Thymoma??

Hi, My name is Sara and I live in Italy. I have a 7 1/2 year old bunny who has developed exophthalmos. We investigated with X-rays and ultrasounds and they say it's thymoma or lymphoma buy I'm not sure... However, some vets have told me that it could also be a granumola or an abscess.. but I'm afraid to do the cytology because of the risi anestesia They told me to start with prednicortone 1 pill a day for 5 days, then half for 5 days and then a quarter for 10 days Seems high to me. What if it's an abscess or a granuloma? what does she think? comparing his x-ray to those of other rabbits with thymoma, his looks to me very similar to that of a sano rabbit. Could it just be fat or a cyst?   your help would be important for me,whether the diagnosis is correct, as I just moved to another region and this vet is new to me because i don't know of ... I attach the exams done   Please help me if you can. thank you so much !!🙏   from the ultrasound it says the ultrasound examination shows a voluminous neoformation (38×40 mm) with an irregular surface, located in the skull ventral to the heart to which it is strongly adjacent. The myocardium does not show significant alterations in the valvular systems. The neoformation has an echogenic, homogeneous appearance with the exception of vascularized hyperechoic septa that run through it in the central part. A minimal amount of anechoic fluid is present in the most caudal region of the mass, which cannot be sampled.    

Hello!   I'm sorry that you are facing this decision for your rabbit.  A second opinion is not very helpful to you unless they come from somebody with more knowledge than your first clinician in the area in which we are talking - that would be, exotic / rabbit medicine and radiography in this case.  We are not specialists and have less knowledge, having seen neither the patient or the vets' history.  To get a second opinion, you would have to ask your vet, who likely has contacts and would be in a position to pass everything that they have gleaned on.  Most clients are surprised to realise that vets do not mind getting second opinions:  on a professional level, it is good for us; the 'worst' scenario is that we are wrong and we learn something, which is occasionally offset by saving a life.  Sometimes, it can help to gauge by asking how sure they are (what per cent sure are you about this?)  There may even be two questions:  a) what per centage sure are you it's a thymoma  and b) what per centage sure are you that X course of action is the correct one?  - because sometimes a diagnosis is not needed to be sure of the next step.   For instance, I wonder what you would do differently if it was not a tumour but an abscess?  There is sometimes no easy answer to these dilemmas;  another good question is, 'If this was your pet rabbit, what would you do next?'   I hope that something there is of some help.

Thank you so much for hour advice. I Ask to other vets buy everyone Says me different things one says to try with cortisone and see how it goes, if the rabbit improves it means that it is a mass that responds to cortisone (probably thymoma) because it should be distinguished from the ultrasound one says to do cytology because you don't really know what it is another says that anesthesia for cytology is dangerous and we can awaken the mass ... everyone says different things and they are all experts. Sorry if mu english Is not perfet          

Your English is fine;   I understand you perfectly.  Sometimes, with decisions, there is no perfect answer, only different approaches.  The tests would give you useful information - although they do come with risks.  I wonder how knowing that information will change what you do?  What options will it open up - and would you take those options if they were available? This is the key question.  My preference has always been to find out information - I think that some vets shy away from finding out information because of the risks of doing harm in the process.  What is the pet's quality of life like now?  Pain is difficult to assess in a rabbit because they hide it.  If you can see that a rabbit is feeling unwell, they are usually very unwell.  In this case, some people would therefore consider surgery or euthanasia with the idea in the worst case scenario, death might be preferable to pain....   All decisions are valid so long as your bunny isnt suffering and we hope that you manage to make the best decision for your bunny and you whatever that may be.  X

Happy Sunday!! First of all, thanks a lot for the help and advice. In the end, after many reflections and many vets, we started administering the prednicortone (now we are giving a quarter of a pill a day in the evening) and immediately after the first dose, the rabbit started to feel much better!! It was a difficult choice, but he's been taking it for a few days and the exophthalmos has completely returned, so I really believe that the mass responds well to the cortisone. I'm also administering a supplement for the immune system: the greenfilla dinamys. I'm waiting for a second supplement to arrive to protect the liver (due to the effects of cortisone): hepato3 from dinamys.. Then we should do X-rays or control ultrasounds + blood tests in about a month. Flipper eats more, is much more active and seems to be back to normal. It's already been a month since the first symptoms ... I'm researching other natural cures. Do you know any? I also wanted to give the ribes nigrum to help it even more

Hi Sara, I'm really sorry to hear about your bunny's health concerns. It must be incredibly stressful not knowing the exact diagnosis. When my cat was sick, I faced similar uncertainties with treatment options. It's tough navigating new vet recommendations, especially in a different region. Maybe seeking a second opinion could provide more clarity?

Hello. Im not very well up on natural medicine for rabbits Im afraid, but this is an excellent question for your vet.  Plese will you let us know what they say?

I found reassuring advice on cheerfulbunny.com during my own pet health worries—they often have insights on different conditions and treatments.