Spaying two sisters...

I have two sisters who I will be getting spayed. They are currently 18 weeks old, when is the best time to get them done? I know some people say after 4 months and some say after 6...

I have heard a lot of conflicting advice and I am not sure what to do. Some say to get them done at separate times and others the same time... some say to keep them apart for weeks and others say this has previously caused their bond to break or stress them out too much and therefore only separate for the first night... some say to keep them indoors (if outdoor rabbits like mine) and others say to let them go out after the first night to an environment where they are more familiar and comfortable... does anyone have any advice on these points?

I am assuming your bunnies are together? They should be fine staying together up to their spay as sisters usually get along. I like to wait until 5 - 6 months depending on the size of the rabbit but Vets vary, some will do spays a little earlier but I think that is too young. They should be fine to stay together when they come home and at this time of year should be ok going back into their usual accommodation. Having company should help their recovery. They mustn't be allowed to jump onto anything or run around for a week and you should check their wound twice a day, if they are easily handled.

I hope I can help because I have 2 girls, sisters, and had them spayed and mine are outdoor bunnies.

I got them spayed at around 6 months old, as they were starting to not fight as such, but have spats that were getting a little bit vocal.

They were spayed at the same time because if you think of it logically, it is a major operation for a girl (human or animal!) and the last thing she would want is for her boisterous un-spayed sister bouncing around her while she was feeling quite rough. So get them done together. They will both be quiet at the same time, sleepy at about the same time and will recover together.

DO NOT SEPARATE, not even for one night. If your vet is any good then they will be caged separately at the vet (they have to be) but mine were put next to each other so they could see and smell each other and could squish noses through the bars.

I bought a reasonably sized dog cage and brought them indoors for a full 2 weeks on vet advice. Now some may say this was excessive but I don't think it was for several reasons; being indoors in a cool room (keep the heating off in that room and if necessary open a window but be very careful of draughts) meant that at any time of day or night I could pop my head around the door to check on them; there was nothing they could hop onto, or up, which for female rabbits is absolutely essential because if you put them back into their hutch and it has a ladder or similar, you seriously run the risk of them over-stretching and popping their stitches open and that could prove fatal if done in the night when you can't check on them; they had fully supervised free-time after 48 hours when we allowed them out of their cage for the first time; and they had practical 24 hour human company as well so we were able to check on them very regularly throughout the day, right up until quite late at night and then fairly early in the morning, to make sure they were okay.

The downside to having them indoors for 2 weeks was that the cage took over the utility room and they stunk.

However, I am so, so glad I brought them indoors because they healed perfectly well and I had absolutely no problems with them whatsoever.

My two sisters were kept together and spayed together, kept together afterwards too. They were spayed at 5 months as their hormones had kicked in and there was a bit of fur pulling and mounting starting. Mine are outdoor bunnies but as Angie B did, I kept them inside in a large dog crate for I think a couple of weeks before they went back outside, which was better as I could keep an eye on them. They bounced back pretty well really, I asked for subcutaneous fluids and appetite stimulants to be given as well as the usual painkillers which I'm sure helped :thumb:

Thanks guys.

Yeah, they are together and have been since being born. I am so relieved about them being able to stay together, I had been concerned about separating them! I have read many times that they should be separated, but also many times not to...

In their outdoor house there are two shelves but they can be taken out and they also have a hideaway house thing in the run that they sit on all the time so that will need to come out too. I have a dog crate for my dogs, they are Border Collies and they have plenty of space so I could keep them in that for the first few days. I would worry about keep them in that for a longer period because I think it is too small for any longer than that.

They are Lionhead crosses so aren't huge. I weighed them when they were 14 weeks old to compare their size to their sister (she has since passed away) and they weighed 1.5kg then (their sister weighed just 820g). I haven't weighed them since. They are friendly rabbits and will come up for a fuss and are easy to handle in that respect but they hate getting picked up (like most rabbits) so not sure how they will be for checking the wound.

I'm sure they will be fine for a short while in the dog crate, if it's big enough for 2 border collies then it should be ok for a while, until they can go back out, and that's a good idea to take out shelves and the hidey house in their outdoor setup. I also changed to lower litter trays too so they didn't catch themselves on it, and just had newspaper in litter trays and on the floor and put hay in racks so nothing got stuck to their wound. If they are being spayed in the summer then it's not so much of an issue with them going back out after being in the house, mine had to be done in early spring when the temperature was much colder out. For checking wounds mine hate being handled and obviously were less keen on it when they had their wounds, so I would hold a treat hig enough up for them to stretch up a bit for it and that meant I could see their wound easily without even touching them :thumb:

I've had 2 sets of sisters spayed and I agree with all the above, have them spayed at the same time, keep them together, bring them inside for a few days so you can watch them and make sure they both get back to normal. Also check that your vet is going to send them home with painkiller medication - if he/she says no consider changing to a more rabbit-friendly vet.

4 months and/or at least 1kg in weight is often the earliest most vets will spay a female rabbit, because the op can be quite fiddly when they are any younger. If left later, though, the rabbits start to lay down body fat across their belly and this makes the op a little more fiddly later on. Personally, I would probably wait until about 5 months or 1.5 kg for a single rabbit, but for an existing pair I would get them booked in as soon as the vet will do them and take them together and let them recover together. This is because when their hormones kick in, they are likely to start bickering or humping and this can escalate into fights, breaking the bond. It's harder to rebond after a fight and sometimes might not be possible at all, so for existing pairs, I would prefer it to be done early so they can just stay together and recover together. It sounds as if they are a good weight already so I'd be happy with that if they were mine.

The reason they need to be inside after an op is because the anaesthetic limits their ability to regulate their own body temperature, so they can get too cold after an op if they are put outside straight away. So how long they need to stay indoors for depends on the time of year, and how well they recover. In the summer, if the bunnies bounce back well, I would be ok putting them back outside after 1 or 2 nights, providing that the nighttime temperature isn't forecast to drop too low.