Bone Cancer

[bunnybun]

Gigi(doe) is a 9.5 years old lionhead bunny (not spayed). She is the most energetic and curious bunny among the 3 buns I have. She had head tilt when she was around one year old and she recovered by herself without any treatment being done. 

Around 2-3 weeks ago I started noticing she left some soft poops in her cage, and she seemed to be upset and not feeling well, then so I brought her to the vet and thought she had diarrhea. The vet said those soft poops are actually the cecotropes which she didn’t eat and there is no sign of disease or inflection, and it might be caused by some back problems due to her age making her difficult to eat the cecotropes. Then I started to feed her critical care to maintain normal diet and continued monitoring. 

Her appetite did not improve at all after a week and still have the cecotropes left in the cages. Until few days ago, I am noticing she moves very less and did not use the litter box at all. Then I brought her to the vet for recheck yesterday. 

Gigi’s weight didn’t change much (80 g less compared to 2 weeks ago) but the bigger problem might be at her hips. Then the vet did a x-ray on her and she is diagnosed with bone cancer. That explains all the behaviors we have seen for the past 3 weeks. She must be in pain. The vet did not suggest for a surgery because of her age and as well the cancerous cells might have already spread to the chest already based on the size of the affected area on her back leg bone. The vet said there is nothing much to be done except giving her pain management medication (the vet asked me to give her metacam 0.4 mg daily) to make her feel more comfortable. The vet also mentioned that her back leg might break in anytime because of the spreading speed of the cancer is very fast. If the medication is not helping and in worst scenario – compansionate euthanasia might be a better choice for Gigi. 

I know she’s very old and it might be almost the time for her. But I don’t want to give up on her until the last moment. I am reaching out here to see if anyone has experience with bunny with bone cancer and try to see if there is anything else can be done to make Gigi feels better. Please help! 

[Azerane]

Hi there. I’m very sorry to hear that your rabbit has bone cancer, it’s a very sad thought.

At the moment there is just cancer showing on one back leg on the x-ray? Not that they can really be compared, but my friend had a 16 year old cat diagnosed with bone cancer. She had the leg amputated and lived another 1-2 years. Now cats often bounce back well from surgery so it’s a tough comparison, but if there is a vet who is confident with performing surgery on an older rabbit, amputation of the leg is an option if you want it to be. However it does of course come with no guarantees because as the vet said, the cancer may have already spread and just not be visible yet and even if you amputate, it may be back in a month anyway somewhere else.

Otherwise, I think pain management is a perfect option. If the medicine helps her to move around and go about her day much easier and is eating well etc, then I don’t see a need for euthanasia. Of course it is ultimately your decision and you know your bunny best. But I would certainly try using the pain killers and see how she goes. It might give her a better lease on life for another little while before you have to say goodbye.

Wishing all the very best for you and Gigi. <3

[bunnybun]

Hi Azerane, thank you very much for your support! 

Yes, the x-ray shows only the left back leg is affected. Thanks for sharing the story about your friend’s cat. It does give me some hope. But I still hesitate to take the surgery option… 

I have been feeding her Metacam for 2 days and she has started to eat by her own. I mixed the timothy pellets with water to make it easier to eat and she loves it so much. Also she has been eating more hays since then. I used to feed her around 40-60 ml critical care per day for the past two weeks, and I only need to feed her around 20ml since her appetite has improved. I am so happy to see some improvements on her. She is such a strong girl. 

Euthanasia is definitely not an option for now… and I will never want to make this decision for her when she is still trying hard to fight the cancer. Every time I see her I just feel like she is telling me that don’t give up on her. 

Btw I can hear she grinds her teeth loudly, i guess that means she is in pain… I will try to feed her a little more Metacam to see if she feels better (now feeding the minimum amount the Vet suggested)

[Bunny House]

I am so sorry for what you are going through, she’s a fighter though. At least only the back leg is affected. You can always do an amputation, but her age makes it more difficult, but she could be a strong baby and make it through the surgery! Blood tests can always help you feel at ease if you choose to do the surgery route.

I know when my bun has bad pain and metacam doesnt work- buprenorphine is amazing!

I know the vet clinic I shadow at did a cancer removing surgery on a dog’s hiney and he was pretty old but he made it and seems to be doing fine. Its all about the health of the bun and how much of a fighter they are. Either way, you’ll make the best decision for her

[bunnybun]

Thank you Bunny House!

Even knowing that the surgery might be a possibility, I cannot afford the risk of the surgery. I don’t want to put Gigi to go through all the stress from the surgery, and the possibility that the surgery might fail…

Maybe u are right, looks like Metacam doesn’t work too well with the pain, Gigi is still grinding her teeth a lot…

Yesterday I’ve seen her able to clean her face using one forelimb only, and she lost her balance and fell.. it was such a heartbreaking moment for me, she used to stand a lot and now she cannot even clean herself

I’ll be going back to the vet for the metacam refill soon and I’ll check with the vet if we should continue on metacam or something else… will keep everyone posted

[Azerane]

I certainly understand that you don’t want to put her through surgery, even without the risk of the cancer returning and a good recovery, at the age that she is she there’s the realisation that it may not extend her life span by much anyway.

I do hope that you can find a better solution for her pain. Thinking of you and Gigi <3

[Vienna Blue in France]

Bunnybun. So sorry. Its a tough call.

The only piece of wisdom i can impart is don’t do anything you might regret later. We often want to keep our animals close to us for as long as possible, even when they are sick, and as they are very good at hiding their pain, we delay making “the” decision.

Several people then report that they regret very much at having left it so long.
None report however of regretting ‘the’ decision was made ‘too ‘soon’.

Do what is best for Gigi. She’ll let you know. You’ll know. In your heart of hearts.
Its one of the hardest decisions we all have to make, but they trust us to make it.

(((((( hugs for you both ))))))

[meridiian]

Hello Bunnybun

This is very sad. I’m sorry poor Gigi is suffering. She sounds darling.

Are there stronger pain meds suitable for a bunny?

You wrote “Euthanasia is definitely not an option for now… and I will never want to make this decision for her when she is still trying hard to fight the cancer. Every time I see her I just feel like she is telling me that don’t give up on her.”

Totally understandable. You are watching her carefully and so clearly love her and doing what you can…you will know what is the right thing to do should that time come.

(((Gigi))) And best wishes to you both.

[Bunny House]

I understand, I would be worried about having her go under too. You’ll probably want her on the buprenorphine-pain killer and met cam-antiinflamatory so it helps keep the swelling down from the pain.

Poor baby, I hope everything goes good at the vets, its never easy. I just wish bunnies weren’t so fragile but then we probably wouldn’t love them and care for them as much as we do

[MountainBuns]

Im sorry, I hope all is well, painkillers can help.

For now just give her the best love and comfort you can offer and hopefully the vet will take care of the rest.

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