To neuter or not to neuter?

Morning all, first post here...

We have two lovely female house lops, Rosie & Daisy, now around 11 months old. Both are in rude health, and we've been debating whether to have them neutered or not. They're never going to come into contact with boy rabbits so won't ever give birth, and we're aware that there are risks both in not having them neutered (in later life) and having them neutered (operations, rabbits going under GA etc).

Not asking for medical advice (of course), just interested in talking to as many knowledgeable people and doing as much research as we can, before making a decision.

Thanks!!

Nick

To be honest I'm surprised that their hormones have not kicked in and caused them to fall out by now (I assume they are a bonded pair) I would always recommend having them spayed, it will reduce the risk of them falling out, and also stop them getting many of the cancers that can prove fatal. As you say there are risks with any op, but if they are healthy and you use a rabbit savvy vet the risk should be very small.

Welcome to the forum by the way :wave:

It is a scary decision if it's not routine to you but rabbit anaesthetics have come a long way in the last decade or so, with an experienced and rabbit savvy vet the chances of anything going wrong are extremely minimal.

I currently have four 8-9 year old female rabbits and almost certainly they wouldn't be here now if they hadn't been spayed. All the behavioural issues discussed above alone are worth having them spayed even without the cancer risk.

The risks are minimal compared to the gains but choosing the right vet improves the odds.

I agree with everything that has been said so far, I would definitely get them done.

In the hands of an experienced bunny savvy vet, it's a pretty low risk operation. The chances of female rabbits getting uterine cancer or pyometra at some point in their life are fairly high, it's far less risky in my opinion to have the spay done at a time of your choosing when they are fit and healthy, rather than having to have it done as emergency surgery on an older, sick rabbit.

I'd also agree you've been pretty lucky that they haven't fought, and I would say this is an increased risk when we get to spring, as the changing daylight hours trigger their hormones and there is a high likelihood that they will fight.

Do you already have a vet that you're confident is savvy with rabbits and who does a lot of spays very routinely without problem? If not, if you let us know whereabouts in the country you are, we might be able to recommend one. Good luck

Hi, welcome to the forum :wave:

I agree with everyone else and think that spaying is a good idea (unless ruled out for a medical reason, for instance). Three of our rabbits are a trio of sisters who we got spayed purely to prevent them from getting uterine cancer in the future. As with any operation there are risks, but we felt that it was worth it to protect their future health. All three recovered really quickly thankfully.

I understand it is difficult though and I have had that feeling of guilt at putting them through it, even though you know you are doing it for the right reasons. Good luck x

I was very interested in this post as I have the same concerns regarding anaesthesia. I recently lost my little boy to this, even though it is rare and I went to a rabbit expert vet and left him in the best possible hands, he didn't make it.
Now I am stuck with the hard decision do I put my little girl through it? Or do I take the risk of leaving her be and hopefully she will lead a long healthy life without being spayed.
She lives with a neutered male, so no risk of pregnancy.
I just don't know if I can go through that again to be honest.
My question is...the vet told me my boy must've had an underlying heart issue. I had brought him in 2 weeks prior for his vaccines and was told he was fit and well. I know rabbits are fragile and hide illness well. But can someone advise me is there a solid pre-operative test that vets should do prior to surgery? Surely they would check everything before administering anaesthesia. I am a surgical nurse so I know this is obviously advisable for us humans. I just don't understand why it wasn't done now for my little man?
Is this normal practice? you just leave them in and take your chances?

All

Thanks for the welcomes...and the advice. It's very reassuring.

We've found a good vet and I've been leaning towards having it done as we have (as far as we know) two healthy, happy, lively sisters. Lots to think about!!

Really appreciate it and we'll report back on how it goes. One thing which would be very helpful to know is roughly (all going well) how long they take to recover.

Cheers (and have a great Christmas/holidays/break).

Nick

Sandi-C said:

I was very interested in this post as I have the same concerns regarding anaesthesia. I recently lost my little boy to this, even though it is rare and I went to a rabbit expert vet and left him in the best possible hands, he didn't make it.
Now I am stuck with the hard decision do I put my little girl through it? Or do I take the risk of leaving her be and hopefully she will lead a long healthy life without being spayed.
She lives with a neutered male, so no risk of pregnancy.
I just don't know if I can go through that again to be honest.
My question is...the vet told me my boy must've had an underlying heart issue. I had brought him in 2 weeks prior for his vaccines and was told he was fit and well. I know rabbits are fragile and hide illness well. But can someone advise me is there a solid pre-operative test that vets should do prior to surgery? Surely they would check everything before administering anaesthesia. I am a surgical nurse so I know this is obviously advisable for us humans. I just don't understand why it wasn't done now for my little man?
Is this normal practice? you just leave them in and take your chances?

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Hi Sandi-C.
I'm sorry you lost your boy

I've taken part in numerous rabbit GA'S and routine checks consist of heart (strength, rhythm, sound, patterns, rate), lungs (sound, rate, depth, effort), temperature (normal range), abdominal palpitations for anything abnormal (lumps/bumps, anything enlarged/shrunk etc). If the vet has any doubts they'll take extra precautions and may excise to postpone a GA until any abnormalities are investigated.

Sadly, when rabbits are at the vets,being handled etc their hearts beat so hard and fast it can be difficult to pick up on things like a heart murmur. In order to check the heart, the bunny would need a sedation and ultrasound scan. Sedation are generally more risky as there isn't much control on how "deep" they go & you have no immediate access to airways.

A rabbit under GA and recovering from GA will always be monitored by a nurse, who will refer to the operating vet if anything is out of the ordinary/not quite right. They'll constantly monitor heart rate and respiratory rate and will routinely check the temperature.

Rosie&Daisy said:

All

Thanks for the welcomes...and the advice. It's very reassuring.

We've found a good vet and I've been leaning towards having it done as we have (as far as we know) two healthy, happy, lively sisters. Lots to think about!!

Really appreciate it and we'll report back on how it goes. One thing which would be very helpful to know is roughly (all going well) how long they take to recover.

Cheers (and have a great Christmas/holidays/break).

Nick

Click to expand...

Hi

Sorry I've not see this sooner but I fully agree with everything everyone has said.

Generally bunny should be eating withing the first few hours of waking up. This could either be accepting syringe feeding, or eating on their own.
If expect them to be eating by themselves by the next day as normal.
Within around 14 to 20 days they should be fully healed. (Externally and internally)

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Hi. Many years ago vets didn't neuter rabbits because they didn't have the technology and often didn't have the knowledge to do it. Bunnies have always been classed as 'exotic pets' because they are very specialised. Now, all that has changed and the medicines and equipment have really advanced. Younger vets seem much more inclined to study for qualifications now. In the over 30 years I've kept bunnies I've seen the illnesses caused by not neutering and have lost just one, Blue, a little blue eyed white polish, who had a bad reaction to the anaesthetic before his operation. I lost a pretty white and grey lop, Mabel and a wildie, Jessie to mammary tumours, which in turn ended up as pneumonia (caused by uterine cancers that had spread). Believe me, cancers in un spayed does is truly horrendous. All those years ago, neutering wasn't as regular as it is now. As long as you find a vet who is interested in bunny health and does regular neutering things should go well. Obviously there is a very small chance bunny could have a bad reaction to the anaesthetic but it is far safer nowadays and bunny stands the best chance of a long life. Good luck. xxxx

It's tough because on paper neutering makes sense but it's still nerve racking to wait by the phone while your vet does the op. With a good vet the ops are very safe now and considered routine.

There is a small risk (<1%) that a rabbit may have an undetected issue that might not otherwise have been identified and effect how they cope with an operation. I tend to think of it as those tiny minority are perhaps also the ones that would have had a shortened life expectancy anyway and would perhaps end up in the same minority that pass away unexpectedly at a young age - perhaps a heart defect or something similar that means they can't cope with any stress to the system.

For the fast majority their life expectancy and general health will be greatly increased by neutering - we know that many females (50%) can develop uterine cancer <5 years old, but neutered have a life expectancy closer to 10.

So I would always advocate neutering, but I would still join you in worrying my way through the op

I think all the female rabbits we had when I was a kid died of reproductive cancers. They would be around 5 or 6, fit and well, then off their food and withdrawn for two days and dead on the third. I dithered for months about getting my little grey doe Squirrel neutered back in 2003 - I thought she was too small (less than 3 pounds at 9 months) and was scared of things going wrong.
Her usual vet said he didnt have enough experience to do it but recommended somewhere which would. It was worth it; she lived to be nine and was bonded with a neutered male for most of that time.

Again, massive thanks to everyone for your advice, and on balance as we have a vet I trust I'm going for neutering.

Hugely appreciated:thumb::thumb: