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Spaying my girl- success stories wanted :-)

K

kotla

New Kit
:wave:Hi from Sweden! (Please pardon my english;))

I have two lovely house bunnies, one of each sex. The male is of course neuterd. Here in Sweden it´s not so very common to neuter/spay females (as it seems to be in the US and UK) and I personally don´t know anyone who have their female bunnys spayed. I would like to get my girl spayed before she gets too old- but I´m so scared of losing her:(. I spoke to a Vet about an anaesthesia called MMF- is this a good method? I don´t find much info when I google. Of course I will go to a Vet who is very used to rabbits and neutering them.

I guess I just want to hear some of your (lucky) stories which can calm me down a bit and finally take the big step...(There are probably loads of threads like mine, but this is what really keep my mind occupied:|)
 
I had all my girls spayed (4) with no problems. I also worked at an animal shelter for a few years and we never lost a doe to a spay - one buck only - out of hundreds of rabbits.

However it all depends on the vet - I would recommend asking the practice how risky the op is and if they say "very" maybe look elsewhere!

When I had my first girl done the vet nurse told me it was "really quite dangerous" :shock: but for some reason I went ahead anyway. She was fine but I'm not sure I'd trust that practise again. :?


I can't help you with the anaesthetic question I'm afraid but make sure she's given pain relief after the op and she should probably be sent home with some aswell. If she seems unwell afterwards e.g. isn't eating, call the vet straight away. The aftercare is very important in making sure the op is a success.
 
Thank you for your quick (and calming) reply:wave: The thing is that they told me (spoke to 2 "rabbit specialist vets) that it´s not a big risk if the bunny is healthy and so on- at least one of them will give pain relief after the op (forgot to ask the other one). I guess I´m a worrying kind of person, so I need to be safe with this before I proceed... My female is a little sunshine, so the spaying will only be for helping her to prevent getting uterine cancer (hm, and maybe stop her from weeing outside the toilets which she sometimes do:p)
 
To be absolutely honest, there is always a risk with an operation, because like humans, an occasional bunny has a bad reaction the the anaesthetic. I'm not tellin you this to scare you but just so you'll be fully informed. But that risk is tiny - whereas the risk of her getting uterine cancer if unspayed is really very high.

Also, I don't know what your seasons are like and how long you've had her...but my unspayed doe was a delight during winter, then when the days got longer she turned into a flesh-munching gremlin. :lol: It was a matter of spay her or be eaten. :lol: It's a few years ago now but I remember I took her indoors afterwards to keep an eye on her and made sure she didn't have straw bedding until the wound had healed, as it could irritate it. There are probably other things to consider but hopefully someone with more recent experience will be along to advise!

I really think that if you find a good vet, research the procedure thoroughly and give her good aftercare, you will be doing the best thing for her. :) I know it's still worrying though. But the forum is here to talk you through it. :)
 
It's very rare for there to be problems with spaying girls. Obviously it can happen just as it can happen with boys being done as well. Most girls are absolutely fine.

As already mentioned make sure that the vet sends you home with ongoing pain relief, some vets say that they have given an injection that lasts 24hrs and that that is enough... It isn't, it's quite a big op and she will need pain relief for at least several days afterwards.
 
I´ve only had her for about 7 months now. But she´s young, 10 months. She was quite wild towards her spouse when she got sexual mature but that calmed down a bit (or maybe it´s just the season, as you said:p). I wonder if she need to be separate from him when she come home from the op- he´s a very calm bunny, who is devoted to eat and relax..?
 
Hm, sorry- I haven´t learnt how to reply with quote and so on:?- my previous message was ment to be a little reply to clutterydrawer.
I would like to thank all of you who reply me in this thread:wave: I will absolutely make sure that my girl get post-op pain relief and so on. My male rabbit didn´t get that- is it like that in the UK too?
 
Personally I would separate a post-op rabbit from its partner for a little bit just so I could monitor its output (poops!) There is a risk after an abdominal op that bunny will be reluctant to eat due to pain and so could experience gut slowdown, which needs to be spotted and treated early. The ideal would be to separate them in a way that they could still see each other.

Re: pain relief, I've not had any male buns neutered myself, so not 100% sure - but I think it's one of the things that varies according to how good your vet is! It's less crucial because it's not such an intrusive op as a say, but personally I would still like to see a bun receive pain relief after something like that.
 
kotla said:
Hm, sorry- I haven´t learnt how to reply with quote and so on:?- my previous message was ment to be a little reply to clutterydrawer.
I would like to thank all of you who reply me in this thread:wave: I will absolutely make sure that my girl get post-op pain relief and so on. My male rabbit didn´t get that- is it like that in the UK too?
Click to expand...

My Vet usually prescribes pain relief to both Does and Bucks post neutering. Probably just for a couple of days for a Buck, longer for Does as a spay is more invasive.

Personally I have not had to separate a bonded pair when the Doe has just been spayed. But that is not to say that in some cases separation for a short time may be necessary. If you do have to do this then I would try to allow the pair some well supervised time together in a confined space so that the bond does not break down. Obviously not immediately after her op' but after a couple of days. Just make sure that she does not charge about or jump up onto anything.

As an aside I love Sweden !! I have visited many times over the years staying with friends in Huddinge. I especially like Stockholm's Old Town and we also had some lovely stays over on Gotland. The only issue there was the outdoor tandem toilet :shock: I never was able to have a friend to join me on that particular tandem :lol:

Hope all goes well for your Does spay :)
 
clutterydrawer: I will supervise her/them very careful when they start to spend time together.
I´m prepared that there will be some problems with not eating as I had to support my male by giving him CC until he started to eat (without my support) again the day after the op. It´s possible for me to separate them (and still see and smell each other) if necessary:)

Jack´s-Jane: They are such a happy couple so I want to separate them as little as possible- but I will absolutely supervise them as long as needed. I hope they can spend a little while together every day (with me of course) so they don´t forget eachother when they reunite again. I plan to stay home from work a couple of days after the op so I can check her out very careful.
I´m so terrible scared of losing her- but if everything goes fine with her spaying, I will be so happy for all 3 of us!

Oh, nice to hear that you love Sweden:D I´m well aware of Huddinge since I went to high school there, also my best friend lives there.:thumb:Old town is nice, I will spend some time there this weekend as I will participate in a ghost walk...
Hm, tandem toilet doesn´t sound like a bigwig:lol:

Thank you, I also hope everything goes well!
 
Hi :wave:

I had my first young female spayed early last year.. So, I'm not an expert , but wanted to share a happy success story :)
I didn't have to separate her from my bonded neutered male, and my female did come home with pain relief.
I can't advise on the anesthetic you mentioned , and as others have said, research and asking questions on here and with the vet prior to the op will help.. I've heard some anesthetics can take longer than others to recover from, so if she is being put back in with her bonded partner after the op, it would be good to know whether or not your bun is given a 'long delay' anesthetic, which can take a few days to recover from, and lead onto the rabbit not wanting to eat, and so needing supported feeding.

( My sister works abroad in animal care, and she always asks which anesthetic is being given, and why, and what to expect from it whilst in recovery )

Also.. about the wound suture... will the vet be using stitches, or surgical glue to close the wound? As surgical glue has been reported as being better for most buns, they tend to worry less at the wound, and it heals quicker.

Sorry I can't advise more, but I'm sure your bun will be fine. ( I will speak with my vet tomorrow as I am taking my bun in for a check up and I will check what anesthetic she used for my buns ) X
 
Last edited:
Bunny Magics said:
Hi :wave:

I had my first young female spayed early last year.. So, I'm not an expert , but wanted to share a happy success story :)
I didn't have to separate her from my bonded neutered male, and my female did come home with pain relief.
I can't advise on the anesthetic you mentioned , and as others have said, research and asking questions on here and with the vet prior to the op will help.. I've heard some anesthetics can take longer than others to recover from, so if she is being put back in with her bonded partner after the op, it would be good to know whether or not your bun is given a 'long delay' anesthetic, which can take a few days to recover from, and lead onto the rabbit not wanting to eat, and so needing supported feeding.

( My sister works abroad in animal care, and she always asks which anesthetic is being given, and why, and what to expect from it whilst in recovery )

Also.. about the wound suture... will the vet be using stitches, or surgical glue to close the wound? As surgical glue has been reported as being better for most buns, they tend to worry less at the wound, and it heals quicker.

Sorry I can't advise more, but I'm sure your bun will be fine. ( I will speak with my vet tomorrow as I am taking my bun in for a check up and I will check what anesthetic she used for my buns ) X
Click to expand...

:wave:Hi Bunny Magics, and thank you for your answer!
My male was op at a rabbit-specialised clinic, but he had a problem with waking up from the anaesthetic. I thought I would lose him, but all ended well. I don´t remember what anaesthetic was given (but they told me it was safe for rabbits) but perhaps it was a "long delay" one?
What the Vet at the other rabbit-specialize clinic said about the MFF anaesthetic is that they can reduce it if needed- therefor it seems like they have more control over the anaesthetic. The Vet that I´m going to let do the op is a very experienced one when it come´s to rabbits and other small animals. So in that case I feel safe. I also asked about the wound- they will stitch her inner abdominal wall and use stitches outside that dissapear by themselves. I will absolutely ask about the glue! They said it will take 3 week to heal- is that normal?
Thank you so much for great info and advice (also looking forward to hear what your vet said, and good luck with your bun there:))- I´m so glad that I found this forum as you people already helped me to feel a lot more relaxed about the spaying:thumb:
 
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