neutering tomorrow any advice?

As a first time rabbit owner I am unsure of what to expect. My 5 month old male has to be dropped off at 8am in the morning and i am very nervous!

Any tips or advice would be massively appreciated as I've heard there is quite a risk of it going wrong. Anything i can do to help him?

Hi,

Welcome and well done for booking the neutering.

If he lives with another rabbit I'd take his friend with him to comfort him before and after surgery.
Take some of his favourite foods with you so they have something to tempt him to eat after surgery.
After surgery insist on taking pain relief home for him for a few days as he'll be more likely to recover better with pain relief.

There are risks, as with every anaesthetic but there is not a lot you can personally do. As long as you trust your vet, that's the important thing.

Their eating can be slow to start again after an anaesthetic, so before you leave you can ask the nurses to explain/show how to do syringe feeding in case you need to.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

Brad-14 said:

As a first time rabbit owner I am unsure of what to expect. My 5 month old male has to be dropped off at 8am in the morning and i am very nervous!

Any tips or advice would be massively appreciated as I've heard there is quite a risk of it going wrong. Anything i can do to help him?

Click to expand...

No idea where you heard that but it's rubbish !! As with any GA on any living being there is always a small risk, but with a Rabbit savvy Vet a routine castration is a minor procedure which should be 100% successful

Your Rabbit should be fed as normal, ie not starved prior to surgery as is the case with Dogs/Cats etc. Rabbits cannot vomit so there is no need to starve them.
The Vet admitting your Rabbit should thoroughly examine him, including listening to his heart and lungs, weighing him, taking his temperature and palpating his abdomen. You should be asked how your Rabbits eating and pooing has been-ie is he eating normally and is his poo output good. You should also be asked to sign Consent form for the op'.

Once surgery is completed and Bunny is in recovery the Vet/VN should call you to let you know and to give you some idea what time you can go and collect him.

Bunny should be nibbling food/weeing and pooing and reasonably bright before he is discharged home. You should be given a small supply of Metacam ( a non steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic) to administer every day for 2-3 days. The Vet should show you how to check the surgical wound, which will really be very tiny and not at all 'yucky'. The wound will need checking a couple of times a day.

Bucks usually bounce back to normal within 24 hours of surgery. But it's a good idea to prevent him from jumping up onto things or over-exerting himself too much for a few days. Just to allow internal healing to take place. You should be given an appointment for a post op check within about 5 days with instructions to bring him in before if you have any worries about his recovery. The wound will have been closed with glue and/or dissolveable sutures, so nothing will need to be removed.

I am sure all will go well for your lad

I'm always very nervous when a bunny of mine stays over at the vets. I feel you have made the right decision for him & hope everything goes well. I've nothing to add to the above advice but do post to let us know how he gets on & to discuss any concerns with his recovery

Thanks for the help!

I think ill give him 15g of pellets before i take him then ill make a buffet of his favourite foods to take, Better get a basil plant on way for him also as he loves them haha :lol:
Unfortunately I haven't bonded him with my other rabbit yet as i was trying to wait until post neutering but that would have been nice for him

Hopefully it will be smooth sailing and i'll be able to bond and let them free range in no time!!

As you have received excellent advice here there's nothing I can really add other than perhaps take a handful of your own hay and some of his favourite treat food/s so that this can be given post-op to encourage him to eat. When I took our girls in to be done I think the Vet Nurses were a little startled as to what I'd taken in but they did think it was quite cute really :lol:

I'm sure he will be fine although of course it will be nerve wracking for you until you get the call that he's awake. Just make sure you keep busy once you drop him off

daphnephoebe said:

Hi,

Welcome and well done for booking the neutering.

If he lives with another rabbit I'd take his friend with him to comfort him before and after surgery.
Take some of his favourite foods with you so they have something to tempt him to eat after surgery.
After surgery insist on taking pain relief home for him for a few days as he'll be more likely to recover better with pain relief.

There are risks, as with every anaesthetic but there is not a lot you can personally do. As long as you trust your vet, that's the important thing.

Their eating can be slow to start again after an anaesthetic, so before you leave you can ask the nurses to explain/show how to do syringe feeding in case you need to.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Daphnephoebe has given excellent advice, as always

Yes there's a risk with the anaesthetic, but on balance it's far better to take that risk than not.

hi sorry for the late update, Had a very busy couple of days. Just an update to let you know Bear's surgery went really well, no complications just seemed a little off with me yesterday (probably in a mood) but has been eating, drinking and using the toilet absolutly fine. He has his follow up appointment in the morning then hopefully we can get lola neutered and start the bonding!!

Brad-14 said:

hi sorry for the late update, Had a very busy couple of days. Just an update to let you know Bear's surgery went really well, no complications just seemed a little off with me yesterday (probably in a mood) but has been eating, drinking and using the toilet absolutly fine. He has his follow up appointment in the morning then hopefully we can get lola neutered and start the bonding!!

Click to expand...

Fantastic news of Mr bear

Good luck with the bonding, when Lola's been spayed

Brad-14 said:

hi sorry for the late update, Had a very busy couple of days. Just an update to let you know Bear's surgery went really well, no complications just seemed a little off with me yesterday (probably in a mood) but has been eating, drinking and using the toilet absolutly fine. He has his follow up appointment in the morning then hopefully we can get lola neutered and start the bonding!!

Click to expand...

Brilliant update

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

Excellent! Glad it went well

Great decision with the neutering - glad all went well. I was so pleased with the calming effect neutering and spaying had on my trio. It calmed them all considerably and my house didn't smell like a barn anymore from ALL that spraying (gross).

good luck with the bonding!.. you know he will still be fertile for a while though ....so you need to wait.