My poor rabbit

Hi,
I have just got home with my female rabbit which has just been spayed, she is very very sore and cold and I am worried she is shaking her head again and again, is this normal ? Please. Elaine

Hi Elaine,

Is your rabbit eating? Was she given pain relief at the vets? And were you given metacam to go home with?

Is she indoors or out? Do you have a snugglesafe? If not can you get to a Pets at Home before they close at 8? They sell snugglesafes, which are microwavable, bunny-safe heat pads: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/microwave-heatpad-for-small-animals-by-snugglesafe-29292 After the anesthetic, rabbits cant regulate their body temperatures properly so its important to keep them warm.

I think you should call a vet about the head-shaking, I dont think that is normal.

I hope she picks up soon.

I hope someone will give you good advice soon. But for now i think it is important to get her warm. Can you bring her into the house and maybe put a warm hot water bottle near her. Maybe you could phone the emergency vet for more help.
I dont know what you mean about head shaking but thet dosnt sound normal to me
I hope she will be ok

I would call your vet. I hope she recovers well, but just speak to the vet and see what she thinks. Did she give her any pain relief?

Thank you: still worried.

Hi, Thank you for your responses she has eaten some carrot, which is a relief. I have pain relief which I can give her tomorrow. She is just laying there at present looking very very unhappy. I had no idea just how major an operation it is; apparently they take everything out. She looked like she can't use her back legs very well when she went into the cage.
Hopefully the shaking may be annoyance as it was after I stroked her if I think about it, I think she just wants to be left alone, and I have done that now, but she just feels so cold, her ears are freezing. She has eaten no hay and no food though.
She lives indoors for the winter. Not sure how to warm her up: (just put the heating on I suppose?) Too late for pets at home.I was thinking would maybe a good idea to put her cage back in same room as other rabbits now. I took her out because having a female was making the boys a bit nasty. I think it would make her feel less alone and make sure she doesn't give up? I am fairly new to rabbits.

Keep tempting he to eat with her favourite treats - it's the only time you can spoil the rabbits without feeling guilty when they've been in the vets!

Try dandelion leaves or banana- that's what got my 2 eating after their spay(if she's used to eating it). Binky was really quiet after the spay (her stitches came out and she was in and out for ages - so keep checking her stitches just in case)

Do you have a hot water bottle?

Elainie said:

Hi, Thank you for your responses she has eaten some carrot, which is a relief. I have pain relief which I can give her tomorrow. She is just laying there at present looking very very unhappy. I had no idea just how major an operation it is; apparently they take everything out. She looked like she can't use her back legs very well when she went into the cage.
Hopefully the shaking may be annoyance as it was after I stroked her if I think about it, I think she just wants to be left alone, and I have done that now, but she just feels so cold, her ears are freezing. She has eaten no hay and no food though.
She lives indoors for the winter. Not sure how to warm her up: (just put the heating on I suppose?) Too late for pets at home.I was thinking would maybe a good idea to put her cage back in same room as other rabbits now. I took her out because having a female was making the boys a bit nasty. I think it would make her feel less alone and make sure she doesn't give up? I am fairly new to rabbits.

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Does she usually live with the other rabbits in a group? If not, its probably best that you keep her away from them, she will be feeling very fragile and will not want to be pestered.

If the boys dont usually live with her, what you are seeing is calling referred aggression. Rabbits are very terrotorial and they can smell/see/hear another rabbit that isnt bonded to them, but they cannot get to her to chase her off, so they get frustrated and take it out on each other. Are your boys neutered? If not I would advise you to get them done asap, as unneutered males living together are a recipe for disaster, especially with the catalyst of an unneutered female (she will still smell unneutered as her hormones wont have died down yet) causing referred aggression. Even if they are neutered, male + male bonds can be easily upset and broken, so its best not to rock the boat.

Yeah, put the heating on to keep her warm, does she have a blanket to snuggle up in? Offer her anything that she will eat, getting her eating is the main thing, its a good sign that shes started.

I have a hot water bottle, shall I wrap it in something and put it near her?

yes,as long as she can get off it when shes hot.Ensure she eats and drinks.Check on poops,and ensure she has her pain relief.

Elainie said:

I have a hot water bottle, shall I wrap it in something and put it near her?

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If you can supervise, and dont fill it up with too hot water then I guess you could if you wrapped it well in a blanket or towel, but remember one bite and she can get through it.

My bunny shook sometimes after she was speyed too it was the stress and she was scared
When I gave her her medicine it shook her up as well and she would shake on and off for a bit after
This went away though it was stress so yours could be the same

Ruthie xxx

I got a brother and sister (English Rabbit cross) together, he was neutered first about 6/8 weeks ago to stop them mating, but then he started still getting really protective of her and being abit threatening towards me, despite being neutered. So I decided to split them up into different rooms and cages at first, and then go ahead and get her spayed (today). Not sure if I can introduce her back in with her brother when she has recovered, or if he will not have her back in the cage?
In another huge cage I have an unneutered Belgian Hare, I was thinking I can maybe able to keep him entire as other two now neutered?
In summer next year I wanted to put them all in a new big run together, but not sure if they will fight? Not sure what to do. They are now all in seperate Massive cages...... taking too much room.

Heating on now, will get something snuggly in there, I did not know I could give them blankets...I thought they may eat it and get ill? Would straw be better over her?

I think while your bunny is feeling so cold and poorly she probably wont bother chewing the blanket tonight. I do think it is very important to keep her warm. A light fleece blanket layed over her with a hotbottle should help.

I hope that if you put the heating on high that your other bunnies wont get too hot. Peace and quiet in a semi-darkend room is what she needs just now.

At 8 weeks after neutering his hormones will only just have died down, and some 'hormonal' behaviours can remain for quite a while after neutering. You can bond them back together after she is well recovered, yes, but you will have to do it on neutral territory and follow the rules of bonding, have a look in the bonding section for some pointers, but you've got a few weeks till you can do so anyway.

You'll need the Belgian Hare neutered if he is to live with the other rabbits, as he will be constantly humping them and will also be aggressive and probably wont bond with them to start with. Personally I would get him neutered asap, and then wait to bond them all together at the same time, I'd say wait at least 8 weeks after, although 6 would be the bare minimum.

Most rabbits wont eat blankets, but some chew or rip it, but this wont harm them. Just keep an eye on her, I doubt she's got enough energy to rip a blanket up anyway. If you do think she is actually eating it you can remove it.

I would avoid hay and straw for bedding, its not reccommended for them to lie on it after neutering, but keep hay around for eating, maybe in a bowl or hayrack or small pile in the corner. If the room is warm and she has a blanket or towel to snuggle up in, she'll be fine.

Is your bunny feeling any warmer yet?
I will look for an update tomorrow.

Good advice from Nessar about getting your Belgian Hare castrated as soon as poss.

All A OK

Thank you so much to everyone for your friendly and helpful comprehensive advice, She recovered really swiftly; by next morning starting to eat gradually, and seems completely fine now. We put the heating on gently, no radiators are near the cages. I have bought them snuggle things to play with and inadvertantly sleep on occassionally.

I briefly tried to introduce her back into the cage with her brother after thorough srub on Sunday...it was not good. I now realise, thanks to advice... I will let her smell die down for afew more weeks and then do so on neutral territory. I will read up about all this first now.

Will get my Hare neutered and I have a Male Rex now which will also need doing too. My Rex is an adult and very smelly!! Will this be ok getting him neutered at this age? He was a new baby born this last summer. He is older then usual as he was left in the shop, but super friendly....if respecting his cage!! I was told he was aggressive to the other males, and bit if they tried to handle the others. I think he was just top rabbit and jealous of the attention being on the other boys as he is a complete softy, they could just leave him on the side board to clean out and do his claws....

I must say having used the tropical fish forum's I was nervous of going on a rabbit one. Tropical fish people it seemed were always trying to act superior and out compete the others, and you are all just lovely and a breath of fresh air Thank you so much. I have alot to learn about these animals!! I don't feel I am being judged as I do. Thank you for your patience.

I hope your rabbit recovers well, lots of love to you. Sounds like you are doing a great job xxx

I am glad your female rabbit has recovered. How old is the male rex you want to get neutered?

There is a guide to neutering on here: http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/neutering28.8.07.pdf

From what you've said the rex is either a few months old or just over 1? Both ages are fine to neuter at, as long as he is healthy. I would get all rabbits neutered, and then whilst you are waiting for their hormones to die down think about how you want to bond them, whether you want a quad or 2 pairs, or whether you are going to get a girly rabbit for each male. Unfortunately, as I said before, boys can be tricky to bond together so its important to research it as much as you can, and groups are also very tricky, you may also want to get someone with experience of bonding to do it for you, rescues will often offer a bonding service for a donation.

Until you decide to bond them and have everything ready, do not put any of them together. And if the boys are being aggressive through the bars, put up barriers or put each cage in a different room, as aggression now may damage the chance of them bonding later. Aggression between non bonded rabbits is perfectly normal, as is an unneutered rabbit's aggression towards other rabbits, so be careful.

Also, be aware that now you have the rex you are going to have to be more thoughtful about the accomodation of his and any bunnies that live with him, as rexes are prone to sore hocks.