Chappy's just had her spay...

Hi there guys, I just wanted some advice, as it's the first time I've owned a rabbit, as well as getting a rabbit spayed.

Chappy was spayed this morning, and she was cleared to come home at about 2pm this afternoon. According to the vet, she didn't eat alone after her spay (even then it went really well) so they did syringe feed her a little, though I don't know how much.

Since she's been home, Chappy has passed urine and a couple of pellet droppings, but has mainly been hiding in the corner and until now, hasn't attempted to have any food. I did move the food closer to her (I have blocked access to the top floor) so she's only on the bottom floor. Anyway, I was just wondering to those who have more experience have any idea when I can expect her to start eating?

Thank you!

Edit: And when should I step in to start her syringe feeding? I do have some critical care in case I need to start helping her out. She is starting to act more like herself (growling at me and chewing at her towel bedding for the moment). So I'm hoping it won't be long.

hi, welcome to the forum :wave:

i don't have any experience with rabbit spays myself but hopefully others will be along to answer soon

glad the spay went well

Hi, I am glad the spay went well. Did the vet give you any pain relief to give to Chappy or did they say what she had been given post op at the vets? It is usual for a doe to need something for the pain for at least the first couple of days. If she is in pain then she will not feel much like eating. Perhaps you could try to tempt her with some herbs.

I wouldn't worry about syringe feeding her any more this evening. She has had some at the vets and it is good that she has had some output. I would let her rest and then give your vets a ring in the morning to discuss pain relief, if you haven't been given any.

Hi :wave:

It is good that she is growling at you, which is normal behaviour for her.

However, as Omi said, if you have not been sent home with any pain relief then you absolutely MUST contact the vet first thing tomorrow and get some otherwise Chappy will be in great pain - it is a major operation for a girl - and she must have pain relief for at least a few days. When my girls were done they have pain relief for 5 days. It is given orally.

Chappy will be a bit dozy today and tonight and probably won't eat much, but the fact that she has done a couple of poops and had a wee is great! Offer her some herbs if she has them, or even her favourite treat foods - even the bad ones - anything to encourage her to eat that she normally has (don't offer her brand new foods while she's recovering).

She probably won't eat much tonight but make sure she has very easy access to hay i.e. it's on the floor so she doesn't have to stretch for it if it's normally in a hay rack, for instance.

Make sure she has easy access to water as well.

You may need to take the food and water to her as she simply may not feel like getting up to eat and/or drink.

If she lives outside, give her a heat pad (make sure she can move away from it though if she wants to) and make sure she has plenty of hay/straw/blankets whatever you use for her to keep warm. Ideally she should be indoors, but if that's not possible then you must check on her as often as possible right until you go to bed yourself.

She will lick her stitches, it's part of the natural healing process, but just make sure she doesn't bite or chew them. And of course for at least 7 days make sure she can't stretch, go up ladders and so on. If she splits her stitches .... *shudders. Rather her be a bit bored for a few days and safe, than running about as normal for a day and back to the vet with burst stitches. Ours were indoors for a full fortnight. They were bored brainless but healed perfectly, so it was worth it.

Hi there!

Chappy did have an injection of pain relief before she left the vets, and I start her on a dose of 0.8ml of Metacam first thing in the morning. She's also going back to the vet tomorrow for a post-op check and another injection for gut stimulant, which had to be arranged before I could bring Chappy home.

She's still really dozey and not really with it at all - but I did manage to gently persuade her to take some cucumber from me, which I'm happy with, as it obviously provides moisture as well. A few gentle nudges with the bottle also got her to take a few sips of water. Which I thought was crazy as normally she'd be lunging for my hands xD

She's inside for the winter anyway, currently on newspaper and towel bedding. I'm also checking on her every 30 minutes or so, just to make sure she's alright.

She's still lying down and not really moving about much, but we does growl at me every time I try and stroke her which is completely normal (the exact reason why she was spayed, she got so territorial, and research into it was better for her overall health) so I'm really hoping I have a much tamer rabbit (like she was before she matured!) in a month's time.

Thank you for being so reassuring! I was kinda worried to post here as I was on another forum and I got...some rather nasty comments.

I think it all sounds as though it's going really well. Certainly, your vet seems to be doing all the right things. It's perfectly understandable that she will be a bit dozy this evening and not moving around much.

I hope she gets on well at the vets tomorrow and that they are pleased with her progress.

The only thing I'm concerned about at the moment is her playing with her tummy. I had to pick her up earlier (and I've found the best way to avoid being bitten and her being stressed is throwing a towel over her head) to life her. I just picked her up to have a little look as I've noticed that she's been licking it, half of the plaster has began to come off, but I didn't dare touch it in case I hurt her. I'm also worried that lifting her will hurt her? The stitches that I've seen still look really neat and tidy, and there's no sign of blood or anything of the sort - and the vet assured me that the stitches are quite deep in her skin so they should be pretty hard to rip out.

Am I okay to lift her? I suppose I have to be in order to get her out to do her medication, I'm just so scared of hurting her. She's nearly back to being herself now - she did her usual trying to escape when I had her in my lap, so I just placed the towel back over her for fear of her hurting herself trying to run away. I've seen a lot more droppings and she has been nibbling at some veggies throughout the evening, and I got her to take another drink. Am I...doing okay? I'm just so scared of her hurting herself or me accidentally hurting her.

Ambrer said:

The only thing I'm concerned about at the moment is her playing with her tummy. I had to pick her up earlier (and I've found the best way to avoid being bitten and her being stressed is throwing a towel over her head) to life her. I just picked her up to have a little look as I've noticed that she's been licking it, half of the plaster has began to come off, but I didn't dare touch it in case I hurt her. I'm also worried that lifting her will hurt her? The stitches that I've seen still look really neat and tidy, and there's no sign of blood or anything of the sort - and the vet assured me that the stitches are quite deep in her skin so they should be pretty hard to rip out.

Am I okay to lift her? I suppose I have to be in order to get her out to do her medication, I'm just so scared of hurting her. She's nearly back to being herself now - she did her usual trying to escape when I had her in my lap, so I just placed the towel back over her for fear of her hurting herself trying to run away. I've seen a lot more droppings and she has been nibbling at some veggies throughout the evening, and I got her to take another drink. Am I...doing okay? I'm just so scared of her hurting herself or me accidentally hurting her.

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It's OK to pick her up if you have to, to give meds etc. Best thing if she's a bit feisty is to wrap/swaddle her in a towel and make her feel secure so she can't thrash around and leap out of your arms.

Otherwise, if you can give the Metacam at her level, by offering her the tip of the syringe (bunnies usually like Metacam) it would be less stressful all round

You've done really well with her! If the vet has done very deep stitches, then I expect he's confident they will not come out very easily.

Good afternoon, everyone!

Chappy has began to do some nibbling overnight, as well as moving about. She was extra feisty while I tried to get her metacam into her system so I think she's feeling better - acting more like her usual self.

However, still concerned - her poos have become softer and more clumped together, and that's since having the metacam. I am at the vets soon for a check up anyway, so I'll mention it to the vet. She doesn't eat much hay, she never really has, but I may have no choice to keep her on nuggets and hay until her output has gone back to normal....will wait and see what the vet says.