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Withholding food and water before surgery

Sakura6267

Sakura6267

Warren Scout
Do I have to withhold or limit Yuki's food and water intake before I bring him to the city for his tooth extraction? If I do, how many hours? The vet didn't say anything about it on Wednesday, but I always have to do it for my cat so I was wondering if it was the same for a bunny.
 
No, they didn't say anything about food and water. I just thought because it's dangerous for a cat to have food and water before surgery if it was like that for a bunny as well. So I'm guessing it's ok to feed him some Critical Care before I go? He'll probably go about 2 hours without food and water before the surgery anyway because it takes an hour to get there, then they'll be setting him up and doing x-rays.
 
Put some hay and some water-soaked grass/dandilions in his carrier when you take him in the car as you don't want him to get dehydrated! Bunnies should never be starved!
 
He should be fed as normal up until the op. ;) Can you place some hay in the carrier so he can nibble that on the way if he wants?

Animals are usually starved to ensure they can't vomit & choke during the op; rabbits can't vomit, so they don't need to be starved.

Good luck for his op. xxx
 
My Gizmo was booked for today for neutering (didn't happen just an MOT and jab, see my introduction post) but, my vets said to let him eat normally and put Timothy hay in the cage, I took him in a cage and they said that was great as he could be put in that on coming round from the op and it would be familiar to him and they would watch to see him eating the hay asap. They told me to keep things completely normal as possible so not to stress at all.:wave:
 
I actually always stick hay in his carrier on these long trips to the city. The problem is that he doesn't eat it. I just can never get him to eat hay. :( I'll give him a carrot in there too since he usually eats those. I'll ask the vet if they can syringe feed him some water or something before they put him under.
 
Also send some food with him to the vets too, so he can have his own yummy food there too, if he wants too.

Rabbits have no gag reflex, so there is no risk of vomitting.
 
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