Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spayed female rabbit with hormone tumor causing behavior changes
By Katherine H Baine et al.·2014·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Elevated Testosterone and Progestin Concentrations in a Spayed Female Rabbit with an Adrenal Cortical Adenoma
- Species:
- rabbit
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old spayed female rabbit was brought in because she had been acting aggressively and inappropriately urinating and defecating for the past eight months. Tests showed that she had high levels of hormones like progesterone and testosterone, and an ultrasound revealed a small tumor on her left adrenal gland. After further examination, it was confirmed that she had an adrenal cortical adenoma, which is a type of tumor. This case is notable as it is the first detailed report of this condition in a female rabbit.
People also search for: rabbit aggressive behavior · rabbit inappropriate urination · adrenal tumor in rabbits
Abstract
This case was described briefly in a recent book chapter (Lennox AM, Fecteau KA: 2014, Endocrine disease. In: BSAVA Manual of Rabbit Medicine, eds. Meredith A, Lord B, pp 274–276. British Small Animal Veterinary Association, Gloucester, UK). In the previous description, the tumor was described as a pheochromocytoma; however, further evaluation suggested that it more closely resembled an adrenal cortical adenoma. A 10-year-old, spayed female rabbit was presented for a behavior change of 8 months’ duration. The rabbit was inappropriately urinating and defecating, as well as demonstrating aggressive behaviors such as chasing, biting, and mounting various objects. The rabbit had elevated progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and testosterone concentrations, and ultrasound examination of the abdomen showed a round, homogenous nodule measuring 1.1 × 0.8 × 0.9 cm in the region of the left adrenal gland. Necropsy revealed a unilateral adrenal cortical adenoma. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first complete description of a female rabbit with an adrenal cortical adenoma documented in the literature.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/87a33d6d356df49814dd0a0d586fb3475f3a5d13