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Neutering and Spaying questions.

T

twisted_angel

Warren Scout
Hello

I am looking to get Barney neutured asap and then Betty spayed. I am seeing the vet tomorrow.

I have a couple questions about it:

1) I have only had him a few days so should i wait a bit so he is completely settled in etc. To be honest though he is very tame and loves a stroke and cuddle and being hand fed but not too keen being picked up. He will happily nudge me out the way and is great with my children too.

2) Will he need to be kept inside my home for any care attention etc after or is he ok to go back into his shed and enclosure after and be looked after? Will he need any special care or attention after (obviously no problem just trying to understand what his needs will be).

Same goes for Betty. She is ok being stroked and hand fed if you sit down and do it but she is not as confidant as Barney. Again after care for her after the Op too.

Thank you for any advice.
 
:wave: I would wait a bit - I would wait at least a fortnight after the last intervention (e.g. vaccination, any medicines etc) so that his body doesn't have too much to cope with at one go. Yes he needs to stay indoors the night after the op as the GA affects their body's ability to regulate their temperature so it's best to keep them indoors somewhere warm and quiet overnight. It might need to be longer for the female as it's a longer, more invasive op so they use more GA and recovery can take longer.

I would also interrogate the vet on their confidence and success at neutering both sexes of bunnies. I would do this for all bunnies but it is particularly important for giants as their bodies were never really designed to be that big so their organs can find it harder to cope with the GA - so I would need to be *very* confident inthe vet to allow them anywhere near a giant, and especially a female one!

Good luck - hope they continue to settle in well :)
 
As Santa said, they'll need to be kept inside after the operation. I just had my female Dwarf Lop spayed and kept her in for about four days, until we were sure she was eating properly again.

If you've only had them a few days, you may want to give them a little more time to settle in and feel comfortable in their surroundings first. If you're concerned about pregnancy, I'd suggest getting the male neutered first (I think this is what your planning anyhow).

The ability of the vet is really important - I asked my original vet about spaying female rabbits and pretty much got the response "what? you want to spay a rabbit?" Needless to say, I changed vets.

Hope both your bunnies continue to settle in their new home!
 
Thank you both.

We saw the vet yesterday as they both had their mixy jabs and Betty had treatment for her ear mites.

The vet was really good and seemed really confidant and very knowledgable about rabbits and the procedure itself. He explained what happens etc. He assured me they do numerous rabbits and whilst i was there 2 were being collected.

He said the same as you both that Barney and Betty would need to stay indoors for few days and that they dont let a rabbit home until they have seen them eat.

I am going to wait a while to get Betty done as she is having treatment for ear mites and is still a bit shy and i feel i need more bonding time with her but to be honest Barney is quite confidant with me already and nothing sems to fuss him and wasnt at all shy at the vets either so have got him booked in for Tuesday. I wouldnt let Betty be done yet but i feel confidant letting Barney have the op. Do you think i should wait a bit longer?
 
If both you and the vet are happy for Barney to be neutered then that shouldn't be a problem. The operation on males is external so they put us through less stress that the girls do!

Sounds like the right idea with Betty. You may need to handle her or (like we did) feed her, so if she's a bit more comfortable with you and her surroundings that can only help.

It's really great you've got a rabbit savvy vet.
 
Personally I would advise delaying until 2 weeks after his vaccination. That takes 2 weeks for immunity to develop so there is a huge risk that by doing an op in the meantime, his body will be busy recovering from the ga and repairing the wound instead of developing an immune response, so he might end up not protected against myxo. For the sake of a couple of weeks it's not worth the risk IMO.
 
I had Spenser done last week. He was a bit slow at getting back to eating his veg and pellets, but most vets only advise 24 hours indoors as necessary. Spenser is still living mainly indoors, but that's because I've noticed such a positive change in his behaviour when he is in his crate rather than his hutch. It's mportant to bed your rabbit on towels or something soft, as hay/straw might irritate their wounds.

I don't know anything about girl bunnies. It's a more invasive op so recovery will be longer.
 
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=270710&page=2

This is the link to me worrying about getting Flopsy neutered :) He was totally fine.

How old is your Barney (love the name btw!)? My vet thinks that its better to wait until they are 6 months old as there is less risk and he suggests waiting longer for Bella. I think he also said that with larger ones to wait longer than for smaller ones. If he is otherwise healthy I wouldnt worry with an experienced vet as if he hasnt started spraying or anything yet I would get him done before he does.

The down side of having my Flopsy and Bella together with her unneutered is that she now thinks she is pregnant as she has 'been' with a buck!... even though he has no plums (we waited 5 weeks to put them together btw to be sure) but she has still made a massive nest!
 
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