Neutering after care

Hello
I've got the naughty biting rabbit booked in to be neutered on Monday and was just wondering about his after care.

I've been reading here that rabbits should really be kept inside after neutering, but the problem is i do not have anything to keep him in- ie) no indoor cage or hutch. So...do i keep him in the carrier which is medium- large size but not massive or put him back out into the summer house where he is at the moment (he's just loose in there). I don't think its that cold in there as it's brick with windows.

Unfortunately I can't let him lose in my spare room as my foster cats live in there!

Thank you
Mandy

You must keep him indoor. Remember it is a surgery. If you don't, his body may not be able to sustain the cold and the recovery of the surgery at the same time, and may die.

YOu have to keep him very warm in a room, if the temperature dropped at night time, then turn on a oil heater or have the temp. set a bit higher, say 2 deg C.

Imagine if you have your uterus removed and someone has to dump you outside the house just after the surgery, it can't be done.

He has to be keep indoor and keep very warm w/i the first 5 days after surgery. Not only that, you have to keep a very close eye on him day and night.

Hi Mandy,

Where abouts are you from as there may be somebody local who could lend you an indoor hutch for a couple of days until your little man is feeling a bit better.

He will probably be very sleepy when you go and collect him and will need to keep warm and be somewhere where you can keep an eye on him and his stitches.

Here's a link on post-op care
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/opcare.html

If you are near me, Twickenham I can lend you an indoor cage.

Hi Mandy, he really does need to stay indoors at least overnight after his operation - the anaesthetic lowers his blood pressure so he is unable to keep himself warm. This is why he must stay indoors where you can keep the house at a temperature that will help him. As Lynda says, maybe someone here can lend you an indoor cage (or maybe you could try phoning a rescue near you and see if they have one they can lend you for a donation) or you may be able to make something up temporarily.

Neutering for boys is a relatively minor operation, he should be fairly lively quite quickly, although if he was done later in the day he may still be dozy. It is important that you encourage him to eat and drink, many bunnies find it easier to drink from a bowl rather than a bottle after an operation, he is likely to be very thirsty from the anaesthetic. Bed him on something like vetbed or towels, not hay/straw/sawdust etc as these may get into the wound and irritate it. But he must have access to hay for eating so you may have to fabricate some kind of hay rack. Buy in lots of his favourite tasty veg to encourage him to eat. If he isn't eating by the next day (he should be ok, but just in case), he will need to go back to the vets maybe for something to get his gut moving again and some more painkiller.

Also just keep an eye on him and try and stop him from bothering his wound. Some boys pull all their stitches out :roll: Sometimes they have to be re-stitched, sometimes not. My Dudley pulled all his stitches out but the wound stayed together anyway so it was ok, other people are not so lucky. It's best not to use one of those elizabethan collars unless you have to, though, as rabbits are prey animals who get very stressed if they cannot see around them, and this can make them stop eating. It also means they can't reach round to eat their soft droppings.

Hope that helps a bit, good luck for your bunny for Monday!

The other thing is, since the rabbit is in the healing process from a surgery, he most certainly won't have the energy or the mood to chew any furniture in any case. So in the end, it is just a bit of cleaning. No big deal.

Wow thankyou for posting that link it was so helpful!
My bunny (doe) is also being spayed on monday... so sending vibes your way to.
My vet said she would give me a full after care pack, but yes they do need to be kept inside, it's vital.... cos they need to be kept warm, also quiet.
My vet and also peopl on ehre have told me pineapple juice , which has got beneficial enzymes in. I posted about spaying a couple of days ago and I think its under help my bunnys being done... there may be some advice for you on there you may like. Hope it goes ok

thanks for the advice everyone and offers of hutch jrn1310, but i'm in Nottingham, so i'll try and sort something out here.

I'm certaintly not too houseproud Happy Hopping that I would leave him outside just in case he made a mess or chewed furniture- unfortunately the only room that could be closed is my spare room, which is why i mentioned that - I have two foster cats and one cat of my own so could not leave him running round the rest of the house.

Thank you for the good luck messages and good luck for snowflake too!

Hi Mandy, where abouts in Notts are you?

My sister is going up at the weekend if you are desparate you can borrow mine, my Dad lives in Nottingham so you drop it back there.

Only a thought

mandy said:

n so could not leave him running round the rest of the house.
!

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but the point is, he won't be running around the house. When my bunny recover from the above surgery, she just sit at one spot in the room in the first 24 to 48 hr., and I make sure the spot is nice and soft and padded. And she just lay there for most of the 24 hr. period, although there is some slight movement in the first 24 hr. (and not much eating at all)

In the 2nd day, she did jump on my bed once, but most of the time, she just sit there to recover. So a room w/ a close door is not that important of a consideration.

The only thing I need to make sure during that period is the oil heater is on to keep the room extra warm because it is cold in this region of space.

my vet won't release a rabbit after surgery unless you promise to keep it indoors for a couple of days - they insist on keeping it themselves if you can't, so maybe your vet could keep him in overnight?

Also he doesn' t want shavings or hay poking in the wound so he needs to be bedded on newspaper and vetbed type stuff, like the fleecy pet mats Wilkinsons do for £5 - cut it into 4 pieces and that should last him till he's started to heal - it needs to be kept clean and dry down there.

Happy hopping- i know he won't literally be running around the house!! As I have said I can't close him in anywhere. and I have cats- so i meant this for his own protection. If he was out loose then my cat would be curious about him and in his fright he may try and get away and damage his stitches.

My original question was how important was it to keep him in after neutering- i wasn't trying to think of excuses not to bring him inside, it was a genuine question. I will defiently be keeping him inside now that you've all explained how important this is (and before any one says it, i will make sure the cats can't get to him.)

Lynda M, thank you very much for the offer, thats really nice of you but i am going to section off an area of my bedroom, and thank you Elve for the advice about bedding.

Lynda M, thank you very much for the offer, thats really nice of you but i am going to section off an area of my bedroom, and thank you Elve for the advice about bedding.

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Perfect plan so section off your bedroom!

Advice

Azraelm said:

thanks for the advice everyone and offers of hutch jrn1310, but i'm in Nottingham, so i'll try and sort something out here.

I'm certaintly not too houseproud Happy Hopping that I would leave him outside just in case he made a mess or chewed furniture- unfortunately the only room that could be closed is my spare room, which is why i mentioned that - I have two foster cats and one cat of my own so could not leave him running round the rest of the house.

Thank you for the good luck messages and good luck for snowflake too!

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We had our male cat have an operation the beginning of the year and he was neutered and the vets were very good and loaned us a large cage for him so you could ask them. Neil