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Would you have your Doe spayed? The discussion continues .. 26 May 2017

I just wanted to point out when somebody mentioned about teeth, when Snoopy had his i spoke with my vet, and she said over the years more and more rabbits have had dental issues. and that's because of humans creating these "show standards" that create a more "cute" bunny. for this reason heads are built smaller and rounder all the time, and then back teeth do not line up, or grind correctly. this means that spurs happen more often as they're not grinded correctly. and i believe that elongated roots are also more common in dwarf bunnies due to the smaller and rounder heads, so less space for everything.

for this reason, lion heads, lops and dwarf breeds are much more prone to dentals due to their cute round head.

its quite sad, once again man has made a healthy animal unhealthy. i really do disagree with it.
show standard shepherds with their sloping backs, causing hip dysplasia and general uncomfort.
persian cats with their difficulty of breathing.
pugs with their difficulty breathing.
bulldogs who are unable to give birth, as the head is so big and will not fit down the birthing canal. they always have to have c-sections.

it just bugs me how we have a healthy dog and give it so many issues to make it "cute"

sorry - went off on a minor rant there lol.
 
I just wanted to point out when somebody mentioned about teeth, when Snoopy had his i spoke with my vet, and she said over the years more and more rabbits have had dental issues. and that's because of humans creating these "show standards" that create a more "cute" bunny. for this reason heads are built smaller and rounder all the time, and then back teeth do not line up, or grind correctly. this means that spurs happen more often as they're not grinded correctly. and i believe that elongated roots are also more common in dwarf bunnies due to the smaller and rounder heads, so less space for everything.

for this reason, lion heads, lops and dwarf breeds are much more prone to dentals due to their cute round head.

its quite sad, once again man has made a healthy animal unhealthy. i really do disagree with it.
show standard shepherds with their sloping backs, causing hip dysplasia and general uncomfort.
persian cats with their difficulty of breathing.
pugs with their difficulty breathing.
bulldogs who are unable to give birth, as the head is so big and will not fit down the birthing canal. they always have to have c-sections.

it just bugs me how we have a healthy dog and give it so many issues to make it "cute"

sorry - went off on a minor rant there lol.


Hi binkyCodie :)

I think you can create a thread with this - it's very sad that humans have to 'tamper' with things so much. If they were breeding out the stuff that made life painful for animals that would be different, but so much is for appearance and blow the animal's suffering!
 
Richard Saunders (of RWAF) has written a response in the same journal concerning the neutering of pet rabbits.

I can't quote it here for copyright reasons, but it makes for interesting reading :)
 
Hi, I've always had mine neutered and have not yet lost one during GA.
My neighbour lost her female under GA and didn't get her next rabbits done. Surprise surprise, her doe, living with her brother, has now had 2 litters, the second 4 weeks after the first. The first baby (only one survived ) a male, at 12 weeks is still in with the mother. She rung me to ask when should she separate them as the son was starting to mate his mother. NOW I said. This is why neutering should be encouraged. Aside from the cancer issue.
 
Hi, I've always had mine neutered and have not yet lost one during GA.
My neighbour lost her female under GA and didn't get her next rabbits done. Surprise surprise, her doe, living with her brother, has now had 2 litters, the second 4 weeks after the first. The first baby (only one survived ) a male, at 12 weeks is still in with the mother. She rung me to ask when should she separate them as the son was starting to mate his mother. NOW I said. This is why neutering should be encouraged. Aside from the cancer issue.


Nothing short of a terrible vet would prevent me having my female rabbits spayed!

I really hope this kind of discussion doesn't put people off getting them done.

What's your neighbour going to do with all the rabbits??
 
It's just not a very extensive piece of research though - a survey pool of just 60 rabbits isn't irrefutable proof, and we don't know how thorough his investigations were either.

I think you would need to speak to other vets and accumulate data for at least 1000 rabbits, who have had extensive post-mortems....
 
Nothing short of a terrible vet would prevent me having my female rabbits spayed!

I really hope this kind of discussion doesn't put people off getting them done.

What's your neighbour going to do with all the rabbits??

A terrible vet would just make me find a better one for the next one.

Rabbit care (in the eyes of the general public) is often backwards enough as is, without vets telling owners to not spay. :(
 
Hi binkyCodie :)

I think you can create a thread with this - it's very sad that humans have to 'tamper' with things so much. If they were breeding out the stuff that made life painful for animals that would be different, but so much is for appearance and blow the animal's suffering!

hi :wave:

I may possibly in the future :) a lot of people don't actually realize that lops etc are more prone to teeth issues. it is a shame how much we have to tamper with animals. i can understand breeding the bad stuff out, but so many breed what they call "bad" out to make a cuter animal that actually suffers more. i wish i had known as personally I wouldn't have wanted to adopt a mini and i suppose, support it. but i have a little bean now so that's that haha.

i just find it such a shame.

apologies for going off track a bit :lol:

---

but going back to the OP, i've had both of my bunnies done, and this wouldn't change my opinion on it. however I am a bit more weary of having a doe done than my boy from my two experiences.

Snoopy was done at 6 months and took around 2 days to head back to himself. we kept him inside for a good week however (he was an outdoor bun).

Luna was really quite a different story. I had her done a little later as she was a rescue, about a year. i got her at 6 months and wanted to bond as i'd need to give her medications and so on. after her spay, it was a nightmare. she refused to eat by herself for around 3 weeks, she was in a terrible state. we ended up at the vets every morning for a week, and in the end she was having day stays to keep her on a drip and force feed her throughout the day. she was incredibly grumpy and upset.

from what I've had, id be a little more weary of having a doe done after Luna's bad reaction. but I do wonder if she just has a bad reaction to GA, and its just more of a her thing. not really sure, but i haven't seen many others have such an issue. :?
 
I just wanted to point out when somebody mentioned about teeth, when Snoopy had his i spoke with my vet, and she said over the years more and more rabbits have had dental issues. and that's because of humans creating these "show standards" that create a more "cute" bunny. for this reason heads are built smaller and rounder all the time, and then back teeth do not line up, or grind correctly. this means that spurs happen more often as they're not grinded correctly. and i believe that elongated roots are also more common in dwarf bunnies due to the smaller and rounder heads, so less space for everything.

for this reason, lion heads, lops and dwarf breeds are much more prone to dentals due to their cute round head.'


Two out of four of my lions have had dental issues and with one they started very early, age about two. The other two have been fine. My current lionhead has the tiniest little head and jaw but is six now and hasn't had any trouble with teeth (or anything else, touch wood).
 
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It's just not a very extensive piece of research though - a survey pool of just 60 rabbits isn't irrefutable proof, and we don't know how thorough his investigations were either.

I think you would need to speak to other vets and accumulate data for at least 1000 rabbits, who have had extensive post-mortems....


Well yes you're absolutely right about that. I found it very surprising to have such a small sample to make a decision on.

Now if vets kept records of health, spay results, ages, PMs etc - like there are statistics of rabbits in Rescue Centres - then it would be extremely useful and could show much better the truth of the matter. I don't suppose that bit of record keeping would be too difficult?
 
We always had bucks and they were always neutered as we felt it unfair to let them be ravaged by hormones.

My Mum used to go and feed her friend's doe when her friend was away. Doe was unneutered and ravaged by hormones with numerous phantom pregnancies. Mum found it upsetting. She mentioned spaying a few times, and recommended our vet, but her friend wasn't convinced, sadly.

My Mum could never understand why you wouldn't spay or neuter, as she firmly believed it made rabbits happier and calmer.
 
hi :wave:

I may possibly in the future :) a lot of people don't actually realize that lops etc are more prone to teeth issues. it is a shame how much we have to tamper with animals. i can understand breeding the bad stuff out, but so many breed what they call "bad" out to make a cuter animal that actually suffers more. i wish i had known as personally I wouldn't have wanted to adopt a mini and i suppose, support it. but i have a little bean now so that's that haha.

i just find it such a shame.

apologies for going off track a bit :lol:

---

but going back to the OP, i've had both of my bunnies done, and this wouldn't change my opinion on it. however I am a bit more weary of having a doe done than my boy from my two experiences.

Snoopy was done at 6 months and took around 2 days to head back to himself. we kept him inside for a good week however (he was an outdoor bun).

Luna was really quite a different story. I had her done a little later as she was a rescue, about a year. i got her at 6 months and wanted to bond as i'd need to give her medications and so on. after her spay, it was a nightmare. she refused to eat by herself for around 3 weeks, she was in a terrible state. we ended up at the vets every morning for a week, and in the end she was having day stays to keep her on a drip and force feed her throughout the day. she was incredibly grumpy and upset.

from what I've had, id be a little more weary of having a doe done after Luna's bad reaction. but I do wonder if she just has a bad reaction to GA, and its just more of a her thing. not really sure, but i haven't seen many others have such an issue. :?


Wow, not eating for three weeks is definitely a nightmare :shock: You really went through the mill with her, and I'm not surprised at all that you would be wary now. It's a credit to you that it hasn't made you change your opinion. You must have had in the back of your mind that she might not make it - how stressful :(

Anyway I'm glad she's OK now. Did the vet ever say why they thought things turned out as they did?
 
We always had bucks and they were always neutered as we felt it unfair to let them be ravaged by hormones.

My Mum used to go and feed her friend's doe when her friend was away. Doe was unneutered and ravaged by hormones with numerous phantom pregnancies. Mum found it upsetting. She mentioned spaying a few times, and recommended our vet, but her friend wasn't convinced, sadly.

My Mum could never understand why you wouldn't spay or neuter, as she firmly believed it made rabbits happier and calmer.


Hi dizzy :wave:

I think it's a very important consideration - the frustration a rabbit experiences through their hormones. There's not only the physical health and well being to consider, but the quality of life. Having a friend is so much easier when you haven't got 'that' on your mind all the time!

I do totally agree with your Mum :D
 
Wow, not eating for three weeks is definitely a nightmare :shock: You really went through the mill with her, and I'm not surprised at all that you would be wary now. It's a credit to you that it hasn't made you change your opinion. You must have had in the back of your mind that she might not make it - how stressful :(

Anyway I'm glad she's OK now. Did the vet ever say why they thought things turned out as they did?

I really did :( i was terrifying. every morning i would be waiting wondering if today was the day i wouldn't return home with her at the end of the day. my eczema really flared up which is a sign of stress for me. towards the end I was really at the end of my tether, i was angry and frustrated. my sleeping went mayhem. i had to feed her 15ml every 2 hours. so during the night i was up every two hours or not sleeping at all. i think it was 5 days in of all of this, and the vet saw me, and thats then when we made the plan to let her stay in for the day so I could rest :lol: i think she just raised and eyebrow and said "you look like death warmed up" lol.

we never found out the issue. even the vets were confused and surprised. then again, we didn't do any testing as I was already dying with my wallet, and we didn't want to stress her out either. before surgery she had no issues. healthy lungs, heart. she had no issues. during surgery she was fine, she never dropped away or lost heat. so its a mystery. we can only guess that she had a very very bad reaction.

despite how awful it was, it wouldn't change my mind. im very strongly opinionated that all pets, if possible, should be fixed. jeeze, i've lost all of my female hamsters now to uterine issues. honey made it 18 months, brownie 9 months, izzy 4 months. i've mostly tried to stay away from female hamsters as they get taken from me so young from issues with their uterus. most of my boys however they've been fine. had one make it to 3 years :D but then again, they've also died young at 9 months and one suddenly passed at 1year 4months :(
fixing helps with behavior and i've seen it first hand, i would never not have a pet fixed, unless it was seriously risky at that time and had to wait.
 
I really did :( i was terrifying. every morning i would be waiting wondering if today was the day i wouldn't return home with her at the end of the day. my eczema really flared up which is a sign of stress for me. towards the end I was really at the end of my tether, i was angry and frustrated. my sleeping went mayhem. i had to feed her 15ml every 2 hours. so during the night i was up every two hours or not sleeping at all. i think it was 5 days in of all of this, and the vet saw me, and thats then when we made the plan to let her stay in for the day so I could rest :lol: i think she just raised and eyebrow and said "you look like death warmed up" lol.

we never found out the issue. even the vets were confused and surprised. then again, we didn't do any testing as I was already dying with my wallet, and we didn't want to stress her out either. before surgery she had no issues. healthy lungs, heart. she had no issues. during surgery she was fine, she never dropped away or lost heat. so its a mystery. we can only guess that she had a very very bad reaction.

despite how awful it was, it wouldn't change my mind. im very strongly opinionated that all pets, if possible, should be fixed. jeeze, i've lost all of my female hamsters now to uterine issues. honey made it 18 months, brownie 9 months, izzy 4 months. i've mostly tried to stay away from female hamsters as they get taken from me so young from issues with their uterus. most of my boys however they've been fine. had one make it to 3 years :D but then again, they've also died young at 9 months and one suddenly passed at 1year 4months :(
fixing helps with behavior and i've seen it first hand, i would never not have a pet fixed, unless it was seriously risky at that time and had to wait.


You seem to have been through an awful lot with her.

I expect you'll have to tell any vet to be extra careful if she ever needs another GA?
 
You seem to have been through an awful lot with her.

I expect you'll have to tell any vet to be extra careful if she ever needs another GA?

indeed. from trying to rehab her (shes scared of just about everything, including grass at first) to going through that lol.

I really hope she doesn't have to ever have to go through another GA. because otherwise I know I need £300 extra just for after if it would repeat itself if it was the GA that reacted badly lol. but since i've had her and she had her dental, touch wood, shes never had any big issues. no stasis, zilch. just an eye ulcer and ripping her dew claws off-twice :roll:
 
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