Having taken on these 5 does, all unspayed, I wonder if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience on this (I've only had rabbits 4 months)
The lady at the rescue I adopted them from was horrified when I said I would get them all spayed ASAP :?
She said that if they don't have a behavioral problem caused by hormones, and aren't at risk of pregnancy, then in her experience unspayed females live longer than spayed - in spite of the cancer statistics - she believes that too many bouts of anaesthesia damage the rabbit's liver over time, and that spayed females tended to live about 5 years only (don't panic anyone - this is just her opinion)
Has anyone got any older females that have been spayed - or is she right about this? My girls seem perfectly happy with each other at the mo - bit of chasing but nothing major (my neutered boys were as bad sometimes) - they're not yet aggressive to me, and they've litter trained themselves in 2 days, so I can't see any urgent need to spay them - apart from the cancer statistic...But if that is outweighed by the 'early deaths in spayed females' statistic - what's the point?
Please - anyone with spayed does that are long-lived out there? :?
The lady at the rescue I adopted them from was horrified when I said I would get them all spayed ASAP :?
She said that if they don't have a behavioral problem caused by hormones, and aren't at risk of pregnancy, then in her experience unspayed females live longer than spayed - in spite of the cancer statistics - she believes that too many bouts of anaesthesia damage the rabbit's liver over time, and that spayed females tended to live about 5 years only (don't panic anyone - this is just her opinion)
Has anyone got any older females that have been spayed - or is she right about this? My girls seem perfectly happy with each other at the mo - bit of chasing but nothing major (my neutered boys were as bad sometimes) - they're not yet aggressive to me, and they've litter trained themselves in 2 days, so I can't see any urgent need to spay them - apart from the cancer statistic...But if that is outweighed by the 'early deaths in spayed females' statistic - what's the point?
Please - anyone with spayed does that are long-lived out there? :?