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Gosh, there has been so many spaying questions on here lately it's making me feel really sick with nerves!
I got Kira in september and booked her in for her op for 20th december. Now I have less than one month but actually feel physically sick with anticipation (dont handle nerves very well).
She is 21 weeks old on sat, is it worth contacting my vet to see if they can bring it forward?
The only other thing I would be worried about is that she is currently on 50/50 mix of excel junior and SS (as doing gradual change over). If I kept her diet at this 50/50 mix would there be any harm in her having the op any earlier.
The vets recommend between 5-6 months so they should be fine with her age.
I'd call your vet and talk to them about whether or not to bring her spay forward. I guess that December 20th might not be the best time as surely most vets will close making follow-up/emergency care a little more tricky! Some vets go on age whereas others use weight as a guideline. Our Hoops was about 20-22 weeks when she was done.
Why would the food be an issue for her spay? The key thing is that she is eating right up to and as soon as possible after her op.
If the food was making her digestive system more sensitive. I guess as long as I keep it to the 50/50 mix and dont add any extra SS whislt she is recovering then she will be fine.
I know my vets do close around xmas but they said she will need to go back 3rd Jan to take out her stitches but I was too worried about the actual op itself that I didn't stop to think about a post op emergency.
To me she still seems quite small compared to Arnie although she has grown loads and she is VERY strong :lol:
Think I will definately call the vets as beginning of december would be better for me and her if there were any problems.
How long have you been changing over the foods for? We foster for Honeybunny and she says that she's never had a problem by putting a bunny straight over onto SS. If you're having her spayed beginning of Dec then surely she'll be over to SS completely by then?
Do think that bringing it forward is a good idea though, will put your mind at rest to have it sorted and to know that the emergency back-up is there IF (and I stress IF) you should need it. x
Started the food change over on sunday, she is probably on just slightly less than 50/50 (in favour of excel) now.
Will call the vets tomorrow and see if they have anything for the 3rd dec so her stitches will be out in time for xmas
Dont know how her bonding with Arnie will go but bringing that foward too will definately be a bonus as he is looking very lonely, sat in his room all alone :lol:
5 days is perfectly adequate time for a food change provided no tummy upsets are noticed....in which case the new pellet would probably be unsuitable for that particular rabbit anyway.
Thanks for the advice on the food will get that changed over asap as so far no sticky bottom.
Have changed the appointment to 3rd December but when I asked about having stitches out they said they dont take rabbits stitches out, instead:
"We usually file down the rabbits teeth under GA so that although they can eat they are not long enough to knaw on the stitches. By the time the teeth have grown back the stitches are usually gone".
She also mentioned something about them not being properly aligned during this time :shock:
To me that sounds a bit bizarre, has anyone else had this done?
If she has her teeth filed down during GA will this make her prone to teeth problems in the future (as in her body relying more on having them worn down manually).
Any advice be very much appreciated on this as I've never heard this one before...
Now I'm VERY confused! Why are they filing her teeth when she's spayed?! I have NEVER heard that before and I'm sure other people will agree. When my girls were spayed they didn't even have any stitches that needed removing - everything was done internally and rolled in and glued. I'm beginning to get a little worried about your vet :shock: :shock:
I've never heard of the teeth filing thing before. My vet does the stitching so there is only a little knot visible/accessible from the outside [there's a name for that type of stitching but it's been a while since I've done any needlework :lol: ]
No idea why the teeth would be misaligned after a spay either!!
He said that bunnies are *usually* very good with leaving their stitches alone.
Oh, and if it's important to have it done and the bun is in good health, he will spay once a bun is over a Kilo.
When we had Piper done they weighed her to make sure she could have the spay done rather than relying on her age. Also she had desolvable stiches that were inside, you couldn't see them at all. we just went back a couple of days later to make sure that she was healing properly. They were very good and called up the next day to make sure she was eating properly and told me to take her back if she wasn't or if I thought she needed any more pain meds. She's now grown her lovely thick winter coat over the balled patch
Hi Thanks for that, she is defo over a kilo as at 10/11 weeks she was 0.73k and has practically doubled (if not more) since then.
I know what they mean about the teeth now (after playing back the convo lots in my head slightly confused) but I still dont like the idea of filing her teeth down as she has perfect little teethies
Basically they would file them down enough so that they do not overlap as they usually do. This would mean she is unable to chew on something as tiny as a stitch but would still be able to eat her food (so they say)!
Does that still sound odd? I would prefer them to leave her teeth alone but am scared if I go telling them not to do it that they may get nervous and do other things wrong. Also would they have to leave her under GA for longer doing it this way.
I might print off a few bits of advice from this thread, take it in and see why they dont do their op's like your vets do. :?
I really am following this thread with interest and worry!
I really don't see why they need to mess with her teeth when she's being spayed! Yes, SOME bunnies pull at their wound, but most don't and I really have never heard of the teeth being trimmed for that reason.:? :?
Why not call another local vet for a second opinion? Or post another thread asking for recommended vets in your area and talk to them?
I agree with Sooz - our vet used the internal suturing and glue method when Molly was spayed 5 years ago, so it's not a new development and is by far the best way for it to be done. PLEASE get a second opinion!
Right, what I am going to do is print off all the advice in this thread and take it INTO my vets on monday, for all I know it may have been a rally bad receptionist.
As mentioned above, well the main reason I did an update today was because I was worried about filing her teeth and now you have confirmed it for me.
I am going to ask them why they dont use the methods above and demand that her teeth are not to be touched as I want it done in a certain way. I will see how they react and if they are c**p I will find another vet.
I thought they were good when arnie had the snip but I dont know how much post care they are meant to give with a neuter, for all I know they could of filed his teeth too :evil:
Will update you once I have been in, will probably be worth calling a few other vets in the area as well as then I have back up before I go in!
OK I emailed a few vets over the weekend and they have confirmed that the above is tosh. I replied to one of the vets this morning after phoning my vets back, you can gather what was said from my email:
Hi, thanks for the advice. I have just called my vets and asked them again if they do file the teeth down and she said that they do. I asked if her teeth had to be filed down and they said they dont have to but they still advise it, I have at this moment in time asked for it to be noted on her file that her teeth are left alone.
I then asked about stitching methods and they replied that they only use normal stitches and do not use glue as sometimes glue can come undone. I am slightly worried about this still as they dont mention internal stitches at all and do not seem to follow the precedures the others vets use. I also asked about taking out the stitches as they dont use glue, they dont do any form of follow up including taking out her stitches, they say they will just fall out on their own.
May I ask whether or not you get many rabbits in for this operation at your practice and what your success rates are?
Many Thanks
Vicki
Right now I feel like crying, I want to change her vets but am scared whatever I do is wrong. Below is the reply from a local vets about how they do the op, does it sound OK?
Hi
I would say it is not standard procedure to file teeth in order to avoid rabbits chewing on sutures. Therefore, I would ask to speak to one of the vets just to check that the receptionist is correct, and if so, ask whether you have to have your rabbit’s teeth done.
We use sutures or skin glue with no sutures here, but I have never seen a rabbit’s teeth burred to avoid suture removal.
The second vets sound like they know what they are talking about....and most vets use dissolvable sutures which will fall out on there own...hence they can be internal
So if she did stay with current vets now that I know her teeth wont be touched, it doesn't matter that she doesn't have to have her stitches out because they would use dissovable stitches on the outside? :shock:
Would all vets HAVE TO do internal stitches? I would assume thats why my vets haven't mentioned it but after the teeth filing incident who know :roll:
The only reason I am scared of changing her vets is because they done so well with Arnie and that my main concern was her teeth and now they are not being burred.
I will wait and see what the other vets reply to me.
No they dont have to do internal sutures but it is adviseable.
In my personal opinion the whole tooth issue would be enough to make me change vets immediately.
I have just officially complained to my vets, after previously avoiding one of surgeons after being unhappy with his advice in the past and being forced to see him yesterday I am horrified by what he did. There is no reason on earth that will ever get me into a consulting room with that man again unless its to knock him out :evil:
