Newly neutered boy - outdoor bedding

Hi there, :wave:

I could use a bit of advice please:

Young Jeff was neutered yesterday...op went well, recovered well yesterday evening but had a step back today when he stopped eating/drinking/pooing/weeing. I think he was just too shattered from the anaesthetic to be bothered.
After a tense day of handfeeding and encouraging he seems well on the mend (yaaaay!) and is busy rearranging his cage and trotting off for hay and water. Bodily functions getting back to normal.

Jeff is an outdoor bun and the vet has asked that I keep him indoors until his check-up on Friday.
So, two questions:
1) Is he going to suffer going back out into the cold? Should I do it in stages? The weather forecast looks like it'll be fairly mild (compared to what we have had) on Friday/Sat. His hutch is well wrapped...even in the worst weather (-15 degrees) his water only froze twice, and he has a snugglesafe.

2) What on earth to bed him on/in?? The little monkey started eating the Carefresh I put in his indoor litter tray...so I put in newspaper and he started shredding and eating that. I also put a fleecy blanket in to snuggle on and he started biting and trying to shred that (and hump :roll: )

I know he probably shouldn't have hay and straw straight away as it might irritate his wounds......what else can I try?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Debs

PS: Here's Jeff before his op

bump...
Anyone? :wave:

Sorry I don't have an answer for you but didn't want to read and run. My new boy is too young to neuter just yet so I will be interested in any suggestions for future reference Jeff looks to be a lovely bun

They have to be indoors for 24hours after the op. If you have heating on high and overnight, and he was in a warm room you'd be best waiting till spring to move him back out.

I was told they should be on nothing but shredded hay and newspaper for a week afterwards

He's gorgeous. We were told that blankets and towels were best for Smudge (the only one of mine neutered at rabbit savvy vet) However, he was indoors. That wouldn't be enough protection from the elements for outside and also after a GA bunnies struggle to keep their warmth.

His hay should be off the floor, ideally in a rack or basket to stop it from sticking to the wound.

Puppy pads are good for on the floor but, as he is outdoors, I wouldn't know what to suggest to take the place of hay or straw for bedding :?

Hi all, :wave:
Thanks for the replies. :thumb:

We had the heating on in the room he was in for the first night after the op, but just on low, wasn't boiling. His ears and body felt pretty warm most of the time so I turned the heating off the day after as he started to get more back to normal.

We're now at the end of the second day and no heating on but he seems happy...eating, drinking, trotting about, rearranging his cage...ears and body feel warm enough - certainly doesn't look like he needs keeping warm.
We're due to see the vet for his check-up tomorrow so hopefully she'll give us some advice too (She wanted him kept in until she'd seen him again).

I ended up putting the Carefresh back in his litter tray as I found him sat on a soggy newspaper in a puddle of wee when I just had newspaper in there. He seems to have realised that it's not for eating now, so that's good.
He's still shredding the newspaper that is lining the cage, but I think he's not eating that now either.

I've got some fleecey blankets I can use in his outside hutch in the sleeping area.
Basically it's a double hutch with a run. The hutch is covered with two layers of silvered bubblewrap, a Newton&Scratch waterproof cover with plastic front, then over the top of that I have tarp and plastic sheeting to cover the hutch and run to keep the elements out when it's horrible weather. He has a snuggle safe too. The hutch is in an alcove outside by the house so quite sheltered...usually a good few degrees warmer than in more exposed parts of the garden for example.
I think it's pretty draft-free, and certainly dry.
Normally he'd have a straw base in his bedroom covered with a stack of soft hay, and his snugglesafe...and he's coped with the really low temperatures we had before Christmas really well. I guess I can replace the hay and straw with fleecey blankets on top of layers of cardboard and paper to insulate him.
Do you think that sounds ok for keeping him warm now?

How long after GA do they need a bit of extra help with the temperature? Is it just while the GA wears off..the first 24hours or so? or longer?

Thanks!

Hello :wave:
Problem solved, I hope...
We visited the (rabbit savvy) vet today. Jeff got the thumbs up but has to stay inside until Sunday as he hurtles around too much and may pop something :shock: if he's too bouncy.
I described the hutch set-up and the vet said that he can go back out onto hay as he's healing up really well, so that saves stressing about blankets and him being too cold. The vet said he should be ok if we put him out in the morning and give him time to acclimatise to the temperature.
Roll on Sunday...although it is rather nice having him indoors with us....

Debs (new bunny mum) said:

Roll on Sunday...although it is rather nice having him indoors with us....

Click to expand...

glad Jeff is healing nicely I took Ozzie indoors in May [just for one or two nights mind you] as he looked as if he was going into stasis-8 months later he's still indoors

I know what you mean...
If my OH wasn't so adamant about not having a free-ranging indoor bun, I'd have Jeff in like a flash. It's lovely being able to have a cuddle or a nose rub so often, without having to put on waterproofs to do it. The kids love it too...interact with him so much more.