Worse not better after being spayed :(

After hearing so much positive stuff about having rabbits spayed/neutered (especially the risk of cancer if they haven't been 'done') and the fact that Primrose started showing sexual behaviour occasionally I decided it was the best thing to do.
So we got her spayed 2 weeks ago on 19th Jul but she's had rather a few set backs such as opening her wound up after I'd finally got her appetite back again - so needed to be re-stitched up = another anaesthetic risk!! Then going off her food again plus tantrums when I gave her the antibiotics. She also had to have a head collar which she hates with a passion and thinks if she licks it and scratches it it will eventually come off. As a result of that she had really sore ears so I've been putting aqueous cream on 3 times a day and they've gone a lot better now.
And then she developed an eye infection so I took her to the vets on Monday and apparently that is brought on by the stress from the op and the head collar which is making her depressed! Poor little thing.
I can't wait for her head collar to be taken off cause it's driving us both mad and also her toileting habits have got worse! She goes to the loo all around her cage now and not in her litter tray! And when I let her out for a little wander she leaves 'presents' under the chair! On top of that she won't let me pick her up at all, she loves being stroked still but runs away when I try and pick her up or kicks and struggles until she's put down on the floor

I really hope things improve soon and I was wondering if there was any advice on the house training and picking up or is it all to do with patience and waiting til the silly head collar is off. She's going for another check up to the vets on Fri but Im not sure if the collar will be removed...

Thanks for any suggestions x

Two weeks isn't long, it probably won't be until after eight that you notice a difference. If she has a cone on and is still on meds she probably won't be feeling great either so I wouldn't be surprised if she was a bit grumpier.

Even a spayed rabbit is unlikely to ever enjoy being picked up. Rabbits a prey animals so, to them, being lifted off the floor is a death sentence.

You could try taking the head collar off and putting a baby tee shirt or small dog sweater on her to cover her stitches. That may or may not be less stressful for her.
Poor little baby.

Yeah that's true. 2 weeks isn't that long, I just want my bouncy happy bunny back who gets into mischief and loves being cuddled.
I was thinking of using a tshirt or something similar I'll have to see if she'll keep still for long enough!

Hi there,

I had a very similar problem with my bun after she was spayed - she pulled out the stitches (and more!!) and then developed a small abscess where one of the anti-inflammatory injections had been given - so much stress! She was too small for a collar so that was never an option. What I did was cut up a pair of socks at the heel so I had 2 tubes. I then folded over the cut end and stitched it up so threads couldn't easily be ingested and then put both tubes on my rabbit, one on top of the other. She didn't like it (and I felt horrible doing it), but it worked. If your bun is a little larger, men's socks might do the job: the challenge is finding something tight enough to stop them simply moving it with their teeth/paws but obviously not too tight. If the wound is still sore you may be able to put one of those dressing pads over the wound - the sock should keep it in place. You have to be careful that they don't eat any threads, and obviously you have to keep checking the wound and so on, but hopefully it might work for you.

I noticed when a previous bun of mine had to wear a collar that they didn't want to go in the litter tray because the bottom of the collar made it uncomfortable to jump in as it would catch on the lip of the tray, so that may be part of the reason for her not using it at the moment?

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip Shula
She went today and got the all clear - eyes ears and wound I can take her collar off on Monday whooop whooop