. Will have to do some reading

That’s another interesting thought, thanks for that. Medirabbit has a page on that and I must say that reading the description of the papilloma as a cauliflower or bunch of grapes does remind me of what I saw on Luna. I’ll have to have another look but it was somewhat bumpy/bubbly in design. From what I’m reading papilloma seem to be somewhat common in regards to rectal lumps and bumps as well. The other option is a polyp.

The more I read the more I get the sinking feeling that this could result in surgery. At the very least her lump is still quite small compared to what I’ve seen of online images, probably because it’s not actually protruding yet so I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been properly checking her butt.

I’m going to drive myself crazy waiting for the vet visit on Saturday. Couldn’t go today because hubby needed the car for work, and tomorrow is a public holiday. At least it’s not an emergency and she’s acting normal in all regards.

ETA: Call me crazy, I don’t know how fast these things grow, but I’m sure it looks bigger today than it did yesterday.

Yes I figured it’s been caught quite early given there were no other symptoms and I really had to be looking. Laser removal would be ideal but we’ll have to wait and see. Appointment is tomorrow morning. She’s still her normal self although somebunny peed outside the tray earlier today, I’m not sure who it was. That usually only happens if I leave it an extra day before cleaning but I cleaned it out yesterday so I’m wondering if it may have been Luna, though I have seen her in the tray multiple times today.

Admittedly I had a bit of a shock today, browsing facebook someone posted photos because their rabbit was also swollen down there. The first comment was “Vet ASAP, could be myxo.” I read it, my brain took a few seconds to process and then I had a brief panic as I realised that I never even considered that for Luna and I could have put them both at risk by not being more thorough about other symptoms of that and being more urgent about a vet appointment. But then I remembered that I’ve checked her over multiple times, her ears aren’t swollen, her eyes don’t have discharge. She is greedy as ever for food, pooping well and moving around easily. Plus, I’ve seen the growth down there. So then I breathed a sigh of relief. But I sure gave myself a scare

Ok, so we went to the vet. Apart from her butt, Luna is a picture of health (she weighed exactly the same as her vet visit for vaccination in August)

The vet called her growth a polyp, she pressed around to make her rectum pop out more so that she could try and see where it started, but she couldn’t see the entire polyp. She said surgery is the best option, the other option is no surgery which probably eventually requires surgery anyway when it keeps growing and potentially blocks her from pooping properly etc. So surgery it is. I could wait to see if it grows more, but if it does grow more she may end up in pain and stop pooping or eating so then I’ll have a bunny needing surgery that’s in stasis, not ideal.

The complications with surgery are that at present she has no way of knowing how far it extends. It may finish a few mm further in than what she could see, however she said it could potentially have a stem that continues an extra 10cm. If it’s only localised to that area they can easily do non-invasive surgery to remove it. If the polyp extends in (which they won’t know until she’s under) there’s the possibility that A) they remove it via invasive surgery, or B) they aren’t able to do the op at all (surgeon’s call). If they can’t do the op they then refer me to an actual Exotic specialist vet that I know (I don’t go there normally except for Dory because it’s a pain for me to get to and my vets are rabbit savvy for most things). Which brings me to the other point that I could just get a referral straight to the exotic vet for the surgery and skip the attempt at the local vet, even if it ends up being a simple non-invasive procedure.

I was quoted an estimate of roughly $420-550 for the op at my local office plus $210 for pathology on the lump to check for cancer etc. I suspect the estimate for the Exotic vet will be a little higher but probably only roughly maybe $100 or so more.

The money is not really a concern, I can afford it. And I think the no-brainer answer is just to take the referral to the specialist and have the op done there. Thoughts? It’s not that I don’t trust my vet, because I do trust them with bunnies, just the potential for not being able to perform or complete the surgery and then Luna having 2 anesthetics instead of 1 worries me.

Additional update. Long story short I decided to take the exotics referral. I rang the exotic vet and they had an appointment free today for midday, so I thought “that’s great, I won’t have to work it around work another day next week in addition to surgery”. Except then I got off the phone and remembered the forecast temperature. I don’t know about you guys, but two vet visits on a 42C degree day is not my idea of fun.

So with fresh leafy greens (which they didn’t eat), frozen water bottles, and towels for shade we set off to the vet with the air con blasting in the foot well for the bunnies, and me sweltering in the heat up near the roof of the car

The exotics vet was a bit more mean to Luna and actually stuck a lubricated q-tip up on in there to try and “evict” the polyp a little to get a better look at it, poor thing lol. Luna was super well behaved. Same diagnosis except she also gave me an anti-inflammatory (meloxicam) in hopes of reducing swelling for Luna to prevent any pain and the chance the polyp may reduce a little for surgery too. We are booked in for Tuesday. I take them both in in the morning. Luna has her surgery and they’ll be keeping them overnight until the next afternoon (so they can observe 24 hours from surgery). She said so that they could keep an eye out for bleeding and be able to treat it straight away if needed. I’m going to be without my bun buns for around 35 hours! It will be very strange. She also told me there was no pressure to have pathology done on the polyp, they’re usually benign and most people opt out. I still have time to decide and she said that either I can hang onto it or they will keep it there for a time anyway if after the post-surgery check up there’s regrowth we can still test the original polyp. I may get it done for peace of mind, would cost me $250. Not sure yet.

She also asked to weigh Apollo, I told her what he would weigh and that yes, I know he’s fat. She weighed him and agreed, lol.

Yes, just ended up going with the exotics vet. Would be silly not to.

I think it’s going to be cut off, she didn’t mention lasering and to be honest I completely forgot to ask. By the sound of it though if she is talking about the possibility of bleeding after surgery I would assume cutting because I think laser removal wouldn’t result in bleeding like that, at least not any amount that would be substantial.

Of course I imagine it will be uncomfortable for her, I’m glad that she’ll have Apollo with her. Again I forgot to ask about pain control but can only assume that straight out of surgery she’ll be on a long-term pain killer (that I think they inject), as well as an oral painkiller once she wakes up a little more. So many things I forgot to ask. It’s hard to keep your head on straight when you’re worried. I can always ring on Monday and ask.

Thank you Q8, now we’re playing my favourite game. The three days till surgery stressed out bunny mum waiting game! Fortunately I managed to get her meds into her quite easily even if she did thump at me!

No problem Q8, I’ve done that before too

Thanks Vienna, Bam and BunNoob, it really only was sheer luck that I caught it before any major issues cropped up with it.

Giving Luna her anti-inflammatory has been easier than anticipated. She’s had two doses now, I haven’t checked her butt again yet but will do so later today. Had a moment of worry this morning when I found her loafing in the litter tray (abnormal). But she’s still eating well (I gave them willow which got her moving). I cleaned out the litter tray and am waiting to watch her go, she was just about to but Jasiri came racing in from nowhere towards the bun cage in play and Luna left the tray before doing anything I was not impressed. Poor Jasiri doesn’t understand why I won’t let her play with the bunnies.

The vet clinic (one of the nurses) rang me today to check up on Luna and as a reminder about the surgery tomorrow. I asked about painkillers, she gets an injection of one straight out of surgery and will be coming home with some as well. I meant to ask about visiting her but can ask that in the morning.

Luna is doing really well by the way. Her and Apollo have been really active today, probably the cooler weather. They’re very happy. It’s been really helpful that Luna is so greedy, because she caught on to the syringe of medicine so stopped letting me give it. Tonight I just drizzled the meloxicam in the folds of a radicchio leaf and she snatched it from my hand, ran off with it and gobbled the whole thing up Easy.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading to work for just over an hour before coming home to make the vet run and then heading back to work. So I’ve just finished organising some hay, their pellets and salad etc. so all I have to do tomorrow when I get home is pop them in the carrier and off we go! All I have to do tonight is be able to sleep

Thank you I just arrived back at work after dropping them off. Tears may have been shed…

Luna made it through surgery without a hiccup. Her and Apollo were still separated when I went to visit. Apollo wasn’t very friendly and seemed very unsettled by the whole situation. I’m hoping his mood will improve once he’s back with Luna. Luna seemed quite well. Very bright and alert although of course very secluded because of the strange environment. She had a cardboard hidey that she was in which the nurse removed from her cage for me so that I could pet her. I pet her for a while and tried offering her hay and greens which she refused. I left the hay and greens in front of her nose when I replaced the hidey and she almost immediately started munching on them I knew she would, she is a greedy bun.

They put a scope up her bottom to check if the polyp had grown further back in the colon but that was all clear so it was just the small growth on the anus that had to be removed. I had an extremely brief chat with the vet as she passed through the room in between consults, she said that they had cut most of it off and then burned off the remainder. I’m supposed to ring in the morning to see how things are going.

Just rang the vet again. Luna did well overnight eating etc. They didn’t actually put her back with Apollo which makes me feel awful because he seemed so out of sorts yesterday and makes me question whether I made the right decision taking him in. They told me they’ll be putting them together now. I get to pick them up in about 6-7 hours time.

lol, you may be right!

We’re all home safe and sound at last. Apollo gave me foot flicks for letting him out of the carrier. Luna loafed on the downstairs fleece covering the memory foam mat. Apollo considered jumping in the litter tray, instead he peed on the fleece next to Luna. Luna has shown no interest in going upstairs. I expect she is a little sore still. The only reason she’s moved is because I had to clean up Apollo’s pee.

As I said the surgery went well. The didn’t cut it, just burned it off so there’s no glue or stitches down there. Luna will continue on her meloxicam and we also have an antibiotic, Bactril I think. Actually, just reading the review of the procedure that I was given it says “It was friable and came away in pieces. This raises the concern that it may recur. A futher 2mm of rectal tissue was removed with electrocautery to prevent this from occurring.”

If anyone’s curious, my total for surgery, overnight stay, bactrim and the post-op check (there’s a complete list on the receipt) is $411.79, this doesn’t include the $107.20 I paid for the initial consult and meloxicam. The amount of anesthetic I was charged for is 15 minutes, so a quick surgery

I don’t know why I was thinking I’d be having a good night’s sleep now that the buns are back. It’s taken me almost 5 hours to find something Luna will eat. Turns out fresh grass from the garden is just the thing at the moment. Not to worry, what miss Luna wants, miss Luna gets. It does however mean hand feeding it to her in the litter tray every few minutes. If I leave it there Apollo will eat it all.

She has peed in the litter tray. From where she was lounging earlier she left a few teeny tiny poops. She’s been sitting/loafing/belly pressing in the tray for about an hour now. Some tooth grinding. I think she’s trying to poop, or is pooping but it’s hurting (can’t blame her) as sometimes her haunches flinch. At the very least, I have her eating. I was starting to worry I was going to have to syringe feed her (had enough trouble with the meloxicam, haven’t even tried the Bactril yet). If she stops eating or doesn’t start on her own, how many hours after eating should I wait before feeding critical care? 3, 4 hours? Thinking I might have to sleep on the couch tonight so I can regularly check on her.

I’ve started a little time journal thing in my bunny notebook to keep track of meds given, when she’s eaten and pooped etc. I really don’t want to disturb her but she has to have the Bactril.

ETA: Thanks Bam Sorry, forgot to write that before!

Yes

Just a little update on Luna’s condition. I slept on the couch with the intention of checking in on her and feeding throughout the night. Problem being I was sleep deprived, so the couple of times I woke up I remember looking at the bunnies and thinking I had to get up and check on Luna, but fell back asleep before I could do so, lol. In the end I was frustrated with myself this morning because Luna seemed extremely unwell around 5:30am. I picked a whole bunch of fresh grass because I thought she’d eat that again, but she refused. I tried pellets, treats, all the leafy greens in the fridge, then went out to the garden in the dark to pick a leaf from every herb. Thankfully she decided that basil was ok so then I picked a whole lot of basil and fed her leaf by leaf. Thank goodness, I only bought those plants a week ago!

Knowing that she’d eaten I felt ok to leave for work. Hubby sent me a text around 8:15 saying she’d been eating hay. I came home on a break to check up on her and feed her some more around 9:30. Now this afternoon she is somewhat relaxed, nibbling hay every so often which is good. She still refuses pellets. There was also poop EVERYWHERE. I partly blame Apollo but I’m reasonably confident that the smooshy mess I found in one spot was Luna.

Long story short (again, sorry). Luna is starting to improve. Appetite is improved somewhat, and she’s moving around a little more. They both love the vet bed too

Thanks guys. I just prepped their evening salad. Luna was excited and came running over, she dived in to eat straight away I think she’s on the mend.

It would be more restful, except I can no longer count on one hand the number of times Apollo has peed outside the litter tray since they came home from the vet I can only assume it’s all him, I’ve caught him a couple of times and he’s always been a stinker for the occasional accident. Gotta throw everything in the wash today and try again. Here’s hoping it’s only continued because of the original pee messes he made in protest. Fortunately, it’s only downstairs in the condo and nowhere else.

Otherwise everyone is doing well, Luna is pretty much back to herself. Just waiting for those poops to grow in size!