(GRAPHIC Photos Warning) BAZIL – Abscess & Cancer Info, Experience…!

[tanlover14]

For anyone who follows me on Facebook, sorry for the double post…. but I’m copy/pasting to make my own life easier! 😛

“Bazil & I need your help!

Bazil is a roughly 3 year old NZ White initially rescued from a lab that used him in cosmetics testing. After rescue, he was re-rescued again a year later from a hoarder who kept him packed in a dingy basement full of feces, no food, & other animals.

When rescued this past time, a few months ago, he came out with a horrific bacterial infection that had his face so incredibly swollen, you could barely tell he was a rabbit. He also suffered from a UTI so bad that telling if he was male/female was nearly impossible. In his new rescue, he thrived, recovered from most of the other infections, but struggled to keep weight on well.

Fast forward to the July 2020, when I officially adopted him from a rescue in NJ, Helping All Little Furries! Upon transport through Bunderground Railroad, a large lump was noticed on his abdomen/chest. A day or two after arrival, the lump ruptured making it clear it was an abscess. A week later, a drain was placed and the abscess cleaned as much as possible, hoping it would give him time to put on some weight (he was roughly 4-5 lbs underweight for his breed at that time).

2 weeks later, he underwent surgical excision, the abscess was cleaned out and a bunch of “suspicious” looking tissue was also removed. The abscess covered most of his chest. He was stapled back up and the tissue sent for testing.

The tissue came back positive as cancerous – he was diagnosed specifically with: well-differentiated fibrosarcoma with a secondary infection (the abscess).

2 weeks post surgery, puss/infection began pushing through the almost closed incision. Bazil underwent another surgery where the abscess was again cleaned out completely, explored further to ensure all cancerous tissue was removed (it was), sutured up, and sent on our way with fingers crossed that would be it.

3 weeks later, this past week, I noticed a new ruptured abscess much further up his chest where his neck/chin connect. He, again, underwent another surgical excision to clean the abscess. During surgery, his vet came out to tell me they found more “suspicious” tissue that does match the tissue they found on his abdomen. In good news, there are NO new lumps or new abnormal tissue in the previous areas….however, the new spot is likely cancerous as well.

We ended by closing the incision area after the abscess was thoroughly cleaned out. Bazil is back on 2 weeks of antibiotics (SMZ TMP) along with flushings 2x a day with Novasan. We have a recheck in 2 weeks and the current plan: If the area does not heal completely, there is reoccurence of the abscess/infection (which is likely) – they will do surgery again which will include cleaning the abscess as well as removing all the likely cancerous tissue in that area as well.

I need help. I am so out of my element with both the abscess and the cancer and it’s making me feel helpless.

Bazil is STILL 2-3 lbs underweight which has been one of the toughest things with the continuous surgeries. He’s on SARx weight gain which has many additional things included, ex. oats for weight gain, B12 liquid, and some other herbs/flowers added.

I cannot stress enough that this boys immune system is severely compromised with the amount of infection he has been battling since Day 1 in rescue from the hoarding confiscation. I’ll add some additional photos in the comments to help give a better understanding of our progress to date.

The only antibiotic he has been on to date is Baytril and SMZ TMP. I believe a culture was done, but I do not have the results in hand. One of my biggest issues with care at this time is my inability to be as involved as my vet typically allows me to be. I’ve always been IN the operating area during their surgeries and had a chance to ask a million questions, etc. which he was always great at answering. Communicating with him via email has been a little bit more challenging, especially when I’m so far out of my comfort zone and knowledge with these two issues – abscesses and cancer.

SO – I am requesting information from all you lovely, amazing bunny people who are KNOWLEDGABLE., EXPERIENCED, or even just have love to offer – we will gladly soak all that up too!

I apologize if it takes me awhile to really read/respond to all of the messages as I really want to put everything together so I can approach my vet and our future plan in the most organized way possible. Anything from recent studies, holistic approaches, personal experience, etc. is gladly welcomed.

I am feeling incredibly overwhelmed and out of my element and I just want to know that I am doing everything I can for the newest addition to my family. Bazil has become such an important part of my life and I’m desperate to help him get through this all successfully.

Thank you everyone for all the love and support to date for this truly handsome, magnificent boy. I really wish everyone could experience the joy he brings me every single day, it blows my mind.

ADDITIONALLY – the vet currently treating him is THE BEST to use in Pittsburgh for difficult cases. I trust him completely. For my own peace of mind, I need to make sure I am doing all I can and want to be knowledgeable enough to know the right questions, right things I should push for, and etc. This is absolutely NOT because I don’t trust my vet or his opinion/recommendations or action plan. I simply just want to know everything I should know, so I can have the ease of knowing I’ve done everything I can to help him.

 

Love, Bazil & his terrified but determined momma 😘🥰

Below are his progress photos to date – from May to now:

His newest one is right underneath his chin and down into his neck a little bit. I’ve only been able to get a video which I don’t have on here to upload unfortunately. I’ll try and get a picture if I can to add!

Here he is now:

(Edited by Wick – revised topic title with photo warning)

[Hazel]

Gosh TL, I’m so sorry. Those pictures are horrendous, I can’t even imagine how horrible this must have been for him, and you. 😥  I’m so glad he found you, he looks a million times better than he did.

How advanced does the vet think the cancer is? Since it spread to a second site, is he expecting it to appear in other parts of his body?

I know I’ve brought this up a lot lately, but anyway… Bubbles has cancer as well, and is taking Prednisolone to combat the excessive amounts of Insulin the tumors are producing. For close to a year now I’ve been giving him CBD along with the Pred, mainly to serve as a painkiller but also with the hope that it would slow down tumor growth. Because of the nasty side effects that go along with the Pred, I’ve tried to reduce his daily dose lately. He was taking 1.4ml daily (which was what he needed at first to keep his blood sugar levels from crashing), I got him down to 0.8ml before he started showing sign of low blood sugar. Now, I don’t have confirmation from the vet, but to me that means that the cancer is shrinking (smaller tumors=less Insulin). I’ve been discussing the topic with Meg in her thread, and she discovered that CBD can lead to adverse side effects when taken with certain medications so that’s important to be aware of. Maybe CBD is something that could be beneficial for Bazil?

I so hope that he recovers from his surgery quickly and that he won’t need another one. Poor guy, he’s been through so much.

Sending tons of healing vibes for your little boy! ❤️

[Moonlightbunny66]

I’m so sorry your bun is going through this. He is such a beautiful bunny. 💕 I love New Zealand white bunnies, I’m so glad you have him in your care now. I wish you two the best.

[LBJ10]

Bazil is beautiful! He’s so lucky to have found you. 🙂

I’m sorry I’m not much help on this. MediRabbit has an interesting article on fibrosarcoma though, I don’t know if you saw it.

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