Anyone have experience of spaying 5yo doe? - Update 26/6 Snow has been spayed

Hi All,

I privately rehomed a bonded mixed pair of Netherland Dwarfs almost 2 months ago and it has taken 7 weeks for me to get their previous vet history. They are siblings aged 4yrs 10mths. The previous owner had told me that Snow (female) had been spayed, but Storm (male) had not been neutered, while this bothered me a bit, having read lots of different threads on here and through other research, I comforted myself by thinking at least she has been spayed so she won't get uterine cancer.

However, during their visit to the vet today to get their Myxi & RHD1 vaccine (Filivac - RHD1 & RHD2 is booked for 2 weeks time), I asked the vet to look through their history for any previous health issues that may not be covered by insurance under 'pre-existing conditions'. This is when it comes to light that Snow has not been spayed, but Storm has been neutered. When I asked the vet about spaying Snow, she said that in her experience she had not known of any Netherland Dwarfs that had developed cancer, and with Snow being 5 in August, the risks of spaying/surgery are greater. (I know this information from the vet is only anecdotal, and not backed up by any studies that she knew of).
During the consultation both rabbits were given a thorough health check, with the vet paying particular attention to any signs Snow may have already developed cancer. Good news is that Storm and Snow are both in good health and no sign of cancer.

So do I have her spayed in a month (surgery has to be 2 weeks after vaccinations) or do I leave her as she is, living with the risk of cancer? / Has anyone else got experience of "middle-aged" Doe's being spayed?

I have no experience of middle-aged does being spayed. Most of my does have already been spayed, or I have had them done when they were young. There are many forum members, who do have this experience though and hopefully they will give you their views.

Whilst different sources vary in quoting the exact percentage of unspayed does which are known to have developed uterine cancer over the age of 3, they all agree that it is well over 50%, with some sources considerably higher than this. Spaying will also reduce the risk of pyometra (infection of the uterus) and mammary tumours. Sadly, I have never seen any reports of any reduction of that risk for a Netherland Dwarf.

If it were me, I would make sure I had a competent vet and if my doe had no serious health issues, I would definitely have her spayed. I send you best wishes for whatever you decide.

I think all rabbits are at risk, I do not think that a different breed has a different risk category to others, at the end of the day they hall have uteruses. Omi is right, while different studies and sources state different things, they all do estimate that at least 50% of rabbits over the age of 3 have a tumour in their uterus, and most studies seem to agree that the risk gets even greater after the age of six, with some studies quoting that 80% of rabbits over the age of 6 will have a tumour in their uterus. as Omi also said it reduces the risk of uterine infections (nasty) and mammary tumours, which can often be fatal (as can a uterine infection if left/caught late).

at the end of the day, the reality is is that an unspayed doe is likely to not live as long as a spayed doe, and is likely to live alone or be passed from pillar to post for behavioural issues. often they're extremely aggressive, territorial, and its not uncommon for them to not be able to live harmonious with other rabbits as they often turn on them.

a few people on the forum have had elderly rabbits spayed and tbh with you, the risk is no more than a young rabbit. as long as Snowy is healthy and fit in terms of her health (I would suggest having a full blood test done as a pre operation check) then shes at no more risk than a young rabbit.

of course having a rabbit go under a general anaesthetic has its risks, as with any animal or human. as long as your vet is rabbit savvy and knows what they're doing the risk is minimal. there are some rabbits which are lost to general anaesthetic but I suppose you hear about it more (as its devastating) over the surgeries that go well, which is in the hundreds every day.

remember no starving before a rabbits surgery (they can not vomit) and ideally your vet should be hand feeding them not long after they wake up, as rabbits are known not to eat after surgery, and then they end up in stasis. on top of that, she should have pain medication for a couple of days, as a rabbit in pain is prone to stasis or to chew the wound site, leading to further issues!

so personally, as long as she is still fit and healthy, I would get it done.

she is technically only just half way through her life, as domestic rabbits usually live for 10 years on average, so shes not really that 'old' in reality xx

If she is otherwise healthy, I would definitely get her spayed if you are certain she has not been done already. Recovery from the anaesthetic and the operation should be just the same as for a younger rabbit. There may well be abnormal changes already, so I would rather deal with it sooner than when it may be too late for a decent outcome.

It should be fairly obvious if the boy has been neutered and you should be able to confirm this by a visual examination as well. Girls are much more difficult to confirm if they have been spayed. I hope there is no confusion in the notes due to the similarity of their names.

Well done for taking them on - and we need pics of the lovely pair.

I am all for spaying young rabbits and have had many done over the years. I have only had one 5.5 yr old rabbit spayed and I did regret it as she lost all her spirit and her coat was never as shiny. I know this is just one case and the same may not happen to your rabbit. I also have a 9 yr old unspayed rabbit who looks very perky still and very healthy. I was speaking to the Vet today about spaying and he said if a rabbit is very slim spaying is easier, but as they get older they get fat around their organs which makes it more difficult to spay and they bleed a lot more he said.

I would 100% spay her

Thank you all for your responses. I assumed most replies would be to spay her, and I know the sooner, the better, but I still wanted to hear about other people’s experience. I am leaning towards having her spayed.

My current vet, while being the “go to rabbit vet” in the practice said that she only had experience of spaying younger rabbits, but a vet nurse there had experience with "middle-aged" rabbit spays. I admire their honesty, but it did make me a little more worried about the risks. However, during the consultation she did suggest I contact the practice they refer more complicated exotic cases to for advice.

The referral practice is a RWAF Gold vets, which automatically increases my confidence for a positive outcome, since they have greater experience and training. And even better still they are cheaper for everything than my current vets too. I know money isn't as important Storm and Snow's welfare, but when Filavac is £19 cheaper per rabbit, I'm not going to complain!

The only downside is the increased travel time, currently maximum 10mins, going to be 40mins without traffic. So, does any have tips for traveling (further) with bunnies?

I always travel with hay and water bottle (so it doesn't spill, they only had a bottle at their old home so they know how to use it and now have a bowl at home), a towel in the carrier and one over the top too, sometimes a willow stick or chew toy. But they both like digging at the towel and Snow bites it too, and judging by the holes in the towel already, I'm concerned about her ingesting any/too much and causing more issues. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

binkyCodie said:

I think all rabbits are at risk, I do not think that a different breed has a different risk category to others, at the end of the day they hall have uteruses. Omi is right, while different studies and sources state different things, they all do estimate that at least 50% of rabbits over the age of 3 have a tumour in their uterus, and most studies seem to agree that the risk gets even greater after the age of six, with some studies quoting that 80% of rabbits over the age of 6 will have a tumour in their uterus. as Omi also said it reduces the risk of uterine infections (nasty) and mammary tumours, which can often be fatal (as can a uterine infection if left/caught late).

at the end of the day, the reality is is that an unspayed doe is likely to not live as long as a spayed doe, and is likely to live alone or be passed from pillar to post for behavioural issues. often they're extremely aggressive, territorial, and its not uncommon for them to not be able to live harmonious with other rabbits as they often turn on them.

a few people on the forum have had elderly rabbits spayed and tbh with you, the risk is no more than a young rabbit. as long as Snowy is healthy and fit in terms of her health (I would suggest having a full blood test done as a pre operation check) then shes at no more risk than a young rabbit.

of course having a rabbit go under a general anaesthetic has its risks, as with any animal or human. as long as your vet is rabbit savvy and knows what they're doing the risk is minimal. there are some rabbits which are lost to general anaesthetic but I suppose you hear about it more (as its devastating) over the surgeries that go well, which is in the hundreds every day.

remember no starving before a rabbits surgery (they can not vomit) and ideally your vet should be hand feeding them not long after they wake up, as rabbits are known not to eat after surgery, and then they end up in stasis. on top of that, she should have pain medication for a couple of days, as a rabbit in pain is prone to stasis or to chew the wound site, leading to further issues!

so personally, as long as she is still fit and healthy, I would get it done.

she is technically only just half way through her life, as domestic rabbits usually live for 10 years on average, so shes not really that 'old' in reality xx

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BinkyCodie, I understand your comment on behavioural issues, but I have no intention of separating Snow from Storm unless they do break their bond, but they have been together their whole lives and I think he is used to her being The Boss :lol: She is slightly aggressive when she doesn’t like something and she doesn’t have a big tolerance of things she’s not happy with, but I wouldn’t say she’s extremely aggressive. I just see that as her personality. And it is still early days in our relationship, I don’t think either rabbit had a great deal on human interaction in their previous home other than being moved between hutch and run twice a day. They are still getting to know me and will hopefully trust me more, the longer we are together.

The referral practice said they would automatically do a blood test on the day due to her age anyway. What would the blood test be looking for? Would you expect a more in depth one than standard protocol?

tonibun said:

I am all for spaying young rabbits and have had many done over the years. I have only had one 5.5 yr old rabbit spayed and I did regret it as she lost all her spirit and her coat was never as shiny. I know this is just one case and the same may not happen to your rabbit. I also have a 9 yr old unspayed rabbit who looks very perky still and very healthy. I was speaking to the Vet today about spaying and he said if a rabbit is very slim spaying is easier, but as they get older they get fat around their organs which makes it more difficult to spay and they bleed a lot more he said.

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Both of my rabbits IMO were a on the chunky side when we first brought them home, but Snow has lost 100g and Storm who is more overweight has lost 180g over the past 7 weeks. My current vet said she was happy with the size of Snow in terms of operating, but now you’ve mentioned this I wonder if there will (still?) be fat around her organs. How would I find out?


Does anyone else have experience of doe's being spayed later in life?

If it were me I would spay her. She likely has 3-5 years left which is a long time and I feel like the likelihood of her reaching 10+ years old will increase if she's spayed

Yes, our second rabbit, Toffy, was spayed at about 4 years old. She recovered OK. That's about it.

Yes, I used to be a rehoming coordinator for a large charity and we neutered every animal we took in - very many were over 5 years old and I think the oldest would’ve been around 8 y/old. I really wouldn’t hesitate at five, I think she would be completely fine.

Thank you all for your responses. I am going to spay her. Just need to book a suitable time

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Update 26/6

Good news, Snow had her spay today, all went as planned and no signs of any tumours when they operated. But she's not very impressed with her green Medi-vest to stop her or Storm from grooming the wound as well as keeping it cleaner too, since they're outdoor bunnies.


Snow before (a couple of weeks ago)


Snow this afternoon in her medi-vest following her spay today :evil:

awww bless Snowy and her little babygrow. So pleased she is coping brilliantly. Many recovery well wishes

Aww I’m glad she’s come through the spay and recovering well, sending lots of vibes :thumb:

She does not look impressed at all! Hope she heals well.x

I think she's doing okay, she took her pain meds well this morning and gave me some attitude that I know and love when I picked her up so I could check her wound.

But she's not interested in her pellets - she's eaten a few but not many. She is happily eating hay, grass and kale. Is that normal? Will she start eating her pellets soon, or should I ring the vets?

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Bear_S said:

I think she's doing okay, she took her pain meds well this morning and gave me some attitude that I know and love when I picked her up so I could check her wound.

But she's not interested in her pellets - she's eaten a few but not many. She is happily eating hay, grass and kale. Is that normal? Will she start eating her pellets soon, or should I ring the vets?

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In my experience this is perfectly normal and I wouldn't be at all concerned. In fact she is doing very well to be happily eating hay, grass and kale. The pain relief really does help with this. I presume you have a follow up check in a few days?

I'm pleased that Snowy appears to be recovering well from her spay and send lots of vibes for that to continue. She is very beautiful

Okay I'm glad she's doing well and her not wanting pellets is normal. Just worried about her getting stasis or her gut not moving.

She has a follow up check tomorrow morning and both bunnies are having rhd2 vaccine at the same time. Then another post op check at the end of next week. But she'll be in her lovely baby grow until then. She's still very unimpressed by it.

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I hope you don't mind me saying, but I am surprised that your vet is recommending that Snowy has her RHD2 vaccination tomorrow, so soon after her spay. Personally I would wait for around 3 weeks after the op. This would give her body a better chance of a good response to the vaccination.

I was surprised too, my first vets said 2 weeks between each vaccination and then another 2 weeks before spay. But my current one which is RWAF Gold vets said they only suggest 2 weeks between the vaccinations, but the spay could be done at anytime.

I've just rung up to confirm and the vet says having rhd2 tomorrow is absolutely fine.

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