Questions about neuter surgery. UPDATE: Look in first post.

Ok, so I brought both my buns to be spayed/neutered today. The vet called and said my girl did pretty well, but they had trouble locating an ovary and had to make a longer cut and she needed staples. She's due back once it heals to remove those.

When they went to put my little boy under though, he started to get a little fluid in his lungs. He was fine before. They didn't go through with the surgery and woke him back up. Does anyone know what would cause this and would it mean he can't be fixed? They said they wanted to maybe try again in a few weeks to see if he does better next time.

UPDATE:
Well, it's been about a day and although she's in a bit of pain, my little girl seems to be doing alright. She's eating, even though it isn't very much. She's pooing too thankfully, but it's really dark and oddly shaped because her diet is all messed up now. She doesn't want pellets right now but she's enjoying the romaine lettuce and kale and tiny bits of hay. The vet said to keep the fiber coming. She isn't drinking much either so I think anything mildly juicy will help. As long as she's eating something and it's coming out the other end I think she'll be alright. I've got some pumpkin (don't worry, no sugar) on hand in case things seem like she's getting backed up a bit and I can't call the vet. I've been debating if I should purchase some Bene Bac for her to try and get things back to normal. I don't know if you guys have Bene Bac where you are, but it's just a probiotic suppliment that I think might help her poos become more regular.

My boy isn't going to be able to be neutered for another month, because of scheduling problems. I might call another vet to see if they can get him in sooner. Maybe it's for the best though. I wanted them done at the same time, but nursing one bunny back to health is enough work already!

no advice just bumping up:wave:

are your vets rabbit savvy??

Did they suggest doing any tests or xrays to see whether the boy bun has any underlying problems that caused the fluid in his lungs?

Do you know which anaesthetic combination they were using? I wonder if a different combination might suit him better?

Have they sent him home with any treatment for the fluid on his chest?

I'm afraid I have no experience of using staples in rabbits. Our vets always use dissolvable, buried stitches so that there is nothing for the bun to get hold of.

How is the girl doing?

I haven't actually picked them up yet. I'm going to in about an hour. We'll talk about other options when I get there and when we get back I'll update you guys on it.

Bandit has had some sneezing problems in the past that we always just assumed was allergies. It usually would only cause problems for a couple of months, and he never acted or looked like he really felt sick. Never any discharge or breathing problems. It hasn't bothered him in ages either.

This apparently didn't show up until they put him under, his chest sounded fine before hand. I've had someone on another fourm suggest that maybe he had started to aspirate his own saliva. I'll check and see if it could have been the method they used to put him under. Maybe it made him salivate more or something. As far as the girl goes, they were going to do just the buried stitches, but the fact they had to cut a little further made them use a few staples. Again, I don't quite have all the details right now. Last I heard, she's still fine though. She's a strong rabbit, she had been living out on her own for a few weeks before we got her since the neighbors had abandoned her.

As far as I know, my vet is pretty good with rabbits. The vet we have specializes in just exotic pets. I live in the US, so rabbit savvy vets are hard to come by sometimes.

Alright, we're back. The little girl is doing just fine so far, she's eating and she's pooping like crazy, even the vet and techs there mentioned she was making it like a factory. Must be the painkillers, I bet she's feeling pretty good right now. Her ovaries were sitting much higher then they had anticipated, and that's why they had to cut a bit higher up her belly. They stitched up the muscle, then did a hidden stitch with her skin, and then put staples over that just to make sure. She's going back in 10 days to get the staples removed, but they said if she removes some herself that it's no big deal, unless the stitches themselves start to pull apart.

As far as the boy is concerned, the vet said his lungs sounded much better when it was time to pick him up. Since he's had a history of allergies, we suspect that it was the gas that irritated his airways and that trying a different anesthetic might fix that. I'm never sure what he's going to be sensitive to. We're gonna watch him for a week and if he seems fine, try one more time.