MightyMax
Banned
The figure of 80% came from a very limited number (twelve I think) of related laboratory rabbits and it is very dubious whether it could be duplicated in rabbits living a good life. Given the impact of lifestyle on human cancer rates it is reasonable to assume that it would make a difference to rabbits too. The quality of proof you ask of the vet not doing the op is far higher than the standard used to recommend it.
To me the risk of pregnancy and of difficulty keeping herself clean due to a dewlap preventing her reaching her bottom are better reasons to spey and I have always told people this. Behaviour issues except for extreme cases are not a good enough reason. Unspeyed does are actually easier to bond and the range of behaviours they display are not problematic given the right environment.
I have seen quite a few does with problems caused by speying. They are very prone to adhesions which can cause lifelong gut problems (many unexplained gut issues and problems blamed on teeth may actually be due to this) and I have even seen a speyed doe get very nasty mammary tumors. I never lost one during the opp itself but I have lost two afterwards as they never properly recovered from the anaesthetic and another when she opened herself up again by chewing her stitches and died under the second anaesthetic when she was restitched.
This issue is a genuine concern, please don't just dismiss it.
Thank you doorkeeper, you raise some very interesting and important points. It's an eye opener for me that the study was on such a small group of rabbits. I do agree that a good lifestyle makes a big difference when assessing various health risks.
Adhesions is one of the worst culprits of spaying a doe, and I wish it didn't happen as much as I am hearing that it does.
I'm interested that you find unspayed does easier to bond.
There are definitely two sides to this argument.