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Post-spay advice.

Ailstar

Ailstar

Mama Doe
Hi guys. So I've decided to book daisy in for her spay next week. Originally I was going to wait till she is 6 months old in October, but although her and Levi are ok at the moment I'm worried about a sudden onset of hormones damaging their bond. So Levi and daisy live in a two tier double hutch which is housed in a shed in my garden and they have a run that I put them out in all day. I am wondering if anyone has any post spay advice, I'm planning on probably keeping daisy inside in her carrier for the first few days post spay. When I move her back to her hutch (I'm going to block off the ramp to keep them seperate) what's the best thing to use as bedding? Plain newspaper? I just don't want her to get too cold without Levi to snuggle with, I'm also thinking of getting a snugglesafe to put in her bed area. How long would you recommend waiting till
I let her out in the run again? (My dad is going to build me a partition so the buns can still see each other which will hopefully help their bond) I also sometimes let them both run around my kitchen (supervised) and was wondering if this was a good way to let them see each other in a place I can immediately step in if Levi gets too rough. I'm just worried they are both going to end up lonely without each other if I keep them seperate for any length of time. (I think this is worrying me more than the actual op as I really trust my vets to do the right thing) any advice/reassurance would be great. Thanks!
 
I personally would still keep them together, as I would be worried that the separation would actually break the bond down. Pippa went in to be spayed even though she was already bonded with Dipsy (bonded themselves, literally :D), and my vet actually told me that Dipsy should go in with her, as a bonded partner would actually help with her recovery. My vet was brilliant and because Pippa was a terrible cruelty case and blind, a nurse even held Dipsy by her until she was asleep, and then before she was woken up, the nurse brought Dipsy back so that he was already there when she woke up, and so I think that kind of implies how important it is to keep a bonded pair together.

To be honest I would be really worried about separating them and then putting Daisy through surgery, and I think the stress it may cause could very well hinder her recovery. She is still very young as well, and my vet prefers to wait until buns are 6 months old, and a bit bigger and stronger before neutering, unless there is a very good reason for doing it beforehand. Some bunnies don't cope well with a GA and can be quite poorly afterwards, and I have always waited until bun reaches 6 months for that reason.

With regards bedding afterwards, I used soft blankets and towels. Just paper will be a very hard surface for Daisy to lie on, but the softness of blankets will be much more supportive and comfortable for her, and don't forget she may well be very sore initially. I wouldn't actually use a snugglesafe myself at this time of year when Daisy is also going to be inside, as I would worry that she may then become too warm. Pippa recovered very well from her spay, and was pretty much back to normal the next day, but I firmly believe that a lot of that was to do with the comfort she got from having Dipsy by her side throughout.




This is Pippa back at home following her spay that day. Dipsy went for a pint following his stressful day with her. No actually Dipsy was removed for this picture because he attacked the camera :lol:
 
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Hi, yeah tbh I don't really want to split them up at all, I'm just going off what I'd read on here with people keeping their rabbits seperate for several weeks due to hormones etc. I had guilt issues just keeping daisy and Levi seperate for one night after Levi was neutered 2 months ago! If you think it's possible/better not to seperate them at all I will definitely think about it, and I will ask my vet about possibly bringing Levi in as company for daisy. When you had pippa spayed, did you keep her in a carrier/small space to begin with for the first couple of nights? I was originally planning to do that so i can keep her inside to keep an eye on her but I would feel mean keeping Levi in there as well, and I haven't got the facilities or space to keep them both inside, out of the carrier.

The snugglesafe was more for once she is back out in her hutch, but if its not really necessary for comfort etc I won't bother with one.

And regarding waiting till she is 6 months, as I said I was originally going to do that. I figured the longer I waited the better, but I am worried about hormones kicking in. My vet doesn't seem to have a minimum age for spaying, I guess he goes on weight and daisy is almost 1.5kg which is a good weight for a mini lop. I'm finding ive done so much reading and research about this that I'm more confused than I was before!
 
Hi there,
Great idea getting her done now rather,than waiting, I had them both done at 4 months as they started fighting. It was the female, pippa causing all the trouble! Jasper had his op first and at this point they already had separate hutches. He recovered within.hours, eating and hopping around, pippa on the other hand was very sore for about 3 days. I was advised to allow her any food she would eat as her appetite was off during this time. She enjoyed birch leaves, dandelion and wet greens, she wudnt go near dried stuff. I kept her bed full, I think I removed sawdust tho as it can stick to the wound. Just newspaper and straw. I left her hutch open a few times but she wudnt cum out, eventually after a few days she had a little strole!
Hope she recovers quickly
 
Ps I was advised to keep my two separate as although they were bonded they had started to fight. I had to re introduce them, now they have their own bedroom but play outside together everyday
 
Pippa Pots said:
Ps I was advised to keep my two separate as although they were bonded they had started to fight. I had to re introduce them, now they have their own bedroom but play outside together everyday
Click to expand...

Yeah tbh I think I'll just ask my vet and see what he advises. I took Levi on his own and he was absolutely fine. Up and about within less than a day and back to his old self the day after. With the spay being a bigger op though I'm more worried. It would be much easier if I didn't have to go to work and I could monitor her throughout the day to see how she was doing, rather than having to judge in the morning if she should stay in her hutch or not!
 
The RWAF advice is as follows

Post operative care
Your rabbit should be awake, alert and preferably eating when you collect it after surgery. Remember to check:
Has the rabbit been given pain relieving drugs? If not, request some.
Who should be contacted if there are any problems?
Do you need to book an appointment for a check-up, or for stitches to be removed?
How long should the rabbit be on cage rest? (usually 2 days for males, 5 or 6 for females)
When you get your rabbit home, put it in a disinfected cage indoors with comfortable bedding (e.g. clean towels or Vetbed) and a clean litter tray or newspapers. Most vets use special suture techniques to prevent rabbits chewing at stitches, but you should still check the operation site daily for any discharge or swelling.
Males usually bounce back from their operation, but females may be quiet for a day or so. The most important thing is to get your rabbit eating, or the digestive system may grind to a halt. Vets try very hard to avoid this complication, using drugs to relieve pain and stimulate the gut, but you should be prepared to tempt the rabbit with nibbles of favourite food. Freshly picked grass or herbs often work. If your rabbit isn't eating by next morning, call the vet for advice. You should also monitor the rabbits' droppings for a few days and contact the vet if few or none are produced.
If you have two rabbits...
If you have two rabbits of the same sex living together, have them neutered at the same time and keep them together. If you have a male and a female, you need to be a bit more careful. Male rabbits remain fertile for up to 4 weeks after castration. Females must be kept away from males for about 14 days after being spayed. It's best to keep them separate (but in adjacent cages) except when you can supervise them very closely.

So now I'm really confused. To seperate or not to seperate!
 
Ailstar said:
Yeah tbh I think I'll just ask my vet and see what he advises. I took Levi on his own and he was absolutely fine. Up and about within less than a day and back to his old self the day after. With the spay being a bigger op though I'm more worried. It would be much easier if I didn't have to go to work and I could monitor her throughout the day to see how she was doing, rather than having to judge in the morning if she should stay in her hutch or not!
Click to expand...

Well if bunnies are fighting then that is a totally different situation, and of course you would separate them then, but as yours aren't I really wouldn't. Don't forget Levi has already been neutered and is no longer able to reproduce, which is the same as it was for Dipsy, so the RWAF is not really applicable to yourself, as that is looking at a male and female of the same age, both being neutered at the same time, and so they could still have produced babies. As Daisy is such a good weight, then I agree that she is robust enough to have a GA. I really would still go with the blankets or towels for bedding when you bring her home, as straw is still stalky and quite hard, and could stick in her wound and make her really sore. If that happens she is then likely to start worrying at the wound site and possibly pull her stitches out.

Dipsy and Pippa are house bunnies and free-range, but I borrowed a big indoor cage and kept them both in that just until Pippa was back to her usual 'loony tunes' self, which was the next day :roll: I did let them both back out then, but kept them in just one room, and removed things that they would normally jump up on, as I think that is the thing you have to be really careful about.

When you discuss with your vet, his response to whether to keep them together or not, will give you a good indication of how rabbit savvy he is. A really rabbit savvy vet like mine, who only sees rabbits, will know the importance of keeping bonded rabbits together, and if he doesn't recommend it then personally I would be questioning if he was the right person to be treating my buns. If you do go ahead and separate, then bear in mind there is a very real chance that their bond will be broken, and will you be able to accommodate both bunnies separately then, if they fail to rebond. The other person who posted on your thread, whose bunnies were fighting, was going to have to rebond anyway, but if Daisy and Levi are as committed to each other as Dipsy and Pippa, I really wouldn't jeopardise that, and can't actually see any reason why you would want to do that.

I have another pair of bonded house bunnies, and every time any one bun needs to go to the vet, the partner will go as well, because one of the reasons and benefits of having bonded bunnies is that they comfort and support each other during stressful times, not so that you can stress them out even more by taking their partner away, potentially hinder their recovery, and break down their bond. I'm very interested now to see what your vet recommends :?

Just wanted to add that I realise you separated them when Levi was neutered, but that was 2 months ago, and they may well not have been together for long then. But they have been together a lot longer now and their bond will be much stronger, and please believe me when I say that both bunnies will be really upset if you suddenly separate them now, and because Daisy's op is bigger and she may well take longer to recover fully, you may well not be able to rebond them if it does break down. Of course, they may well rebond again if necessary with no problems, but I personally wouldn't want to take the risk, nor upset them unnecessarily in the first place.
 
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Yeah, please don't think I don't agree with everything you are saying. My gut instinct has always been to not want to seperate them. Like I said I felt bad when Levi had his op. I only kept them seperate for the time I did because he'd been humping daisy a lot before he was neutered and I wanted to give the wound some time in case he immediately started humping her again. In Daisy's case I do want to keep them together, it did occur to me the RWAF advice might be for if you had her with an unneutered male who was going to give her too much attention. But I haven't seen any humping going on from either of them for at least a few weeks. I just find it very confusing when one website says one thing and then another says the opposite! I just want to do what's best for my buns :) oh and don't worry I'll be definitely going down the towels and blankets bedding route.

I also forgot to say that your pippa is absolutely gorgeous! :) thanks for all the advice.
 
Could you not bring them both indoors after the op & place them in cages next to each other for the few days while daisy is healing? That's how we did it with our male buns. They weren't fighting, but the vet suggested keeping them apart because of their stitches. Had no problems as they could see & smell each other & when they were ready, they just went back into their cage :) x
 
RogerRabbit999 said:
Well if bunnies are fighting then that is a totally different situation, and of course you would separate them then, but as yours aren't I really wouldn't. Don't forget Levi has already been neutered and is no longer able to reproduce, which is the same as it was for Dipsy, so the RWAF is not really applicable to yourself, as that is looking at a male and female of the same age, both being neutered at the same time, and so they could still have produced babies. As Daisy is such a good weight, then I agree that she is robust enough to have a GA. I really would still go with the blankets or towels for bedding when you bring her home, as straw is still stalky and quite hard, and could stick in her wound and make her really sore. If that happens she is then likely to start worrying at the wound site and possibly pull her stitches out.

Dipsy and Pippa are house bunnies and free-range, but I borrowed a big indoor cage and kept them both in that just until Pippa was back to her usual 'loony tunes' self, which was the next day :roll: I did let them both back out then, but kept them in just one room, and removed things that they would normally jump up on, as I think that is the thing you have to be really careful about.

When you discuss with your vet, his response to whether to keep them together or not, will give you a good indication of how rabbit savvy he is. A really rabbit savvy vet like mine, who only sees rabbits, will know the importance of keeping bonded rabbits together, and if he doesn't recommend it then personally I would be questioning if he was the right person to be treating my buns. If you do go ahead and separate, then bear in mind there is a very real chance that their bond will be broken, and will you be able to accommodate both bunnies separately then, if they fail to rebond. The other person who posted on your thread, whose bunnies were fighting, was going to have to rebond anyway, but if Daisy and Levi are as committed to each other as Dipsy and Pippa, I really wouldn't jeopardise that, and can't actually see any reason why you would want to do that.

I have another pair of bonded house bunnies, and every time any one bun needs to go to the vet, the partner will go as well, because one of the reasons and benefits of having bonded bunnies is that they comfort and support each other during stressful times, not so that you can stress them out even more by taking their partner away, potentially hinder their recovery, and break down their bond. I'm very interested now to see what your vet recommends :?

Just wanted to add that I realise you separated them when Levi was neutered, but that was 2 months ago, and they may well not have been together for long then. But they have been together a lot longer now and their bond will be much stronger, and please believe me when I say that both bunnies will be really upset if you suddenly separate them now, and because Daisy's op is bigger and she may well take longer to recover fully, you may well not be able to rebond them if it does break down. Of course, they may well rebond again if necessary with no problems, but I personally wouldn't want to take the risk, nor upset them unnecessarily in the first place.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
Ailstar said:
Yeah, please don't think I don't agree with everything you are saying. My gut instinct has always been to not want to seperate them. Like I said I felt bad when Levi had his op. I only kept them seperate for the time I did because he'd been humping daisy a lot before he was neutered and I wanted to give the wound some time in case he immediately started humping her again. In Daisy's case I do want to keep them together, it did occur to me the RWAF advice might be for if you had her with an unneutered male who was going to give her too much attention. But I haven't seen any humping going on from either of them for at least a few weeks. I just find it very confusing when one website says one thing and then another says the opposite! I just want to do what's best for my buns :) oh and don't worry I'll be definitely going down the towels and blankets bedding route.

I also forgot to say that your pippa is absolutely gorgeous! :) thanks for all the advice.
Click to expand...

Aww thank you. Your Daisy and Levi are like the posh and becks of the bunny world :lol: and totally adorable. I just want to squish them :love: I'm really glad you're going to use blankets for her after her op, I just want all bunnies to be all snuggled up and warm in a really soft blanket, when they have had a op. Actually, though, Pippa will only sleep with blankets now, but she is a bit of a diva :lol:

Difficult to imagine how anyone could leave this little one to starve and she had been deliberately blinded in one eye with a blunt object. When she was found she was in the process of dying we think as she was cold, unresponsive, and very shallow breathing. Took 2 weeks of syringe feeding before she was even strong enough to stand and be able to start eating for herself. Then we had the problem of her loosing any weight she put on trying to keep warm, and so I had a jacket made for her, which she absolutely adores. Even had a little hood to go over her head when she was being carried from the car into my vets :lol:

 
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