I feel a lump? what its it? Wool block.

[squidpop]

One of my jersey woolies got wool block 4 days ago. He was going through a bad moult and I saw fur in his poos, I was trying to keep him brushed but he still must have ingested a lot of fur. He stopped eating one night and was hunching and pressing his tummy against the cage floor, obviously had a blockage, I checked on him several times that night and he looked miserable and in pain .
But I was surprised the next morning when he started eating again, and looked bright and happy inkbunny: But, I'm still worried it will happen again because, despite having brushed him just about bald I'm still seeing fur in his poos. And also I feel a lump that I think might be the blockage and its still there . So that's my question. What is this lump? With the bunny sitting on my lap, stomach down and head facing my knees, I can feel it on his left side/middle of his abdomen. Its still there. I know a lot of people on this site have dissected a rabbit so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if what I was feeling was a kidney, spleen or pancreas? Or do you think its a furball that hasn't passed through?

 

[Zass]

Is it small, about the size of a pea?

 

[Dood]

Kidneys don't "float around" but are glued to the muscle along the back

The liver is about a big as their head but flat and rubbery - not firm at all and tucked under the ribs so not too easy to feel.

The stomach is a oblong and has a softer "storage" area that is 2 to 3 times the size of a front foot and a firmer "gizzard" like section (the antrum) that is a bit bigger than the size of a front foot and you might be feeling this.

Hair balls are firm but inside the stomach and can be somewhat manipulated within the organ and the membrane of the stomach slips over the furball

 

[Zass]

I'm on my third velveteen kit to have what I believe to be a swollen lymph node or gland. Two have had them in the exact same location, it can be felt between their thigh and back strap. It can be pushed around a bit under the skin. The third was behind the foreleg, and I only noticed it postmortem.
When I opened one of the lumps it looked like this:

No pus or obvious sign of infection...

All three cases were in "fader kits," babies that simply will not thrive no matter what I do.
I suspect it's a symptom, and I was hoping it might help me piece together what is going wrong with my v-lops.

Perhaps a symptom that can occur when rabbit isn't getting enough nutrition, like during cases of gi stasis, wool block or fading?

 

[Miss M]

I'd go ahead and stop pellets, switch to oats and hay, and feed papaya or pineapple if you can... fresh is best, as it will have more enzymes. Papaya enzyme tablets are fine, too. If nothing else, canned pineapple.

Take advantage of the time that he's decided to start eating again, and try to get that blockage (if there is one) broken up. If there is no blockage, well, he'll enjoy the pineapple.

 

[Zass]

I added a pic of where the lump can be felt on my current fading kit. (The exact same place as it was on my original "Fader") It is right between the back and thigh muscles, in the same location that I have seen a more obvious gland on certain game animals, like squirrels.

My theory suggests that if I was able to successfully treat the condition that caused the fading, the swollen gland would return to normal and not be of any further concern.

 

[Celice]

just an FYI. for long haired breeds like Angora and Woollies you can give them pineapple and it will help with hairballs.

 

[jeannie]

I have syringed flax oil for hair block before... worked for us

 

[squidpop]

Zass, the lump is larger than the ones in your faders, larger than a kidney bean and a little smaller than a grape. Sounds like from what Dood said its not a Kidney, and I don't think its in the stomach, its in his side an lower down from the stomach and liver I think. I've given him some pineapple and some flax seeds. Flax oils sounds like a good idea, some people say give cat lax but I've heard thats bad, sounds like flax oil would be better.
I read an article about hydration therapy for wool block. The person who wrote it said when she necropsied rabbits with wool block the wool block itself was a hard dry mass of pellets and fur and the intestine around the wool block was also dried out. So her theory is to syringe tons of fluids, electrolytes in hopes to hydrate the intestine and help it make more mucus, and hydrate the blockage so it can break down. So, I have been pureeing pineapple into water and feeding him bowls of that.
I hope this little Jersey Wooly lives long enough to sire me some nice babies. I'm waiting for one of my new females to grow up to breed him to her. I bought him to be my stud buck and he is a really nice type, also with the best personality super sweet and worth breeding for temperament alone. I'm attached to him and would be really upset to lose him.