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Advice Please - Possible Pregnant Doe

J

Jem

Young Bun
Hi

Just thought I'd ask for a little advice. I got a pair of beautiful rex does last wednesday and after takign them to the vets on firday to get there first Jabs i discovered that one (now named Humphrey) was most definitley not a girl. Needless to say he's booked in for The Op this coming friday but he was with his sister Rosie up to the friday.

They're approximatly 4 months old and he's probably only just developed his bits as the breeder sexed him as a girl 2 days before he was revealed. How can I tell if Rosie's pregnant. I know that I'll have to wait about a month to be sure but is there anything i should be looking out for or anything i should be doing to make sure she's as looked after as possible. I don't really want a litter (well part of me does but not the sensible part) but if she had one i would want to make it the best possible experiance for her.

To add to the difficulties both of them aren't used to handeling yet but I'm working on that and have the scratches to proove it. :?
 
Ok I'll think about it but spaying's a much more major operation than a castration and I'm worried enough about the castration despite seeing pleanty when i did my work experiance in a vets (albeit only on cats and dogs). Still i suppose the spays were straight forward too if a bit invasive.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Jem said:
Ok I'll think about it but spaying's a much more major operation than a castration and I'm worried enough about the castration despite seeing pleanty when i did my work experiance in a vets (albeit only on cats and dogs). Still i suppose the spays were straight forward too if a bit invasive.

Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

It is a good idea to get her spayed at some point anyway as female rabbits are at very high (as much as 85%) risk of developing uterine cancer. Considering she is still young and that if she is pregnant it will have been by her sibling, to prevent complications I would get her spayed straight away. You will most likely find it very difficult to rehome a litter of babies considering the thousands of rabbits already desperate for a home.
 
Definitely a spay. You'll need to get it done at some point anyway due to uterine cancer, she's very young so raising a litter will be stressful, and as her brother is the father there's a higher risk of genetic disorders in the young.

Good luck.

AMETHYST
 
I've looked into the spaying and apparently she's too young. She needs to be over 6 months and she's a month or two too young. I will get her spayed when she's old enough though it's not going to be a quick fix for now. Still no sign of nest building or fur plucking yet.
 
I don't agree, if I had a 4-months old doe, I would have her spayed if I suspected her to be pregnant. An experienced vet would have no problem doing that - and the risk of the op would still be smaller than the health risks of a pregnancy for such a young doe.

Vera
 
Experienced vets will often spey as young as 4 months old. The younger they are the less risks as they have not had time to build up fat deposits which make surgery more dificult.

The vet ARC use used to spey at 6 months, having now had lots of experience from our rabbits she now will routinely spey at a younger age and prefers to do this now.
 
I'd ring round other vets and see if any of them will spay. This shouldn't be a problem for an experienced vet so this one's hesitation may possibly indicate lack of experience.

AMETHYST
 
Being pregnant at four months will most likely not kill her, but it is very stressful for a doe that young to be bred. My does are usually bred at five months, and they're just fine. If she is a pet, I would spay her, as well. It would make her much more calm.

--Kiya--
 
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