Post op care advice please

Hi, we are new here and my lovely Lionhead, Peter who is 8 years old is in currently for his molars to be burred down and for a couple of X-Rays.

I’m writing just to get some advice on what to do post op. Where we live is around 30 minutes away from the specialist vet that is doing the op and Peter gets quite panicky whilst in my car. Should the drive home be an issue?

Also should I bring him indoors tonight or should I keep him in his hutch/run where he spends 80% of his time? He does feel very comfortable and confident in the house may I add, I just don’t know which would be more comfortable for him?

Pete-lionhead said:

Hi, we are new here and my lovely Lionhead, Peter who is 8 years old is in currently for his molars to be burred down and for a couple of X-Rays.

I’m writing just to get some advice on what to do post op. Where we live is around 30 minutes away from the specialist vet that is doing the op and Peter gets quite panicky whilst in my car. Should the drive home be an issue?

Also should I bring him indoors tonight or should I keep him in his hutch/run where he spends 80% of his time? He does feel very comfortable and confident in the house may I add, I just don’t know which would be more comfortable for him?

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Hello, when you collect Peter your Vet should provide you with a post op’ advice sheet. Usually it is advisable to keep a Rabbit indoors for 24 hours after a GA. The Rabbit may not be able to regulate his/ her body temperature as a GA lowers the blood pressure. Post operative analgesia should also be provided to be given daily for a few days. It will also be important for Peter to be eating, pooing, drinking and weeing as soon as Soon as possible after the op’. The journey home may be stressful for Peter, but as long as he is in a secure pet carrier he should be OK.

InspectorMorse said:

Hello, when you collect Peter your Vet should provide you with a post op’ advice sheet. Usually it is advisable to keep a Rabbit indoors for 24 hours after a GA. The Rabbit may not be able to regulate his/ her body temperature as a GA lowers the blood pressure. Post operative analgesia should also be provided to be given daily for a few days. It will also be important for Peter to be eating, pooing, drinking and weeing as soon as Soon as possible after the op’. The journey home may be stressful for Peter, but as long as he is in a secure pet carrier he should be OK.

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Thank you very much for the advice. I was preferring to keep him indoors but I just thought I’d check if that was best for him.

Hi and welcome to the forum

I don't think the drive home from the vet should be an issue. Peter's likely to still be feeling a bit woozy from the anaesthetic so I think he's more likely to be a bit subdued rather than panicky.

I think you should keep him in tonight so he can remain nice and warm. Bunnies can struggle a bit to regulate their temperature after a sedation so it's better for him to be indoors. It will also make it easier for you to keep an eye on him to make sure he's eating, drinking and pooping ok.

The tooth burring procedure involves holding the mouth open quite wide for a prolonged period of time so his jaw may feel a bit sore for a couple of days. This may mean that he might struggle to eat hard foods like nuggets during that time. So it's a good idea to offer him soft foods to eat or to moisten his nuggets so he can eat more comfortably. It would also be worth getting some recovery food when you pick him up from the vet for him to lap from a bowl.

He may be a bit quieter than usual until the anaesthetic wears off.

Good luck for Peter and I hope he'll be back home soon.

Pete-lionhead said:

Thank you very much for the advice. I was preferring to keep him indoors but I just thought I’d check if that was best for him.

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Hopefully he’ll make a rapid recovery

Thank you everyone for the advice and kind words. They’re very helpful while I wait for him. We’ve only had him 4 months and he wasn’t very well loved where we got him from so it’s difficult to see him going through the wars when he should be at home being the king of the garden like he usually is at our house.

I’ll be sure to pop in a little update when we’ve heard back today

It sounds like he's found a wonderful new home with you now so he's a very lucky bunny

When he comes home, he may seem a bit shellshocked, quieter and even a bit wobbly due to the anaesthetia. He might want to stay in his carrier or go and hide somewhere. These are all really common when they get back from a procedure so try not to be too alarmed if he seems out of sorts. He should be back to normal in a day or two.

It's a good idea just to monitor him from a distance and give him a little dish of his favourite foods to tempt him to eat. Fresh herbs are really good for encouraging him to start eating again due to their strong smell.

Sending lots of vibes for Peter. I hope he recovers well.

So Peter is home. His op went well. His teeth weren’t as bad as were originally thought but they were corrected anyway. X-rays shows something in his nose which the vet could only see on one of the X-rays which she flushed and hopes that’s done the trick. His eye gunk was all flushed through which there was quite a lot of. He’s now currently in the hallway with his bowls of lovely fresh veg along with a tasty bit of apple as a little treat for being a very good boy. His eye which the vet flushed is bothering him a little which he closes now and again but we will keep and eye on that over the weekend and let the vet check it out when we go back for his post op visit.

Thank you for the kind words today and the helpful advice. They’ve made today that bit easier

Also forgot to mention as soon as I rough him home and opened the carry case door. He’s just bounced about and just hasn’t sat still. He flops every now and again but then jumps back up and darts around again.

I am glad to hear all went well for him. I hope his eye will not be so sore by now. I also hope that he has started to eat and pass some poo by now x

I’m glad Pete’s dental went well, it sounds like he likes being indoors

Aww I'm glad he's doing so well after his big day out yesterday. He's a tough little sausage!

Yeah he’s always loved to come and chill out. His eye is still closed and his heads slightly tilted also his ear droops slightly on the same side. I’ve rang the vets and set them a few images so hopefully it’s nothing to worry about and that given tine the antibiotics work and clear it out. He’s also had diarrhoea today which I believe is a mixture of drugs I’ve given him along with the critical care grind I have to give him (4times a day)
I’m going to reintroduce him back to his hutch today and keep an eye on him as I want him to get back to his normal routine

So he had to go back to the vets again tonight as an emergency for his eye as the vet wasn’t happy and needed to check him. Turns out possibly during his op when his ducts got flushed they caught his eye and made it ulcer so he’s been given eye ointment and given a pain killer jab tonight. feeling so sorry for him because once he gets home and settled it’s another thing!

I’m hoping introducing him back into his hutch will go ok tonight. I feel like he needs the routine/normal back do you guys agree? I know some of you are indoors only minds but he enjoys being out and watching the garden from his upstairs