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Female Rabbit - to spey or not to?

L

LoloBunny2010

New Kit
Hi - newbie here :wave:

I'm seriously considering speying my 5month old dwarf lop. Not my first rabbit, but the first rabbit I have noticed is a bit "moody", she likes to grunt although she has never bitten (yet). Loves being handled, very friendly but can be a bit hormonal sometimes(!).

I noticed this morning her trying to "nest" and carring her hay around so I suspect a phantom pregnancy (no contact with any other rabbit), which I have read is a common thing especially in an un-speyed female.

I know the health benefits but I've never had any of my rabbits speyed before (never felt the need), can someone reasure me it will be ok, I've read its a common proceedure with a low mortality rate but wanted to hear it from someone who's experienced it first hand?

Many thanks,

Gaby :)
 
Nothing is 100% guaranteed obviously but you'll be fine. And the low risk of problems vs the high risk of uterine cancer is the reason why we all do it :)

I had my Sooty spayed in the summer (then aged 4.5yrs) and she was fine. I thought she'd take awhile to recover - compared to a male rabbit - but she was fine.
 
LoloBunny2010 said:
can someone reasure me it will be ok, I've read its a common proceedure with a low mortality rate but wanted to hear it from someone who's experienced it first hand?
Click to expand...

There are many rescues on this site who spay hundreds or quite possibly thousands between them on this forum alone, each year, and it's incredibly rare for them to have a problem.

Also - the incidence of uterine cancer/pyometra in unspayed does can be alarmingly high meaning there is a very high chance that it may become a lifesaving necessity later in life: better to spay a healthy young rabbit with a healthy young uterus, than to have to do an emergency spay on an older rabbit who is already very poorly... For this reason I would also suggest spaying any other female buns you have who aren't neutered at the moment :)

I would just make sure that your vet is competent and competent at rabbit spays as it is fairly straightforward with a competent vet but the chances of a complication are higher if the vet is not used to doing the op. So check with your vet first and if they aren't altogether happy about doing it, I would find another vet who is :)
 
I have three female rabbits and they are all neutered and came through their operations without problems. You just need to find a vet who is experienced with rabbits. :)
 
I lost a bunny through cancer when we knew no better (she was approx 6), I would never want to put another bunny through that (or us). To me I would always spay unless there was a medical condition not to.

I would also ensure that it was a bunny savvy vet.
 
You are doing the right thing by asking questions. If you would like your rabbit to have a long life then spaying will increase her chances by a huge amount. It also sounds like she is starting to show signs of a rabbit who is getting hormonal and, without the op, this behaviour will get worse.

Many, many rabbits are neutered without incident. You need to know what to look for after the op, for example, she may take a while to start eating so have some of her favourite foods to tempt her. My girl started eating basil after her op then gradually moved on to other stuff.
 
bunny babe said:
I lost a bunny through cancer when we knew no better (she was approx 6), I would never want to put another bunny through that (or us). To me I would always spay unless there was a medical condition not to.

I would also ensure that it was a bunny savvy vet.
Click to expand...

^^^ I have had the same experience :cry:

The worst feeling is knowing that you could have prevented it, it's hard to forgive yourself even when you didn't know any better at the time :cry: LoloBunny2010 - Unless a rabbit savvy vet can find a medical reason not to, I would very much recommend speying x
 
*nods in agreement* its around an 80% chance an unspeyed doe will get cancer over the age of 3.
This is often evident in the lack of older females available as rescues to pair up the the older males.

I've had 4 spays and 2 castrates done with no problems although I did have to feed Lilou for a couple of days as she only ate what I put in her mouth.
 
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