Volume: 57 Issue: 3
Year: 2026, Page: 408-413, Doi: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2026.57.3.408-413
Received: March 25, 2026 Accepted: Sept. 1, 2026 Published: Sept. 30, 2026
The prevalence of both neoplastic and non-neoplastic pulmonary masses in rabbits is considered low. Gross examination alone is insufficient to reliably differentiate between these lesions. This study evaluated necropsy cases presented to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, from May 2019 to December 2025. Among a total of 608 cases examined during this period, twelve cases showed pulmonary mass. Most of the affected rabbits were older than three years. Among these twelve cases, two were males and ten were females. Based on histopathological examination, six cases were non-neoplastic and six were neoplastic. The non-neoplastic pulmonary masses consisted of abscesses, granulomatous inflammation, and bronchopneumonia. The overall prevalence of neoplastic lung masses in rabbits was 0.98 % (6/608). Among the six neoplastic cases, five were uterine adenocarcinomas, metastasised to lungs and one was a primary lung tumour. These findings emphasise that gross examination alone is inadequate for definitive diagnosis. Histopathology, supplemented by special staining techniques and immunohistochemistry, is essential in differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic pulmonary masses in rabbits.
Keywords: Abscesses, granulomatous inflammation, uterine adenocarcinoma, primary lung tumour
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© 2026 Athira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Athira, S., Krishna, D. B., Naidile, K. R., Shibla, N., Binoy, P. K., Sajitha, I. S. & Prasanna, K. S. (2026). Pathology of pulmonary masses in rabbits: A retrospective study of 608 rabbit necropsy cases. Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 57(3), 408-413