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Do we HAVE to spay?

S

Sandi-C

Young Bun
Following on from the very sad heartbreaking loss of Tinka, I am now having second thoughts about putting my little Scampy through a spay (booked next month).

Before everyone starts throwing the 80% statistics at me, I'm well aware of the RISKS of not spaying. However I already lost Scampy's brother in November when he reacted badly to the anaesthetic. I do not want to go through that again.

My question is: I'm willing to take my chances. How many of you out there have had females live a good long life without being spayed?

Her husbun is neutered (I got him already fixed from a rescue after Rebel died).

There is always the chance she might be one of the 20% that doesn't actually get uterine cancer.

Do we HAVE to risk their lives? :cry:
 
Sandi-C said:
Following on from the very sad heartbreaking loss of Tinka, I am now having second thoughts about putting my little Scampy through a spay (booked next month).

Before everyone starts throwing the 80% statistics at me, I'm well aware of the RISKS of not spaying. However I already lost Scampy's brother in November when he reacted badly to the anaesthetic. I do not want to go through that again.

My question is: I'm willing to take my chances. How many of you out there have had females live a good long life without being spayed?

Her husbun is neutered (I got him already fixed from a rescue after Rebel died).

There is always the chance she might be one of the 20% that doesn't actually get uterine cancer.

Do we HAVE to risk their lives? :cry:
Click to expand...

Having seen the consequences of not spaying I would always opt for spaying a Doe as long as the following criteria are met :

1-The Doe is in overall good health

2- The Vet is experienced with RABBIT surgical procedures and has a proven track record

3- The Doe is of a suitable age and weight. So not too young/too old, too small/too fat.

Uterine adenocarcinoma really is a very nasty condition and it is 100% preventable. UAC aside, an entire Doe may become stressed by pseudopregnancies, especially in the presence of another Rabbit.

I am very sorry that you lost Tinka, but IMO the risks of not spaying are much, much greater than the risks of Spaying

I lost this Doe (Meg) to Uterine Adenocarcinoma




She was only 5 and an ex breeding Doe. She was spayed as soon as she came into my care and she was found to have a large uterine tumour. We thought we had caught it in time, but sadly it had already metastisised
 
Sadly you'd be risking their lives by spaying and by leaving her unspayed :(

Completely understand why you're apprehensive about it, some people have had no problems with their buns being unspayed - even lived to good ages. But like you said it's only a 20% chance she'll be without cancer.

I don't know what I'd do in your situation, losing a bunny and then putting another bunny through the same procedure is a super hard decision. I'd say I'd take the risk but I'd honestly have to think it over and make sure the bunny is healthy and fit before going under for a spay xx

Hopefully others will advise you xx
 
Sorry about Meg JJ, she was a stunner.
It was poor LucyJK that lost Tinka. It just really hit me how tragic and sad it is when we do what we think is best for them and then they don't make it.
Since joining the Forum the more I read about people losing their loved ones under anaesthetic or post-op it just makes me question is it worth it?
Surely there are cases where people have had good experiences with NOT having risked the dreaded operation, I was hoping to find some who can reassure me that their does were ok?
 
Thank you for your feedback too Limit.

I just think the guilt I would feel if I lost her would be far worse than taking my chances.

I still feel guilty for losing Rebel. Even though I thought he would be fine and he was in a good vets. Bringing him home in a box instead of his carrier. Never again.
 
Sandi-C said:
Sorry about Meg JJ, she was a stunner.
It was poor LucyJK that lost Tinka. It just really hit me how tragic and sad it is when we do what we think is best for them and then they don't make it.
Since joining the Forum the more I read about people losing their loved ones under anaesthetic or post-op it just makes me question is it worth it?
Surely there are cases where people have had good experiences with NOT having risked the dreaded operation, I was hoping to find some who can reassure me that their does were ok?
Click to expand...

I think we all have to make our own decisions as to what we feel is the more risky. People are far more likely to post on here with 'problems' regarding their Rabbits. So whilst you may think that losses under GA are frequent, they really are not. They are exceptionally rare these days. In the last 18 years I have had over 125 Rabbits neutered. I lost 2 under GA. Both over 15 years ago (GA protocol has come on leaps and bounds in the last 10 years). Both of my 'GA losses' were Rabbits found to have an undiagnosed underlying condition.

As I have said, only you can make the decision about whether or not to spay your Doe. Best wishes for whatever you decide to do :)
 
My first 2 female rabbits were not neutered as I was not then aware of the risks. One died aged 5 (unknown reasons) and one died aged 6 from complications following an emergency spay after discovering a lump in the uterus. She was already poorly when put through the operation. All my spayed females have lived to between 8 and 10.5 and died of other illnesses.
 
Last edited:
Difficult as it is, I would still make the decision to spay a doe. What I would do, however, is to minimise the risks: I would investigate vets and ask for recommendations for rabbit-savvy vets in my area. Nothing is certain - but to have a doe suffer and die through uterine cancer/suffer false pregnancies and distress is not something I would wish to do.
 
I have lost a rabbit (Mischa) under GA but I would still always spay and neuter providing the rabbit is healthy and I was using a rabbit savvy vet. Mischa must've had an underlying condition that hadn't yet manifested itself as he had two heart attacks, one my vet managed to recover him from, the second much larger. He was also six years old so while not elderly he wasn't young either. With spaying generally it's at a younger age before health issues.

I've also had a doe (Nutmeg) who came to me aged two and unspayed and she was so wound up by her hormones until she was spayed. Personally I don't feel it's fair on them, they have a poorer quality of life continually being in that heightened state and that in itself is likely to bring on health problems due to the stress.

I'm sorry to hear about Scampy's brother. Maybe it's worth getting a thorough health check done with some blood tests to minimise the risks of a underlying, untreated condition causing issues.
 
Elena said:
I have lost a rabbit (Mischa) under GA but I would still always spay and neuter providing the rabbit is healthy and I was using a rabbit savvy vet. Mischa must've had an underlying condition that hadn't yet manifested itself as he had two heart attacks, one my vet managed to recover him from, the second much larger. He was also six years old so while not elderly he wasn't young either. With spaying generally it's at a younger age before health issues.

I've also had a doe (Nutmeg) who came to me aged two and unspayed and she was so wound up by her hormones until she was spayed. Personally I don't feel it's fair on them, they have a poorer quality of life continually being in that heightened state and that in itself is likely to bring on health problems due to the stress.

I'm sorry to hear about Scampy's brother. Maybe it's worth getting a thorough health check done with some blood tests to minimise the risks of a underlying, untreated condition causing issues.
Click to expand...

Hi Elena,

sorry I haven't been on line for a few days, thank you for your reply.
well I've had a weekend of stress watching Scampy terrorise her husbun! She is relentlessly chasing him, mounting him, humping him...fur is flying...there is poo and pee everywhere but the litter tray. She has been slightly hormonal before, but this was another level. Finn is so stressed, he can't even eat his food. She's there constantly, seems to get worse if I'm in the room with them. I've been putting them outside as the weather is nice, and he just hides in his box, it's the only place he gets peace.
So with a heavy heart I've booked her in to get spayed next Tuesday.
I'm crying already!!
Fingers crossed she's ok.
 
Good luck with the spay. If you have a really good savvy vet then the risks are very minimal. When Doughnut was ill she went under GA twice in 5 days but the specialist explained that he gives the minimum needed so that they come round straight after. It really is a lot safer in the right hands. Also cancer is an awful death. My friends rabbit had it, she hadn't spayed them and she was bleeding from a couple of orifices.
 
Best of luck for her.
I'm sure it'll be okay.

I'd consider temporarily seperating them, just so her husbun isn't bullied relentlessly. They don't need complete separation, just a partition to give him space and peace.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
Thank you both. Yes I need to do it, but there are so many horror stories and I only lost Rebel in Nov under GA. However, I don't want to see her die later in life from cancer. Or live a life like this. She's still at it!
 
Sandi-C said:
Thank you both. Yes I need to do it, but there are so many horror stories and I only lost Rebel in Nov under GA. However, I don't want to see her die later in life from cancer. Or live a life like this. She's still at it!
Click to expand...

I think you are making a wise decision and it is very likely that the surgery will go very well and your Doe will then be able to have a much calmer life x
 
I remember before doughnuts spay she would dig and dig in one area of the wooden floor for ages thinking it was a nest. She would constantly go back there. It was really sad. It took a few weeks after for this to disappear. She went back to not digging again. She's more into chewing!
 
Sandi-C said:
Thank you both. Yes I need to do it, but there are so many horror stories and I only lost Rebel in Nov under GA. However, I don't want to see her die later in life from cancer. Or live a life like this. She's still at it!
Click to expand...

Good luck with the operation!

Remember, as Jane said, people are more likely to write about their bad experiences than good experiences so it can seem swayed toward the negative when it really isn't.
 
Sandi, I recently brought in a 2 YO girl that was used for breeding. I was very worried, too, about getting her spayed. But we went ahead with it. She came through fine. She's exploring a whole new world outside of a breeding cage and enjoying it. Also now uses her litter box - before the spay, it was questionable.
 
I'm in your situation also, I have a four and a half month old doe, Alys, who I'm hoping to bond with my almost 6 month old boy, Trevor. Trevor has just been neutered and Alys is due to be spayed in the next few weeks and I keep reading horror stories about bunnies not surviving the operation. I think, as others have said, you have to find a rabbit savvy vet who is very experienced in spaying and make sure your rabbit is in good health before the op.

Even if I weren't bonding Alys and Trevor I'd want to get Alys spayed - I am noticing some very lairy hormonal behaviour the last few days, she's got spring fever.
 
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