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    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

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Neutering advice

Hello,
I am soon to acquire a bonded brother-sister pair of mini lops. I'm wondering if anyone out there could please offer any advice on neutering (when, how, recovery time, need to separate during recovery?....).
Most grateful to all for your generosity.:wave::)
 
I would recommend going to a rescue as they will have pairs of rabbits that already get on, are already neutered and vaccinated, saves them potentially falling out when puberty kicks in, risk of pregnancy and their personality can change also when they get to puberty. There are so many rabbits of all ages, sexes, sizes and breeds. (67,000 in rescue at the last count :cry:) waiting for good homes that it's the best and cheapest way to go :thumb:
 
Boys can be neutered from about 12 weeks - when their testicles have dropped. They will be fertile for up to 6 weeks after neutering. It's a relatively simple op and recovery should be fairly quick.

Girls can be neutered from 6 months, but could become pregnant before then so should not be kept with a fertile male. It is a more major operation and they should be prevented from overstretching / jumping for a week or two. You also need to make sure that she leaves the wound alone. There may be stitches or it could be glued. You may need to get inventive with a baby t-shirt or leg from a thick pair of cotton tights to make a dressing if she won't leave it alone. Buster collars (rather than the 'lampshade' ones) can also be used to stop her reaching round for a nibble, but she should be able to eat and clean her bottom.

Rabbits should never be starved - so they should be eating right up to the operation, and as soon as possible after. At my vet, they go in about 9am. The ops are after morning surgery. Ring up about 2.30pm to see how they are doing and arrange pickup, depending on how they are coming round from the anaesthetic - usually 4-6pm if they are eating OK. Some vets prefer to keep rabbits in overnight to make sure they are eating / weeing / pooing.

They need to be kept warmer for 24 hours or so afterwards as they won't be able to regulate their temperature as well as usual. Snugglesafe heatpads are useful for this as it gives them an option of a warm spot to rest on if they want.

You need to make sure they are eating, weeing and pooing on the evening after the operation. You may need to syringe feed some powdered food (eg Critical Care) every few hours until they are eating / pooing normally. This may be for a couple of days (maybe more) - especially for the girl. You will also need pain relief (eg Metacam) which is a liquid given daily or twice daily by syringe - but they usually like it, which makes it easier. You may also be given some gut stimulants (again, it's a liquid given by mouth) to make sure that the guts keep working and the rabbit doesn't go into stasis. Fresh herbs, dandelions, grass, etc are useful to get them eating again.

You should be offered an appointment 2-3 days after the ops for a checkup just to make sure everything is healing properly and there is no infection. You need to take them back sooner if they are not eating or there is something obviously not right.

Don't forget that both rabbits will need vaccinating every year - 2 vaccines each, 2 weeks apart. One covers myxomatosis and RHD1, the other covers RHD1&2. They are diseases which kill rabbits, often very quickly and with no symptoms. The RHD2 vaccine is fairly new to the UK - hence the overlap of RHD1 in both vaccines as that is all that is currently available.

Rescue rabbits are easier - they are neutered, vaccinated (although this needs to be done every year) and bonded. There is no guarantee that young rabbits will get on at puberty, or re-bond after neutering if they have had to be separated. That goes for same sex pairs as well - once hormonal, they will probably fall out and should be neutered anyway. For entire girls, there is a very high risk of uterine cancer (80%?) by about 3 or 4 years old.
 
Hello! How old are the bunnies? A brother/sister bond usually works very well but try to ensure you do have a boy and a girl as it is not always easy to determine the sex.
 
Wow! What thorough, helpful advice. Much appreciated!
The bunnies will be 8 weeks old when I collect them, so I will book the buck in for his 12 week neutering op.
Could anyone kindly recommend what food is preferable and available (it been 20 plus years since I owned my 20 bunnies, so things have probably changed from the 'Russell Rabbit' days!).
Also, there seems to be a myriad of bedding available....sawdust, cat litter, newspaper, shredded paper....Any recommendations?
Once again, thank you....I really appreciate the generosity.:love:
 
We are here to help rabbit owners so they can do their best for their bunnies. Re the neutering, the Vet will only neuter a 12 week old rabbit if his testicles have dropped and if he is of a certain weight. We all have different opinions on how old they should be, I prefer 4 months. This means you may have to separate them for a few weeks but they should go back together with no problems. When the female is spayed at around 6 months, you should be able to put her straight back with him, having company after a spay is usually beneficial in the recovery process.

We all tend to use different food but mainly pellets and lots of hay. There again bedding is a personal choice but we don't advise wood shavings as they are too dusty. I use newspaper topped up with hay, that is in their litter tray. If you do this it will encourage your rabbits to become litter trained. This saves the wood of the hutch - are they going to be indoors? You can use non-clumping cat litter or Carefresh, Fitch is also popular but I think it comes in a large bag. I hope you can be as sure as possible that you are getting a boy/girl pair. It is a very exciting time for you.

Also, rabbits need 2 vaccinations although I think this has been covered earlier. :thumb:
 
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