Some neutering advice please

I'm planning on having my mini satin boy neutered shortly, firstly i just wanted some reassurance that he'll be able to cope, hes a very nervous bun and i've never had a nervy rabbit put under before....

but my main concern is that he is already bonded and living happily with a mini lop doe... should he be split up from her for the recovery period? and if so how long? or should she be allowed to stay with him while he's recovering... i've never had an already bonded bun neutered before and just wondered what was the safest way to go about things to minimize stress and to make sure the recovery goes smoothly

x becky

Is she spayed?

If so, i would keep them together all the way through- her company and comfort will help him cope.

If it helps, I had a wildie, who was petrified of hands and people neutered and he did fine

Shes not spayed but is infertile, she was very poorly as a baby and the vet believes she wouldnt be able to cope with a spey... she's already lived longer than we thought she would, i'll speak to the vet about keeping them together and thank you for the reassurance re your wildie, it helps as i worry so much over ops, (one of my early rabbits as a child died under G/A and even tho its miles better now, i still always get nervy)

How do you know she is infertile? If there is any chance at all of her being able to get pregnant then, if her body can't cope with a spay, it also won't be able to cope with a litter and so I would recommend separating them until 6-8 weeks after his neuter and then rebonding.

She may cope with a spay now but weve decided not to knock her out unless needed for another reason, then she will be speyed at the same time, her sister who also had blood enteritis and was hand reared unfortunatly died shortly following her op, gerri is now 3 and has been living with my stud bucks since she was 8 months old, i know its not ideal to keep her in tact but it is in her best interests... jovi the buck is still young and has not yet matured... obviously im expecting that very soon thats why he will be getting done.

You misunderstand me- I haven't mentioned getting her spayed at all. Sometimes it is in their best interests to not be spayed. I was looking at the issues of an unspayed female being with an unneutered male and the risks associated with that. Saying that if she is not well enough to be spayed, then she isn't well enough to carry a litter.

I have been in a similar situation. One very sick bunny with her sister. The sick bunny was, at that point, far too ill to be spayed, or do anything really. Her 'sister' then dropped some testicles so I had to split them to ensure that my sick girlie didn't get pregnant (although the risk was a non risk because it turned out the 'sister/brother' was both a sister and a brother, having testes and a vulva :roll. I didn't think it was fair to take the risk. Once s/he had been neutered I waited 6 weeks and then rebonded.

Just be careful, because if there is any possibility she can get pregnant and she does get pregnant, you're going to kick yourself for risking a vulnerable rabbit like that, especially if somethng goes wrong for her.

All that said, if she has lived with stud bucks for so long and not gotten pregnant I can understand why tyou might think she is unfertile. Still a very risky thing to do with such a vulnerable bunny though, in my eyes.

Good luck with the neuter I hope he recovers well and quickly.

Thank you, i just don't have any neutered boys to pair her with and she attacks other does, they do like to pick their own partners and the time i had her on her own (following the death of her sister) she refused to eat, which as a recovered stasis bun was very risky in itself... i think with her its just weighing up the different risks and decided which are the easiest for her to cope with

Sounds like she is lucky to have you fighting her corner Becki She certainly seems to have been through an awful lot. Hope your boys neuter goes well x

I would keep them together, but keep a close eye that she isn't pulling at the wound or over grooming it. I only had one bunny pair where this happened (but it wasn't a neuter it was stitches in his back), and I just used puppy panels to separate them for 48 hrs, so they could still interact etc. Because I foster for rescues, I've had 12 bonded pairs in my care when one was neutered or one then the other.