Female Rabbit just been Spayed

Hi Everyone

I am new to the forum so firstly I will just introduce myself. :wave: I am Chloe and I have a Medium to Large Grey Lop Rabbit called Jessica. I’m not sure of the exact breed or age as she came to me as a rescue with very little background info. Vets have guessed her age at about 1 year old.

She was being quite hormonal, being a bit aggressive and began building nests so I thought it would be best to get her spayed as we don’t have the room to breed and felt it would be the best thing all round for her health in the future.

She went in yesterday morning and came round from the surgery ok at around lunchtime. Since then she has been kept in at the vets as she is not eating or going to the toilet at all. She has nibbled a little bit apparently but not much, and definitely has not been to the toilet yet.

I know females do take longer to recover from the operation however what happens if she doesn’t go to the toilet soon, how will they treat her and what can I do to help? I am very worried about her as she is so lovely and full of character I would hate to lose her. I have pestered the vet’s loads now and feel a little embarrassed to keep ringing.

Has anyone else had a similar experience, if so what helped your little ones through?

Any advice/help would be welcomed.

Thanks everyone

Chloe x

Do you know what treatment she has been given already?

I would expect them to give metacam (pain relief) and metaclopromide (a gut stimulant to get things moving) at the very least.

Do you know what foods she has been offered there? If possible, I would take in a selection of her favourite foods - veggies, herbs, grass (anything that she normally loves) as that's usually far more enticing for them than a bowl of pellets.

Bumping in case somebody else has some ideas too.

:wave: hello chloe.

i had my 2 females spayed before christmas. tallulah sailed through it but Blousy didn't eat or poop properly for nearly 36 hours and she was at home.

i eventually decided to rush her back to the vets but tried a last attempt at tempting her with food. i managed to find some dandelion leaves and she wolfed them down, the progress was slow but she eventually came around. (Phew!)
at least your bun is in the best place, i'm not sure how the vets will treat her if she carries on not eating or pooping, but there are lots of knowledgeable people on here that i'm sure will come and an give you answers soon.

sending vibes for Jessica. x

KarenM said:

Do you know what treatment she has been given already?

I would expect them to give metacam (pain relief) and metaclopromide (a gut stimulant to get things moving) at the very least.

Do you know what foods she has been offered there? If possible, I would take in a selection of her favourite foods - veggies, herbs, grass (anything that she normally loves) as that's usually far more enticing for them than a bowl of pellets.

Bumping in case somebody else has some ideas too.

Click to expand...

agree with all this and also sometimes they recover better at home as they have familiar surroundings and smells and no cats or dogs in background, i think if you are able to be with her for 24hours minimum then bringing her home may be a possibility, make sure she ahs access to a water bowl and a bottle as a poorly rabbit will often use a bowl over a bottle, get her eating little amounts and often use strong scented things like corriander and parsley carrot apple treats as they are its best to get her eating asap, pain relief is a must and prehaps a heat pad such as a snuggle safe too as warmth eases tummy pain (much like a hot water bottle for us during a heavy period) also you should offer her food regulalry and if you can get her to move around a tiny amount ie in a small area then this would aid the gut but do not let her jump or run as this also can pull the stitches if you do decide to bring her home then keep her indoors on soft towels and enwspaper give her hay in a tub to eat so she isnt lying on any andstroke her to calm her (if she is a bunny hwo likes human affection) sending lots of recovery vibes xx

Thanks

Thanks guys for your responses . I am planning to call the vet in an hour or so to see how she is doing so I guess if there isnt much improvement I will get some of her favourite foods together to go and give to her. She should have the normal feed and hay I give her as I left that with the vet. She also apparently has some fresh grass and spinach leaves so hopefully she will get her appetite back soon! Her favourites are dandelion leaves so i will gather some up! I would prefer to have her home but I guess if the vet wants to keep her in then that is where she needs to be? I will ask about the pain meds etc when I call in a bit, she definitely did have something as I made sure they would do that before letting her have the operation. Thanks for the good vibes! Hoping little bunny will be back soon! Will update later xxx

well..

She has eaten some dandelion leaves and had a little bit of toilet activity but not much so they are keeping her in a bit longer. Will pester the vets again later for further updates :roll: Just want her home now!!

Hi! welcome to the forum :wave: Vibes for Jessica and her recovery...does anyone know what kind of complications can arise from the operation?
Anyway keep us posted

Update

My little Jessica is home now, she is very quiet compared to her normal self and has not eaten her food or hay since she got back but the good old dandelion leaves have won her over - good job i never weed my garden! She has been given two medicines the first is Zantac Syrup which she needs twice a day for 5 days and the other is Baytril which is once a day for 5 days. I have been asked by the vet to bring her back on Friday afternoon for a check up and obviously if im worried before then I can take her straight in. She is licking her tummy alot but I guess there is not a lot I can do to stop this? Anyway going to keep a good eye on her, thanks everyone for your get well wishes Oh yes and thanks for the tip about the parsley - i hadnt tried that before and she seems to like it! xx

Hello Chloe :wave:

Let everyone know how Jessica gets on.

That's great news about the greens, when my bun was sick he didnt really eat either and turned up his nose at greens. Now he's better and he always begs for greens
So whatever she eats must be a good sign right? I'm sure in a short time Jessica will be feeling better and get back an appetite.

Keep us posted. Hope she is OK.

Hope Jessica is eating more tomorrow - it is good she will eat something. A few suggestions - I assume she had an injection of pain relief at vets today - ideally she should have a couple more days worth of oral pain relief that you can give (metacam) - bunnies in pain are less likely to eat. Baytil is an antibiotic and zantac helps gut function. There are several concentrated bunny formulas which again you can syringe feed to them if necessary (eg Supreme Recovery, fibreplex). Keep an eye on the wound - if there are skin stitches watch that she doesn't nibble them out. Alot of stitches now are under the skin and dissolve in their own time.

Morning Everyone! :wave:Well she is ok this morning – very slightly perkier which is good. She hasn’t eaten much still but she did start to nibble when I was stroking her earlier. I had to give her the medicine this morning which was hard as she really wasn’t keen – I was trying so hard not to stress her out but in the end I just forced it down. Hate doing it but wouldn’t want her to get worse because I hadn’t given it to her! Dandelion leaves before and after seemed to help the situation as she still seems interested in them. I did observe her eating some newspaper last night as well (I don’t condone it but I figured it was better that then nothing) and tiny mouthfuls of hay. Thanks for the advice about the pain meds; she did have pain killers at the vets and something called ‘Metoclopramide' - doesn’t appear to be in too much pain although she does look uncomfortable?... I have had to go to work today but by boyfriend is home looking after her. I think she will be ok its just going to take some time and patience. So hard to see her looking poorly though!
xxx

glad to hear she is eating and home.

i'm sure she will be back to normal in a day or two.
it is awful seeing our buns in discomfort but in the long run you did the right thing by having her speyed.

I've just seen this. Glad everything seems to be going better for her.

Evening Update

:wave: Im overjoyed to inform you guys that Jessica is feeling a bit better and although she is not 100% she has eaten plenty of dandelion leaves and a little bit of her normal pellet mix! She also came out of her cage for a little exercise in the lounge - no jumping or running but she moved around freely and seems alot happier tonight. My boyf also fed her parsely and weetabix and soon after she had some toilet activity (although apparently the look on her face while she was going was a little distressing!).. Im going down the shop in a bit to get some fresh carrots to see if she will tuck in.. Fingers crossed she will be back to her usual self soon