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Female rabbit castration

ialle

New Kit
Hi,

I am hopefully getting a female rabbit very soon. She will be staying outside so I am finding her a friend so she wont be lonely. I have read a lot of articles about how good castration is, so I want to do it. But I have some questions. Do I have to take her inside while she is recovering from surgery, and for how long? Do I have to wait even longer before the bonding can begin?



I'm from Norway so excuse me for my bad english :)
 
Hi, welcome to the forum :wave:

No need to apologise at all, your English is near perfect!

That's great that you are going to get your rabbit a friend and get her neutered. Both rabbits will need to be neutered before you can introduce them to each other (females are 'spayed' and males are 'castrated'). This is to reduce hormonal behaviour and also obviously pregnancy.

It's best to speak to your vet about the operation and aftercare, but generally here in the UK we would keep a rabbit indoors for a day or so after a spay, as they do not do well in cooler temperatures after they have had an anaesthetic. Regarding how long, I always play that by ear. Some rabbits are up and about in no time at all, and some take longer to recover. I would keep her inside until she is acting like her normal self again and eating normally (you will notice that when she comes home from her operation she is likely to be quiet and not as hungry as usual).

Make sure you speak to your vet about pain medications for after the operation. Here in the UK, some vets aren't very good at giving pain relief to owners to take home with them, but this is really important after a spay as it's a very invasive operation, and makes them uncomfortable and likely to go off their food. Here we are usually given some 'Metacam' or 'Loxicom' pain medication to administer by syringe at home for a few days after the op.

You should wait 4-6 weeks after both rabbits have been neutered before you think about introducing them, as hormones can hang around for a while, and you want to give them time to recover fully before bonding, as it can be quite stressful for them.

Good luck!
 
Thank you so much! For everything! This is great help.

Another question. Let's say that she is behaving like her normal self after a couple of days and done with medication. Will it be safe to move her around to different locations, without introducing her to a new rabbit? Or should she just stay at the same place for 4-6 weeks after the surgery?
 
Thank you so much! For everything! This is great help.

Another question. Let's say that she is behaving like her normal self after a couple of days and done with medication. Will it be safe to move her around to different locations, without introducing her to a new rabbit? Or should she just stay at the same place for 4-6 weeks after the surgery?

I try not to move rabbits around too often generally, as they are quite sensitive to change. But if she usually lives outside and you have brought her in for a couple of days after her spay, it's fine then to put her back outside when she's better again (assuming the temperature isn't very cold outside - you want to avoid sudden temperature changes). She doesn't need to stay in her 'recovery area' for the whole 4-6 weeks.
 
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