MightyMax
Banned
A vet has gone on record as stating that spaying of female rabbits is not necessarily a wise move any more. This could turn upside down a lot of what most of us think about female rabbits, uterine cancer, anaesthetic risk etc... His own experience has shown that only 10 - 13% of entire does over 5 years old had tumours at the time of death, as against the 'up to 80%' always quoted by RWAF.
Details below - what do you think?
Frances Harcourt Brown has recently written this on her Facebook:
"There is a letter from Martin Whitehead (vet) in last weeks Vet Record saying that he has decided to discourage spaying of does, whether kept singly, with other females or with neutered males unless there is a specific indication to do so. His decision is based on an analysis of his case records. He found 61 entire does older than six months in his records that were examined at, or within a few days, before death. Only 3 had definite evidence of tumours and a further two had suspicious abdominal masses. His analysis of his figures concluded that 'only' 10-13% of entire does over 5years old had a clinically detectable tumour at the time of death, so he would have to spay 16-20 does to prevent a tumour and he concludes that this risk of a tumour is not high enough to perform surgery.
Mr Whitehead's decision to discourage neutering females is also influenced by a (his) perception of a high anaesthetic risk and the risk of complications because their practice had lost a rabbit with an adhesion strangulating the colon. He also included cost and the published opinion (in Vet Rec Dec '16) of Guen Bradbury and Greg Dickens that taking a rabbit to the vets is an aversive experience that should be avoided."
The Rabbit Welfare and Fund says:
Spayed females are likely to live longer then their unspayed sisters. Up to 80% of unspayed
female rabbits develop uterine cancer by 5 years of age.
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/neutering28807.pdf
Details below - what do you think?
Frances Harcourt Brown has recently written this on her Facebook:
"There is a letter from Martin Whitehead (vet) in last weeks Vet Record saying that he has decided to discourage spaying of does, whether kept singly, with other females or with neutered males unless there is a specific indication to do so. His decision is based on an analysis of his case records. He found 61 entire does older than six months in his records that were examined at, or within a few days, before death. Only 3 had definite evidence of tumours and a further two had suspicious abdominal masses. His analysis of his figures concluded that 'only' 10-13% of entire does over 5years old had a clinically detectable tumour at the time of death, so he would have to spay 16-20 does to prevent a tumour and he concludes that this risk of a tumour is not high enough to perform surgery.
Mr Whitehead's decision to discourage neutering females is also influenced by a (his) perception of a high anaesthetic risk and the risk of complications because their practice had lost a rabbit with an adhesion strangulating the colon. He also included cost and the published opinion (in Vet Rec Dec '16) of Guen Bradbury and Greg Dickens that taking a rabbit to the vets is an aversive experience that should be avoided."
The Rabbit Welfare and Fund says:
Spayed females are likely to live longer then their unspayed sisters. Up to 80% of unspayed
female rabbits develop uterine cancer by 5 years of age.
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/neutering28807.pdf
Last edited: