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Spaying advice / vaccinations

Fayelou

Alpha Buck
I was just wondering, I have recently noticed my little bunny has 4 nipples. Will she just have developed these? She is approx 5 months old now. I handle her alot and have never noticed them before! As I have mentioned on previous threads, she is currently on 0.5ml of baytril twice a day and 0.1ml of Metacam. This was due to bad sneezing and 2 vet visits. No other symptoms other than a runny nose. She has been recovering well and eating, drinking, pooing, binkying etc :) vet listened to her chest and she was fine. Took her temperature as well (which she seemed to like as she licked my hand like mad!)

I was wondering if / when to get her spayed? We were told by pets at home she was a boy! She is a single bunny, house rabbit. Not showing any hormonal symptoms what so ever at the moment.

She also needs vaccinations, I would have had these done already if it weren't for the other 2 sneezy vet visits.

I have had her since late August and love her soo much.

Thanks xxxx
 
She will have had nipples since birth (like human babies do) but likely, as she reached sexual maturity they have become more prominent because they need to be.

I would follow your vets advice on when to get her spayed. She needs to be in peak health to give her the best chance of recovering and not having a respiratory relapse of any type. The same applies to vaccinations because for them to be effective she needs to be as healthy as possible.

If she was mine I would want her off the meds and stable, I think, before even considering spaying or vaccinating.
 
I would wait a little while after she's fully recovered before vaccinations and spaying. My rabbit has been on antibiotics, so she hasn't had one of her vaccinations, but she's off them now, so I'm waiting around 2 weeks for her second vaccination (as long as she doesn't need any vet treatment during that time).
 
Thanks for replies xx

She will always be a single house bunny, is it as important to have her spayed? I don't want to put her through a big op unless she really needs it.
 
Thanks for replies xx

She will always be a single house bunny, is it as important to have her spayed? I don't want to put her through a big op unless she really needs it.

she will still need it. 80% of entire females get uterine cancer. Spaying her will eliminate this condition completely.

can i ask why she is going to be kept as a single rabbit?
 
It's about weighing up the risks. She will be at high risk of uterine and hormonal cancers if she is not spayed.

So you have to work out is how the risk of the op weighs up against the high risk of the cancers.

If she generally has a normal lifespan then eventually she will likely succumb to the cancer anyway and then, by the the time you notice, she will likely be too depleted to spay successfully and have her recover from the cancer.

I chose not to spay my Wish because we thought she would die under the operation, and that she would die prematurely anyway. Then she got exceptionally healthy (for her), and so we went for it. It was hard and difficult, due to her problems, but it was so worth doing. All my other girlies are spayed.

Why is it she will remain single?
 
Yes you can, although I'd appreciate you don't have a go at me.

I don't have the room really for 2 rabbits. I live in a flat and work during the day. Simba has the run of the bathroom in the day (which is large) and run of the kitchen / bathroom / living room when I am home.

If bonding was unsuccessful, I can't keep them seperate as don't have the room.

I have had Simba 2 months and have already paid £120 in vet bills, I couldn't afford this for 2 bunnies.

She has lots of toys, attention and love.
 
Yes you can, although I'd appreciate you don't have a go at me.

I don't have the room really for 2 rabbits. I live in a flat and work during the day. Simba has the run of the bathroom in the day (which is large) and run of the kitchen / bathroom / living room when I am home.

If bonding was unsuccessful, I can't keep them seperate as don't have the room.

I have had Simba 2 months and have already paid £120 in vet bills, I couldn't afford this for 2 bunnies.

She has lots of toys, attention and love.

Neither of us had a go at you, so I'm not entirely sure why you're stating that when we haven't had a go. I'm sure everyone would appreciate it if no one had a go at them :?

In addition to all you said, that is your situation currently, but you don't know what the future may hold and maybe you might get into a situation where you could afford a second bunny, did have the space, etc, and might then be able to consider getting her a friend. The younger she is spayed generally the better and quicker she will bounce back.

Also, with regards to the bit where you said about the bonding being unsuccessful, a lot of rescues would be willing to take back a bunny in an unsuccessful bonding situation and then trying with another, so hopefully that wouldn't be an issue for you if you did find yourself wanting a second :)
 
I was asking in advance that you didn't have a go at me. Wasn't meaning to be rude? Seems you took it that way, so I apologise.

Oh yes, I am hoping our house in Ireland will be ready in the next 2 years, so would like to rescue loads of bunnies then! Would it be too late to bond then?

I didn't know that about rescues, I wouldn;t want her to pass snuffles on to another bunny as well?

I want her to have the best health possible.

Wouldn't rule out another bun, but those would be my concerns.

Will get her spayed when she is back to good health xxxxx
 
No worries :) To me it just came across as unnecessarily defensive, but it sounds like I read it wrong, so I'm sorry about that :)

Nope, it won't be too late to bond :) any bunny of any age can potentially be bonded (depending on the situation). If you looked for a friend, maybe you could look for a rabbit that has the same problems as her, or, if it is dormant and she is recovered it may not be an issue anyway (I have a boy who previously had a respiratory issue and he is now bonded with two bunnies who haven't and he is all good)- I wouldn't suggest bonding with an active infection though because of the risk to her imune system.

Maybe you could look to bond before going to Ireland and working with a rescue, then you would know by the time you got to Ireland that they were a solid bond. I believe there are less rescues in Ireland and the rabbit situation is quite different in attitude, so it might be better to rescue prior to going, that way, you can hopefully rescue from someone you know is responsible and more known.
 
Thanks very much for the advice.

I would like to take some buns over with me, definitely. Not sure whether it will be best to fly with them or get the ferry? Anyadvice on that also appreciated!

Maybe wait until Simba has recovered fully (the vet thinks she will make a full recovery as her chest is absolutely fine) then get her spayed and vaccinated and consider getting her a friend then? I am assuming 2 females could still fight if not spayed?
 
That sounds like a plan :)

I have absolutely no idea about flying or ferrying, but if you fly, make sure that you carry them on with you and they stay with you all the time.

I wouldn't advise two unspayed females. It can be done, but it's pretty uncommon and the chances of long term success are not high. Given you want a friend for her you need to do everything possible to maximise the chance of a successful bond :) First step of that is getting her healthy :)
 
Definitely :)

We will carry on with the Baytril (thought she hates it, bless her). We are now on day 4 of 10 and she is much better, still sneezing but it is so much less frequent and no longer sounds like a duck! She is happy in herself and licking me to death :)

Fingers crossed for a full recovery xxx
 
:) I hope by the time she finishes her course that she is doing much better :)

(and also, for the record, I can't imagine why anyone would have a go at you for all youv'e said :) )
 
:) That's lovely. If you keep that in mind, that's what you will always do; the best for her. She's very lucky you took her home- especially given she has been so ill.
 
I got her from Pets at Home, was told she was a boy. As it was just sneezing, there weren't obvious symtpoms.

Pets at Home offered to "exchange her" and I said no way. They are refunding some of the vet bill apparently, I'll find out on Saturday when I go in so we will see.

I would always go to a rescue in future, but don't regret her for a moment as I feel like I rescued her anyway really xxx
 
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