Help Please, after spay concerns!!!

I'm fostering Honey for Jill (Honeybunny), she was spayed to day and I collected her at 3.30. She was acting a bit odd and laying really strange in the carrier and when I commented the nurse said she did look a bit floppy and got her out to see if she could move, she could, so my mind was put at rest. I got her home and put her in her crate inside the carrier, she came out the carrier and just flopped on the floor on her tummy, chin on the floor, legs spread. She's normally a very feisty girl but didnt move at all when touched and stroked her.

I went out the room to make tea, when I came back I find my 2 year old gently stroking her, both hands all the way through the bars, Honey not moving a muscle, eyes shut. I looked closer and in the 5-6 seconds I looked, she only took one shallow breathe, I got my daughter away quick and opened the cage, Honey was really cold and her ears freezing, even though she was in the sun and in doors. She had her eyes closed still, and let me lift her head and look in her mouth (at her gums). I thought she's dead, or at least dying. I covered her in a vetbed any got her into the carrier (eyes still closed and not moving at all). Rang the vet and they asked me to bring her down straight away. I got there about half an hour later, and was made to look like the biggest fool on the planet!!! Honey had made a remarkable recovery in the car, and was now warm, breathing normally, and certainly not looking dead!!!

The vet checked her over and I scurried home with my tail between my legs.... I've worked with animals for years and it takes a lot for me to panic, I've seen some sights in my time, but never an animal look so lifeless and recover!!!

Anyway got her back home and into the crate AGAIN, she instantly assumed the same, play dead position and over the last couple of hours she has got quite cold and lifeless looking again. I got her out and at the moment shes sitting on my knee, wrapped in a towel on a vetbed. I've just managed to syringe about 3ml of Science Recovery into her, and also a few drops of pineapple juice. Her ears are still quite cool though, but her eyes are open and her body is warming up slightly.... but I've got this horrible feeling she might die on me if I put her back in the crate!!! Am I in for a long night, should I put a heatpad in with her, am I worrying over nothing and has this happened to anyone before??? I've had a few spayed females, but never seen one act like that.

Any advice greatly appreciated.:shock:

Hi, not sure if this helps but immediately after the spay my rabbit didn't move for 24 hours, i even had to bring her water bottle to her. She was all floppy on the way home as if there was still some anaesthetic in her but now she's right as rain and being her usual mischevious self! I was panicking the same as you but if you think about it, its in effect a hysterectomy and human's can take months to full recover from it! She's probably just shattered and confused! She'll be fine as long as you tempt her to eat and she's weeing and pooing. By the way i'm just a 'regular' rabbit owner i'm not full of as much info as some on here so my advice is purely through my 1 experience last month.
Hope the bunny's ok
Karen x

Oh what a fright that must have given you:shock:

Poor Honey, it sounds as though she is still full of the GA and will need to get that out of her system before anything else. She needs to drink - lots of fluids and if you are really worried about her then take her back to the vet and ask them to give her some sub-cut fluids.
A heat pad would be a good thing as she will feel cold with GA still in her system.

What I normally do with buns like this is cuddle them against my chest with a towel or blanket over both of us - this helps them as they can hear your heartbeat and also get the warmth from you. And you can syringe water into her this way as well.

Sending speedy healing vibes to Honey - xxxx

Thanks Karen, that is a help. I'm hoping she is just still knackered from the aneasthetic, but never seen a bun so floppy after an op, even my last old girl was back on her feet after a few hours. Having had 2 ceasarians myself I can imagine how awful shes feeling but it takes a lot to phase me and she certainly phased me tonight!! Thanks

Thanks Jaypot, thats exactly what I am doing, shes still cuddled on my lap now. If I feel she is in need of a vet I wont hesitate to take her even if I do look like a complete fool again.

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Honey needs lots of fluids and more importantly heat at the moment, if she is feeling cold, her circulation will have shut down to the peripheries, warming her up willl allow the body to dilate and perfuse the extremeties. Fluids will keep her circulatory volumn up and ensure that her kidneys are well perfused and prevent her going into shock.

Is Honey a 'big girl' or is she slim? Christabel our vet will no longer routinely operate on overweight rabbits after she has a couple who took ages to wake up following neutering.

Honey isnt really overweight now, she was when she came to me about a month ago, but shes probably only slightly above average now.

Apparently the greater the amount of fat deposits the slower they recover from the anaesthetic as the anaesthetic is absorbed into the fat which takes a while for it to be released. The greater the amount of fat the greater the amount of anaesthetic which is retained.

Thanks for the advice and info. I've given her some water and some very water recovery and she seems a lot warmer.

Thank god, she must be feeling abit better cos she just tried to bite me!! phew

when i brought poppy home in the car she was flopping about in her carry case and just flopped down. poppy is a tough little one and i have never ever seen her lay down cos she jumps up when she see's me, so it was hard for me to see her lay down and floppy. i'm sure she'll be fine though, just leave her to it! i put a teddy in with her to cuddle - she didn't leave her carry case for nearly 2 days!

You want to:

1) keep her extra warm

2) Keep her in 1 room w/ no chair or bed that she can jump to

3) If she doesn't eat anything for the first 24 hr., that's okay, as it is a heavy surgery, let her rest, in the 24th to 48 hr., she should slowly eat a few things and drink some water

4) whatever her favorite treats are, that's all she would eat for the next few days. If her favorite is carrot leaves for instance, wet the leaves w/ lots of water

5) Use non-alcohol based spray like Dermi Care to spay the wound so she won't lick that spot

Happy Hopping said:

5) Use non-alcohol based spray like Dermi Care to spay the wound so she won't lick that spot

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In the UK it is recommended not to put anything on the wound, just to keep it clean and dry. Spraying substances onto the wound can with some buns encourage them to lick and interfere with their wounds more. Wounds that remain moist are a potential breeding ground for infection.

3) If she doesn't eat anything for the first 24 hr., that's okay, as it is a heavy surgery, let her rest, in the 24th to 48 hr., she should slowly eat a few things and drink some water

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All buns however extensive the surgery should be encouraged to eat and drink in the first 24 hours to ensure adequate hydration and also to promote gut motility. Decreased gut motility is the most common problem which can occur post operatively.

over here, all these vets uses Dermi Care. It's a "dry" spray. It leaves a bad smell so the rabbit won't get near the wound. It's very dry, no moisture when I look at it, and these vets uses it everyday because it works quite nicely.

All the vet here internally stitches the wound, so you can spray something on it, and it doesn't do anything to the wound.

Sending eating, warming and pooping vibes to this lovely girlie bun xx

How is bun this morning?

Thanks for all the advice peeps. After a very worrying night, she seems a bit better in herself today but last night wasnt good at all. Every time I put her down for a few minutes (bare in mind this is a usually feisty bun, who doesnt like being handled at all) she started to go cold and floppy again. It takes a lot to worry me but I was really concerned she was going to be dead in the morning. I decided I couldnt sit there all night and hoped she'd take to the heat pad, which fortunately she did and was almost sitting on it. (Thank goodness I had a Snugglesafe!!) I went to bed at around midnight but got up at 4am, she was still snuggled on the pad and as she hadnt touched any food or water, I syringed a bit more of the watery Science Recovery into her.

This morning at 7am, I opened the crate and she started her usual clucking like a chicken, and was obviously annoyed I was invading her space, so she definately seems to be feeling more herself lol! She's had a couple of nibbles of kale and then a tiny bit of hay and I noticed she had done a couple of poos..... so fingers crossed she's over the worst.

Thanks again everyone.

rabbit spay

i have just had my rabbit that i have had for 3 yrs spayed today and she is very lifeless to say the least, eyes shut and the only thing she will eat is basil leaves which i hand to her. She weighs 0.8kg over what she should but she is still a decent weight and i read on here that the more fat she has the slower she recuperates which has made me feel a bit better but the vet was saying that she should be moving a bit and poohing and stuff and she's not. Maybe its just knocked her sideways and i should be patient but the vet said that rabbits can suffer from anorexia after being spayed and thats unusual to me as i normally cant stop her eating!!
Is this normal and ok and all part of the convalesence period she obviously has to go through or am i being an over-protective mum!
Her name is rocco by the way, i didnt know she was a girl wen i 1st got her and wouldnt let me pick her up so i had no way of finding out!!
Thank god the vets didnt say "actually we've castrated her"!

She will tend to sit very still for the next 24 hours. When Furby was done she wobbled her way to a comfy spot and didn't move much for a while..in fact she gave me the fright of my life when I looked in on her alter that night and found her lying half on her back with her head turned up towards the ceiling with her eyes open :shock: . I honestly thought she was dead..but she was just zonked out:lol: Has Rocco weed or pood yet? If you have to encourage her to eat by hand feeding her all the favourite stuff that's fine..they are quite reluctant to eat and will only nibble at bits and peices for the first few hours anyway. If she has a water bottle, try also putting a bowl of water on the floor near her. If she hasn't weed or pood by tomorrow morning take her back to vet for some more painkillers and gut stimulant.

Pippa was the same, she didn't eat anything the first day and only had a drink and a small wee. The next day I still couldn't tempt her to eat then someone on here suggested grating carrot and cucumber which she did eat, and I then mixed in hay and pellets to trick her into eating. She was spayed on a Tuesday and wasn't really herself until Friday again. Looking back I should have taken her back for more painkiller so don't be afraid to ring the vets up tomorrow morning and request some more - we wouldn't undergo a hysterectomy without painkillers so why should bunnies?

kayjay said:

Pippa was the same, she didn't eat anything the first day and only had a drink and a small wee. The next day I still couldn't tempt her to eat then someone on here suggested grating carrot and cucumber which she did eat, and I then mixed in hay and pellets to trick her into eating. She was spayed on a Tuesday and wasn't really herself until Friday again. Looking back I should have taken her back for more painkiller so don't be afraid to ring the vets up tomorrow morning and request some more -
we wouldn't undergo a hysterectomy without painkillers so why should bunnies?

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Been there, done that and couldn't agree more!!!!:lol: