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How do I prepare for Lola coming home after spey?

~ Cat ~

Wise Old Thumper
HI folks.

I bet this has been answered many a time but I could not find it so if it has point me in the right direction and I wont bore you to death! :lol:

Lola is in for speying next Friday.

When I bring her home will she be drowsy? I have bought a little fur covered hot water bottle but its warm in the house anyway. Do I just keep her quiet in her cage until she gives me the signal she wants to come out for a fuss or do I just leave her alone for a certain amount of time?

Is there anything I can do to aid her recovery or make her more comfortable?

Thanks folks - its blooming nerve wracking isnt it!
 
Yes I would just leave her to rest in the cage if I were you. She will be drowsy from the aneasthetic for at least 12hrs. I wouldn't use a hot water bottle as you're not meant to use them with impaired rabbits as they may not realise it's too hot. What you really need to do is to monitor her food intake and output. If she hasn't eaten anything in 24hrs then you should contact the vet. Ask if she has had a long lasting pain killer and if not whether there is something you can administer yourself. Give her some of her favourite foods or treats if she doesn't feel like eating to begin with.
 
Angel would only eat dandelion leaves and parsley when she first had her spay for around 2 days.Make sure hay is in a rack and not in a litter tray for the first few days:D
 
Thank you - I shall have the hot water bottle!

Will she be OK laid on newspaper as thats what i use in the bottom of her cage - her hay is in the hay rack (apart from when she decides she doesnt like the hay rack and rips it off). Shall I put some vet bed in the bottom so its nice and soft on her wound?

How big is the wound? I am not expecting a huge gash but where will it be?

I am like a mother hen!
 
Mine was drowsy and just laid in the litterbox. I had to move her water bottle so that she could reach it without getting up. She hadn't gotten up to drink the water. So if she doesn't lay next to water bottle you may want to move it to where she can reach it.
 
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Can you get her a snuggle safe instead?

Although if the house is warm she should be fine, it's just nice to releive pain.

She'll have a bold belly and the scar is somewhere around there and likely to be all bunched up (sorry if that doesn't make sense). If she is anything like Kira, she'll pick at the glue (or stitches).

Paper will be fine. A towel might also be nice for her or some vet bed if you can afford it.

Your vets will advise you what other aftercare to give, but generally keep her on bed rest for a few days and dont let her run about for a few days as she might rip it open if overactive. Hopefully the vets will do 3 day check up and confirm everything is healing nicely.

*A water bowl is usually better after a big op so they can reach it

Good luck for next fri, try not to get too nervous ;):wave:
 
Post spay care

Hi :wave:

When you bring her home place her in her hutch/cage. Make sure it's nice and clean so she doesn't pick any germs up. Best to keep the room she's in as quiet as possible for a day or two so she can rest.

Keep her in the hutch/cage for a whole week. She may want to come out before this but it's so important to keep her in to enable the skin to knit together properly where the stitches are placed.

I found out the hard way with my first doe as I wasn't told by the vet to keep her in the hutch and she died 8 weeks later from terrible hernia's because she was running about everywhere.

My current doe had a full week in her hutch after her spay and the wound healed really well and I've never had any problems post-op.

Have lots of her favourite foods to hand aswell (fresh parsley is a good tonic). It's important she eats again asap to keep her digestion tract going.

Hope this helps
Sam
 
Buy some cheap white supermaket hand towels-3 should be enough so you have one for her to lie on ,one in the wash, and one drying -then you can rotate as necessary.
I would not put anything warm next to her as it will be harder to regulate her temperature. Check her ears-if they are cold then so is she. You should not place a hot water bottle directly near her.
You could place a hot water bottle near or on top of her indoor hutch -If you do this -you will need to monitor her temperature frequently to make sure she doesn't overheat.You need to try to maintain a constant warm room temperature for the first 48hrs. She needs to be able to move enough to eat, drink, poo, wee, and wash herself but should be resting for the first day or so.
She must not jump as this can damage stitches.
She may not want to climb into a litter tray at all and be happier with some shredded paper bedding on top of a newspaper flat on the floor.

You can put bought shredded white paper from vets (about 80p a small bag) into her litter tray/area instead of your normal litter. This is lovely and soft but should not stick to the wound. She must not have straw or hay in the indoor hutch as this could stick in the wound and cause infection. You can give her hay to eat in a container but make sure you brush away any hay off the floor afterwards.
She will probably have lost her appetite a bit despite meds and you will need to tempt her with foods like dandelions, carrot,apple, spring greens, parsley or coriander-things that have a strong smell and taste. Dont give too much at a time as you dont want her to have an upset tum. Do offer handfruls of freshly picked grass several times a day.

Some vets mark where they intend to make the cut with a blue dye-some dont-dont be alarmed by this as it will fade in time. Do ask before you bring her home what meds she has been given and how long they will last. -be aware that she may need more metacam after the initial meds have worn off.

I like to sleep on the sofa for the night to make sure mine are ok first night.
I hope she will make a speedy recovery.-Sue:wave:

ps - I have found that mine ate more by being hand fed (though they had never done so before)-maybe just wanted a bit of pampering-but I didnt mind.
 
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Oh, forgot to say that I had the next few days off work (not always possbile) to enable me to sit up with her.

I also used an empty cereal box to stuff hay into (cut a hole in it), she pulled out what she wanted and it didn't get too messy.

Shopping list = Kale, basil, spinach, parsley, corriander, carrot, apple, banana and anything else you can lay your hands on like grass and dandilion. Just make a little mixture and let them eat what they fancy most. Mine have always liked squished banana when poorly oh and parsley is never turned down here...
 
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I feel for you Cat as I have to go through the same thing with my little lady in December. Hope you don't mind me picking up on some of the tips from your thread:roll: I understand that Lola is a housebun so you have all the house equipment set up, by my bun is in an outdoor hutch which will be inside a shed by the time her operation comes around. I don't much fancy the idea of sleeping out there in December:shock: so I'm guesing I will have to bring her indoors for a week but I'm not sure what I'll put her in. Although she's only a netherland dwarf I think the pet carrier will prob be too small. Will have to get my thinking cap on.

Best wishes for Lola and her upcoming op :)
 
The empty cereal box with hole to pull hay out of, is a good idea :DVicky-Sue:wave:

Kira seemed to think so :lol:

I still occasionally do it for them, but since they are so active it doesn't stay quite so clean :roll:

You can use an empty tissue box too but need to make sure it's just the cardboard and not the plastic stuff too.
 
The wound isn't very large at all, I was expecting much worse.

It is essential that the vet does internal stiching to prevent her pulling them out. My rabbits wounds were very neat with no stiches showing and they never messed with them at all.

I kept both of my girls confined for 7 days though after 4 or 5 days they did start to get very restless!

Good Luck!
 
My two little girls were done last friday and i was sooo scared. I used vet bed for them to lye on and the also had jersey sheets to snuggle on. They were really drowsy the first 2 days and i couldnt tempt them to eat anything the first night i had to offer the bowl to them for them to drink from they wouldnt entertain a water bottle. I managed to get them to eat a tiny bit of grass second day. Jane totally freaked out with the cone thing the vets provided so i made little jumpers out of sports socks to stop them getting to their wound and i thought it would also keep them warm aswell. I think the best you can do is let her rest and give her some peace and quiet and just be there for her when she needs you. POOR LITTLE BABY. Good Luck Lola x
 
You will need to keep her in her cage for a few days so she doesn't cause any damage to her wound. I put hay in a little rack and lined her cage with a fleecy blanket when Honey was done. She also nibbled at her stitches so you will need to check her wound daily. Hope it goes OK.
 
I checked with Jack's_Jane about this and here is the reply

Seems I was wrong on this one and buns ears being cold dont mean they're cold:oops:-apologies.-Sue

quote:-
Default Re: are buns ears an indication of temp please?
Rabbits regulate their temperature via their ears. So cold ears are often a 'normal' finding
 
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