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hi to everyone and help needed

Ivy2015

New Kit
Hi everyone.

I am new to this forum as just came across it when looking for help on the internet.

I have four bunnies, elmo (castrated male) and elsie (spayed female) are my little netherland dwarfs that live together indoors and i have Minty a mini rex who has recently been castrated and ivy another mini rex who is due to be spayed later this month, ivy and minty are outdoor bunnies and currently live alone and will be bonded once ivy is spayed and recovered.

Now the thing i need help with is Minty my 1.5 year old mini rex was castrated a week ago (thursday) i came home on the sunday so 3 days after his op to find my husband thought it would be a fab idea to let minty and ivy (my unspayed 18 month doe) have some play time in the livingroom now that minty was castrated he assumed that he could absolutely not reproduce anymore since he has no testicles. Obviously i know different and know males can be fertile for a couple of weeks after a castrate. I am furious at him as he said he did mount her and kind of fall off (which i know means he successfully mated) whats the realistic chances that ivy would be pregnant now? My husband doesnt have much to do with the rabbits most of the time and i suppose thought he was soing good but he is now banned from touching them.

Shes booked in to be spayed 23 december but she wouldnt be due till 30 december if she is pregnant so should i cancel the spay or should i be able to tell at this point if she is carrying kits or not, she would be about 24 days pregnant.
 
It is possible she is pregnant, I'm not sure how likely though!

If she is 18 months old she is very much old enough to be spayed so could you bring her spay forward? The earlier in a pregnancy you spay the lower the risk for the doe.
 
Thanks Hele. I did contact the vets but they earliest they can fit her in is another 10 days away and by then she could be more than half way through a pregnancy and i just could not spay her knowing i might be killing kits and i wouldnt use the other vet near me as they havent got a clue about rabbits. I got her from a breeder just 6 weeks ago (which is why she wasnt spayed at a younger age) so shes had litters before, always just 2/3 kits so i would just keep them so rehoming wouldnt be an issue but i just wanted to know how likely it was as i would bring her inside as wouldnt want her having kits outside in december.
 
Thanks Hele. I did contact the vets but they earliest they can fit her in is another 10 days away and by then she could be more than half way through a pregnancy and i just could not spay her knowing i might be killing kits and i wouldnt use the other vet near me as they havent got a clue about rabbits. I got her from a breeder just 6 weeks ago (which is why she wasnt spayed at a younger age) so shes had litters before, always just 2/3 kits so i would just keep them so rehoming wouldnt be an issue but i just wanted to know how likely it was as i would bring her inside as wouldnt want her having kits outside in december.

It is possible that she is pregnant so personally I would not want to spay her at the advanced stage of gestation that she would be at on 23rd December. In my (unqualified) opinion the risks of doing so (uterine haemorrhage) are too great. That and my personal opinion that it would not be ethical to do so. If there is no other Rabbit Savvy Vet who could spay her in the next few days I'd work on assuming that she is pregnant until you have proof that she's not.

Good luck xx
 
Thank you jacks-jane. No ived phoned my vet first thing monday but said it would be a week thursday before they could fit her in, the vet that does rabbit spays is only in a weds and thurs each week so by this point she could be 11 days pregnant and to me it doesnt feel right to do a spay at this point.

Ive managed to find a man this morning that scans rabbits who will come to me so going to call him this morning and see if i can book him for 21st december so he can confirm pregnant or not before spay on 23rd. I am hoping she isnt, not sure how likely it really is or of the vets just say it as more of a precautionary thing, ive watched a castrated and they seem to take away alot of the tube that comes from the testicles so i cant imagen there is alot left for sperm to actually stick around in.
 
I really have a feeling your rabbit will be pregnant and at 11 days she is only a third of the way to having babies. If you can cater for more rabbits then you could let her have the babies but as you probably know the Rescues are full and the chance of them finding really good homes is slim. The lack of knowledge of rabbits is abyssmal but personally I would try to find another Vet who will do the spay earlier.
 
Thank you jacks-jane. No ived phoned my vet first thing monday but said it would be a week thursday before they could fit her in, the vet that does rabbit spays is only in a weds and thurs each week so by this point she could be 11 days pregnant and to me it doesnt feel right to do a spay at this point.

Ive managed to find a man this morning that scans rabbits who will come to me so going to call him this morning and see if i can book him for 21st december so he can confirm pregnant or not before spay on 23rd. I am hoping she isnt, not sure how likely it really is or of the vets just say it as more of a precautionary thing, ive watched a castrated and they seem to take away alot of the tube that comes from the testicles so i cant imagen there is alot left for sperm to actually stick around in.

I agree with you re not feeling comfortable with spaying now but I did not want to overly press my personal opinions onto anyone else :)

I know for a fact that a Buck can remain fertile for over 4 weeks after castration. Several years ago I found I had 3 pregnant Does as a result of contact with a Buck castrated about 5 weeks previously :shock: As you can imagine that was rather a dramatic introduction to Rabbits for me !!

Good luck with your Doe, I have a special place in my heart for Rexes :love:
 
Hello!

Good luck with whatever the outcome and I love the fact you would keep the kits if she does have any, keep us updated :thumb:
 
Thanks everyone for the messages. Tonibun i totally understand that rescues are full of bunnies and would never want to add to that issue, as i said she is an ex breeding bun so has had a litters before and at the most as only had 3 so i would keep them anyway so rehoming isnt much of an issue. If she had more i have friends and family wbl would likely have a couple. I just feel very uncomfortable with spaying anything that may be carrying babies.

I just wondered if anyone had actually had or heard of a castrated buck getting does pregnant but i can see that you have jacks jane. Thats must have been a huge shock at 5 weeks post castrate. Ive kept bunnies for about 15 years but ive never had this before. Most of the time ive got a 8 week old buck and castrated him around 15 weeks, left it 4 weeks and got a 8 week female bun who would be spayed at 6 months so there was never any chance of pregnancy or boight brother and sister and had them spayed/castrated at the same time but i got minty and ivy from breeders so they were both over a year when i got them, ivy has had litters but minty has never been used for breeding as the breeder stopped breeding mini rex so that why she wanted to rehome him.

They are to be bonded but i was just doing things as i could afford them, i have got them both vaccinated now and obviously minty has been castrated so was just ivy to do later this month. As i said i can keep kits if she does have them though. Minty lives in a large chicken coop just now with a run so plenty of space and ivy has a 6ftx6ft converted playhouse so theres plenty of space. Next year i am going to purchase a large wooden dog kennel with attacthed run for them.
 
Thanks everyone for the messages. Tonibun i totally understand that rescues are full of bunnies and would never want to add to that issue, as i said she is an ex breeding bun so has had a litters before and at the most as only had 3 so i would keep them anyway so rehoming isnt much of an issue. If she had more i have friends and family wbl would likely have a couple. I just feel very uncomfortable with spaying anything that may be carrying babies.

I just wondered if anyone had actually had or heard of a castrated buck getting does pregnant but i can see that you have jacks jane. Thats must have been a huge shock at 5 weeks post castrate. Ive kept bunnies for about 15 years but ive never had this before. Most of the time ive got a 8 week old buck and castrated him around 15 weeks, left it 4 weeks and got a 8 week female bun who would be spayed at 6 months so there was never any chance of pregnancy or boight brother and sister and had them spayed/castrated at the same time but i got minty and ivy from breeders so they were both over a year when i got them, ivy has had litters but minty has never been used for breeding as the breeder stopped breeding mini rex so that why she wanted to rehome him.

They are to be bonded but i was just doing things as i could afford them, i have got them both vaccinated now and obviously minty has been castrated so was just ivy to do later this month. As i said i can keep kits if she does have them though. Minty lives in a large chicken coop just now with a run so plenty of space and ivy has a 6ftx6ft converted playhouse so theres plenty of space. Next year i am going to purchase a large wooden dog kennel with attacthed run for them.

It sounds as though you are giving the Rabbits a wonderful home. Maybe you could post some photos of them all at some stage. We all love looking a photos !!

Yes, the 3 pregnant Does was a huge shock. They all kindled at about the same time and almost overnight I gained an extra 15 Rabbits :shock: ..............and a lot of grey hairs !!
 
Thanks everyone for the messages. Tonibun i totally understand that rescues are full of bunnies and would never want to add to that issue, as i said she is an ex breeding bun so has had a litters before and at the most as only had 3 so i would keep them anyway so rehoming isnt much of an issue. If she had more i have friends and family wbl would likely have a couple. I just feel very uncomfortable with spaying anything that may be carrying babies.

I just wondered if anyone had actually had or heard of a castrated buck getting does pregnant but i can see that you have jacks jane. Thats must have been a huge shock at 5 weeks post castrate. Ive kept bunnies for about 15 years but ive never had this before. Most of the time ive got a 8 week old buck and castrated him around 15 weeks, left it 4 weeks and got a 8 week female bun who would be spayed at 6 months so there was never any chance of pregnancy or boight brother and sister and had them spayed/castrated at the same time but i got minty and ivy from breeders so they were both over a year when i got them, ivy has had litters but minty has never been used for breeding as the breeder stopped breeding mini rex so that why she wanted to rehome him.

They are to be bonded but i was just doing things as i could afford them, i have got them both vaccinated now and obviously minty has been castrated so was just ivy to do later this month. As i said i can keep kits if she does have them though. Minty lives in a large chicken coop just now with a run so plenty of space and ivy has a 6ftx6ft converted playhouse so theres plenty of space. Next year i am going to purchase a large wooden dog kennel with attacthed run for them.

Bucks are fertile up to four weeks after castration according to the Houserabbit Association, but most vets will agree that fertility will drop by two/three weeks post castration. It would certainly be a miracle later than 4 weeks!

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/neutering28807.pdf

I'm glad you'll be able to cater for the babies too, if it works out that way.

Good luck!
 
Just popping in to say that you are a wonderful owner, in my opinion. I think you're doing things best as you can in a most excellent way. Would love to see pictures of them all.

I know I'd feel uncomfortable spaying a potentially pregnant doe; there might be unknown health problems from all those hormones, and can you imagine the psychological problems? It just seems like an overall traumatising situation.
 
Aww thank you, thats so nice of you to say. I will try get some pics on tonight, tried to do it from my phone but think i will need to get on the lap top. Yes its been upsetting as it wasnt something i wanted to happen and my husband genuinely thought he was doing something nice. Its not the end of the world though if she is pregnant, i just wish i knew how likely it actually is. Ive googled all day and some say that nearly everything is taken away during a castrate and sperm dies quickly as testosterone drops but others say that they have had animals be fertile for 2/3 weeks and longer (but not sure if this is more unheard of) dont want rto be gross lol but i know he definitely ejaculated in the right area as when i checked ivy she definitely had semen in the right area but obviously just depends if there was any sperm in that semen. Ahh i hate waiting
 
As she has been a breeding rabbit this is another good reason for trying to get her spayed as each time they have babies calcium is leeched from their skeleton and they end up with arthritis quite often. Very painful I would imagine. Anyway, if you can't get anyone to spay her then you will have to wait and see. If you know the day they were put together then she will have the babies in 31 days from then, give or take a day or 2.
 
Yes she was a show rabbit so has had 2/3 litters before, i havent bred her i just rehomed her when the breeder no longer wanted her. She will be spayed asap, shes booked in for 23 december to be spayed and i have a man coming to my house on 21st december to do an ultrasound scan on her, if she isnt pregnant she will be spayed 23rd if she is pregnant then she will be spayed asap after the babies are weaned.
 
photo.php


This is Ivy the bun who may be pregnant
 
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