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Would you spay a 5 year old? U/D Spay booked!

JemimaH

Warren Veteran
As title says really. I have a five and a half year old Nethie, perfectly healthy, although she is unspayed. our vet says that she probably wouldnt recommend it, but I just wanted some more opinions. Since I learnt more about spaying females, I've always felt guilty with Dee because she is solitary. Her partner died a couple of years ago, and although he was neutered, she wasnt. Obviously I don't want to put her under a lot of stress, and I know that as she gets older she's more likely to have complications with spaying but I know that if she isnt spayed she will most likely get uterine cancer, if she hasnt already! At the same time I don't want her to die knowing that it was my fault and something could have been done to prevent it, rather than it being my fault again but nothing could have been done. My Mum (she pays the vet bills!) loves her and would most likely put her through a spay, IF she thought Dee would benefit. But she thinks it'd be too much. So, would you spay or not?:wave:
 
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Why would your vet not reccommend it?? If she has other health problems, ok, then caution, but if shes fit then why not?? There is always some risks with a GA.........
 
I've always been told that it should be fine as long as they're healthy :wave: And don't Nethies have a longer lifespan than most bigger breeds? In that case 5 years wouldn't be that old at all :)
 
Agree with Yvette. I would, personally. Can you take her to another vets for a second opinion? Maybe your vets isnt very experienced/specialist in rabbit spays/GAs, possibly?
 
If there are no other health issues to consider then I routinely spay up to the age of 7 years. After that we do it based on necessity and general health:wave:
 
It's not so much that she didnt recommend it because of the actual operation, it's the fact that she thought us spending £70ish and putting a rabbit who is quite old (her words, not mine) through a stressful operation might not be worth it, because obviously dee might not come round at all etc, but also because she didnt think it'd add much onto her life? She'd said that chances are, Dee wont live beyond six. Tbh though I didn't agree with that, and didn't listen to it. They are a good vets, they did alfie and roobear, and my old bun Pipkin (her partner), but they were all done at the minimum age (four months) so I wonder if it's because she's older? hmm... I'd prefer not to take dee elsewhere because alfie, roobear, and our two cats are all at the same vets so it'd be complicated to move just one rabbit if you get me? merf, not sure what to do now :?
 
My main hesitation would not be her age, but her breed. I lost a young Nethie through a spay, and my other rabbit vet said they're at slightly higher risk because of something to do with the size of something connected with the anaesthetic...can't remember what... :oops:

On balance I'd probably go ahead with it but make sure it's a vet who regularly spays Nethies rather than just rabbits in general - may need to travel to get a specialist? :?
 
It's not so much that she didnt recommend it because of the actual operation, it's the fact that she thought us spending £70ish and putting a rabbit who is quite old (her words, not mine) through a stressful operation might not be worth it, because obviously dee might not come round at all etc, but also because she didnt think it'd add much onto her life? She'd said that chances are, Dee wont live beyond six. Tbh though I didn't agree with that, and didn't listen to it. They are a good vets, they did alfie and roobear, and my old bun Pipkin (her partner), but they were all done at the minimum age (four months) so I wonder if it's because she's older? hmm... I'd prefer not to take dee elsewhere because alfie, roobear, and our two cats are all at the same vets so it'd be complicated to move just one rabbit if you get me? merf, not sure what to do now :?

If I were in your shoes I would look at having her spayed but with a vet who thought it was worth doing!

I've just taken a newly acquired 5 year old rabbit to my vets for a health check and they know all my rabbits are neutered. Having ascertained that she wasn't spayed it was a matter of routine (as she was healthy) to get her booked in for a spay. She wasn't considered old at all. As it turns out she was actually spayed already! She recovered really well. A few hours after the op I was told she was behaving as if she hadn't had anything done and had eaten everything in sight. She breezed through it. I'd have no hestitation in having a 5 year old spayed ... with a vet who was confident to do it and thought a 5 year old rabbit was worth the effort and money!!
 
I definately would! I don't think 5 is old really, its middle aged, ok, but there are always risks but its about this time she is at a huge risk of uterine cancer so I would see it as a necessity. When Lucy came to me she was estimated at about 4 and a half and I didn't have to think about it. I would also suggest finding a rabbit savvy vet or talking to your current vet and asking more questions.
 
Just to add, Lucy went in to be speyed when I first got her and the vet couldn't find a uterus so assumed she was speyed. She has recently been showing hormonal signs so I looked in to it and decided to do a blood test to see if she was speyed to be certain. Turns out she isn't producing the hormones so is very likely to be speyed but if those results had come back positive and she needed to be speyed I would do it. She is most likely over 6 now.
 
We had our bun spayed in January, she was about 5.5yrs then. Our vet expressed no concerns at all about spaying a bun her age and actually recommended we get her spayed when we first got her 6months before that :)
 
cecile was spayed at 5 years old so that she and her neutered brother could come to live with me. she hadn't been done as an adolescent because she is (was) a very tiny bun. i was very worried because my tabby is bigger, and her operation and recovery were not easy. but cecile sailed through it. i am not having any more bunnies but if i had to make a decision, i'd say have the operation.
 
oh, she will come round!Spaying is not as stressful as dentals, for example. It is just a small incision and she will be fine:) My bun got spayed at almost 4 and looked as if she wasn't operated at all after it. She jumped, ate, pooped and everything...so do that - in my opinion!
 
I rescued a 5 year old unspayed REW last October, she was fit and healthy and was fine when we got her spayed.

In May this year I found a lump which turned out to be a mammary tumor which we had removed.

I would say YES get her spayed, if Twinkles first owner had spayed her as a youngster maybe she wouldnt have gone on to have the tumor and had to have another GA only 6 months after being spayed.
 
Thankyou very much everyone, I will show my Mum this thread tomorrow and we will ring our usual vets/other vets during the week and ask what they think/if they would do it, then hopefully get her booked in within the next few weeks. Now I have to face the possibility they could open her up and find tumours...ah well. We have five or six vets near us so I'm sure at least one would feel confident doing it! Providing it goes ahead, would you say an older bun would need a bit more after-care etc?:wave:
 
Just sharing my own experience, I recently took on a 4yr old doe unspayed for my buck as his partner had passed.....I had to get her stayed as she was to b bonded with him........when she was opened the vet found a massive tumor and was able to remove it whilst being spayed.....in reality we most probably extended her life period as no one would have known the tumor was there......I would recommend spay as there are health implications without, I would most defo seek a 2nd opinion.
 
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no different after care for an older bun than a young one. tabby couldn't hop so she needed everything on one level, a very, very shallow area for litter etc. [cecile, with her previous owner, was hopping about into a 4"high litter tray by evening, and she's only a tiny bunny]. i used vetbed and fleeces as flooring, keeping hay to a small haybox, to avoid bits of hay sticking into the wound. dandelions were best for tempting tabby to eat.
 
I would def get her speyed hun, I got my 6 year old lop done and when they opened her up they found she had already developed a uterine tumor but successfully removed it at time of spey . She went to to live for over a year but died of m unrelated illness. God I miss her, its been 3 years and I'm still devastated. Sorry to go o/t there x
 
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