Dilemma - inside/outside after neutering

Hi there,

I'm in a bit of a dilemma...

My young bun Jeff is due for neutering on 9th Dec. He's an outdoor bun and if possible I'd like to keep him outdoors over the winter as he has more space to run around than if we brought him inside. Conversely he'd have more company if he was inside - the kids aren't too enthusiastic about going out to play with him in this weather.
He's currently on his own - waiting to bond him with a lady bun after neutering.

So....he'll need to be inside after the op, and we have an indoor cage and a room we can turn the heating off in, but even so it'll be a good 10 degrees or more warmer than outside. He has a lovely winter coat....do you think he'll suffer being indoors? And will it be too much of a shock putting him back outside in these temperatures?

Perhaps I should describe his hutch outside: Sleeping area has cardboard/newspaper base with a layer of straw and stacks of hay and we put a snugglesafe in too. The hutch has two layers of silver bubblewrap, and a water proof cover which comes right down the front, with a plastic sheet which covers the hutch and run.
Pretty snug really.

So...what do you think?
Will a couple of days indoors be ok?

Thanks!

:wave:

Perhaps I should also add that this is our first winter with our first bun - we don't really have a feel for how hardy they are.

When a bun gets neutered, I think he finds it hard to keep his temp up, so I'd defo bring him in :wave:

Hi :wave: It is recommended that you bring bun in for 24 hours following neuter as they find it difficult to regulate their temperature after a GA. Providing he is progressing normally he can go back outside. You can take extra precautions, providing the snugglesafe and warm bedding etc for a while too.

He won't be able to have hay or straw for bedding untill his wounds are healed as it can irritate. Paper bedding is usually recommended.

We were told to prevent any jumping up and down until healed too so if your hutch is on two floors you will need to consider this.

Glad to hear your bun is going to get a partner later - please be aware that it takes at least 6 weeks for bun to be infertile and longer still perhaps for his hormones to die down.

Good luck!

Thanks!
Hmmm, yes the hutch is on two floors...and no easy way to separate them - the ramp is fixed in place. Will have to give that some thought.

Would paper bedding (and snugglesafe) be adequate for cold nights like this?

Personally if it were me I would either leave it till spring for his op or bring him in for the rest of the winter following the op.With regards to the hutch is it possible to put a large sheet of wood over the hole and keep him on the top floor? It would mean that no DIY is needed and you wont spoil your hutch.

We're kinda keen for him to have the op sooner rather than later as we're waiting to bond him with another bun at a rescue.

I'm almost tempted to say we'll keep him indoors....
We have one of the big indoor cages (150cm wide x 75cm deep x 68cm high) and don't really have a bunny proof house - the OH doesn't want a free ranging bunny indoors so Jeff will be in the cage during the day. The upside is that it's much easier for the kids to interact with him indoors and they can give him lots of supervised play time in the hallway after school.

Dilemma.....

He definitely needs to be kept in overnight at least following the op and may well be recovered enough to to back outside the following day.

As long as you keep him in an unheated room and he's only indoors for a day or two, he will be ok to go back outside again afterwards. Just try to pop him outside in the middle of the day when the temperature is at its highest (not that it gets very warm at all) rather than first thing in the morning/last thing at night when it's freezing.

Alfie and Bubbles have had to come indoors a couple of times, for a day or two, over the winter and have gone back outside afterwards. As dustyrabbit said, you can provide more bedding and a snugglesafe for the first few days back outside.

If you do decide to keep him indoors for good, he would need much larger indoor accomodation as he would get very bored being cooped up in a cage for most of the day.

I'd keep him in overnight in a cool room, just to ensure he's fully recovered from the anasthetic (sp) and eaten, peed and pooped ok. He should then be ok to go outside the next day in a warm, ventilated hutch with a snugglesafe.
If you keep him in for much longer than that he will start to lose his winter coat.

Thanks.
I guess we'll see how he goes. Hopefully he'll get over the op quickly and be able to go back outside fairly soon. If it takes longer and/or he has to stay indoors I guess we'll have to work out how to give him some more space.
Fingers crossed.