doe with abnormal teats

[SterlingSatin]

so, i tried to get pictures of her teats, but it didn't work too well, so i'll post them, but i'll also describe in detail

this doe has had 7 litters, never had a problem, never been sick a day in her life. but for the past 3 months, she's had 2 abnormally large teats. at first i thought it was mastitis, but it cropped up when she didn't have a litter with her (for the first time in her short 3 or 4 years), and it never progressed. it doesn't look like mastits, the teats are very large but not red, nor are they tender. but its like they are inflated with air. they are slightly transparent, and 2-3 times the size of a normal teat. she has 8 teats, but only her top right one and her 3rd left one are affected. the other teats are normal. she doesn't seem sensitive to it at all, the teats are not red at all, never have been. the top right teat is the bigger of the two. if you run your finger down it, you can feel this long thick teat, but you can feel it under her skin too. about an inch long total. the other teat is big too but you can't feel it under the skin. they are both kind of curved and pretty pale, although it doesn't look like it in the photos. there is no way a kit could nurse off of either teat. she has been without kits for 6-8 months now. before that she had a litter very regularly. wean at 8 weeks, rebreed. i can't figure out what this is. they are definitely not infected, no way its mastitis, they aren't getting worse or getting better for 3 months. any ideas?

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

your rabbit decided it was done having kids and got a boob job? :lol: :lol:

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Some type of fluid filled cyst?

 

[SterlingSatin]

definitely possible. but why would it be dormant for so long? a cyst is an infection, so shouldn't it be inflamed?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

definitely possible. but why would it be dormant for so long? a cyst is an infection, so shouldn't it be inflamed?

Cyst does not mean infection...a cyst is a closed sac or capsule, usually filled with fluid or semisolid material. It CAN get infected, but is not always infection related. It can result from irritation as well...

 

[SterlingSatin]

should i lance it or leave it then? could she ever be bred again?? will the cyst likely return if i lance it?

 

[akane]

I know with horses sometimes rebreeding constantly and leaving the foal on the full weaning time can cause teats to become stretched and enlarged. One reason for early weaning or every other year breeding. Dunno about rabbits though. I'd probably stick a small needle in it and see if anything aspirates or if it's truly just tissue and air.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

if you run your finger down it, you can feel this long thick teat, but you can feel it under her skin too. about an inch long total. the other teat is big too but you can't feel it under the skin.

Is the part under the skin hard? If it is, it could be mammary cancer. Another indicator is if it is fixed or free moving- usually fixed=malignant, free floating=benign. I would closely monitor both teats by taking measurements and writing them down so you can better determine if there is any growth. The fact that you haven't noticed a rapid increase in size is a good sign. I tried googling mammary cancer in domestic animals images, but the search wasn't very successful.

Women experience changes in breast tissue due to hormonal changes, so possibly breeding her would help... if you do, I would make sure to breed another doe at the same time in case of any complications.

 

[avdpas77]

I will say right off that I don't know what it is. However, it does not look infected and I would definitely not try lancing it with a needle, unless you can see some definite reason too. I would worry a bit about some kind of tumor, but I really don't think it is that either. Too me, it doesn't look inflamed. You never metntioned that she had any trouble nursing a litter.

My thoughts: If the animal is worth taking it to the vet for a checkout, then do so. If not, breed her (that may be a problem is she hasn't been bred in 8 months) and see how she does. It does not seem to be inflamed or sore, You haven't indicated that it can't produce milk, and if it is a tumor or something, you probably can't do anything (reasonably) about it anyway. Even if those two teats don't work, she could still raise a fair size litter with the remaining ones.

 

[SterlingSatin]

don't really want to lance it either with no good reason. its not growing as far as i can tell, the whole thing is firm but not hard, and both teats are free moving. i think i will try to breed her again and see what happens. although i probably won't be breeding until the fall when i have a good buck to breed her to. can i breed a 3 year old doe after giving her a whole year off? my rabbitry is not big enough nor do i have enough good rabbits to be breeding consistently. i possibly could borrow a buck for her but stud fee is expensive. i've heard their pelvisis harden after a while and they cant successfully have babies, especially as they get older. but since she's had so many litters, will she be okay?

 

[MaggieJ]

She can still have kits successfully, as long as she can conceive. The main problem with older does is that they tend to accumulate fat in the body cavity that can interfere with conception. I'd keep her on a light diet with lots of hay and greens if you feed them and cut back a tad on the pellets. Keep an eye on her condition. You should be able to feel the vertabrae in her backbone, but they should not feel sharp.

 

[akane]

Aspirating with a needle is not lancing. Lancing means opening a hole big enough to drain something. Aspirating is making such a small hole only what you draw with a needle comes out causing no tissue damage and limiting chances for infection. It's generally the first step a vet takes with an unknown lump or swelling unless there is risk of puncturing something else. They also have good quality microscopes and cultures they can do to truly determine what it is but just seeing if there's fluid buildup, puss, emptiness would go a long way to knowing what's up and what it might do in the future or if bred.