Is my rabbit safe to be spayed?

[sammiesbunnies]

I rescued two bunnies from a horrible situation 10 days ago. The person said they were both boys but one of them is a girl.

They've never lived together as far as I know, but this person had lots of rabbits so I can't be sure my doe isn't pregnant.

The vet said spay her ASAP, even though we have no idea how far along she is. But honestly at the time I didn't think she was pregnant, just that I couldn't rule it out.

The spay was booked for 9 days later. That evening she started to pull out fur, and make a nest. She also did the same the next night. She also growled at the boy bunny when they were in the car that day (separate carriers).

It could easily be a false pregnancy. Maybe brought on by being in the same room as one of my other boys. She isn't bothered if I touch her nest.

But now I'm wondering.. if she's in the late stages of pregnancy, can she still be spayed? I'm heartbroken at the idea but I don't have the time or space for lots of babies. And I worry the potential dad might be way bigger than her (she's a Netherland cross).

I've been seeing posts about it being dangerous for a spay if the pregnancy is advanced and I really want to know if that's true. And why that is?

Very stressed so would really appreciate some advice.

 

[Shimmer]

Spaying a pregnant rabbit (or any other mammal) or one who is going through a false pregnancy causes issues as there is more blood involved around the uterus. It makes the whole procedure 'messier' with the risk of greater blood loss and other complications. It also increases the time under anaesthetic, which is preferably to be avoided.

I can fully understand your need to spay ASAP. I would talk to your vet and get a full examination to see if she really is pregnant, and take it from there. If your vet is experienced in rabbit spays and she isn't in late pregnancy (which they ought to be able to tell by palpation), you could go ahead. There's a chance that she might lose the litter anyway, or be unable to care for them due to the stress of moving home, etc.

How old is she? If she's very young (say 3 months), there's a low chance of pregnancy - but she would also be very small for neutering. Nethies are not very big anyway, and often don't make the 1kg preferred minimum weight for a GA - which is another reason to use a rabbit savvy vet. My rabbits tend to be small and I've not had any issues with regular spays but I have had a vet refuse to do one as she was (very unexpectedly) pregnant. She lost the litter anyway.

I wish that more people were as responsible as this, and I wish you all the best.

 

[sammiesbunnies]

Spaying a pregnant rabbit (or any other mammal) or one who is going through a false pregnancy causes issues as there is more blood involved around the uterus. It makes the whole procedure 'messier' with the risk of greater blood loss and other complications. It also increases the time under anaesthetic, which is preferably to be avoided.

I can fully understand your need to spay ASAP. I would talk to your vet and get a full examination to see if she really is pregnant, and take it from there. If your vet is experienced in rabbit spays and she isn't in late pregnancy (which they ought to be able to tell by palpation), you could go ahead. There's a chance that she might lose the litter anyway, or be unable to care for them due to the stress of moving home, etc.

How old is she? If she's very young (say 3 months), there's a low chance of pregnancy - but she would also be very small for neutering. Nethies are not very big anyway, and often don't make the 1kg preferred minimum weight for a GA - which is another reason to use a rabbit savvy vet. My rabbits tend to be small and I've not had any issues with regular spays but I have had a vet refuse to do one as she was (very unexpectedly) pregnant. She lost the litter anyway.

I wish that more people were as responsible as this, and I wish you all the best.

Thank you so much for your response, it's really helped. I understand why it's considered so risky now.

The vet isn't an exotic vet because there is quite literally none anywhere near me. But it's a practice the local rabbit rescue use. She said to me that even when rabbits are about to give birth you often can't feel any babies in there. Is that not true? Honestly I have no experience with breeding and never thought I'd be in this situation.

I'm planning to talk to the vet before Wednesday (when the spay is booked for) and see what she says, but going from my experience so far I feel like she'll want to go ahead with the surgery.

She's apparently 11 months old. I don't think she's 100% Netherland because she looks a little bigger. I regret that I didn't get her weighed when we went to the vet, but I just didn't think of it. (She's clearly a healthy weight.)

Do you know if I should be worried about the size of the babies and her ability to birth them? With her being a smaller breed and not knowing how big the dad is. My worry for her safety is one of the biggest reasons I wanted her spayed ASAP but I'm less sure it's the safest way to go right now.

The past two nights she's been nesting but no sign of that tonight. Hoping that indicates a false pregnancy.

Thank you so much

 

[Shimmer]

I've not been involved in breeding rabbits, so I've no personal experience here, other than one unexpected / lost litter about 20 years ago. She was a small, young rabbit (about 1kg and 6 months old) who was booked in for spaying (so a simialar situation to yours at this point), and had 3 quite large but dead babies naturally. I think we were lucky that she survived unscathed. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

My vet isn't an exotics specialist, but does well with rabbits and I have a lot of faith in them. They have done a lot of more complex surgery / dentals for me over the years, and will readily say when a referral is appropriate as it's outside of their expertise - which I appreciate more than a vet who doesn't admit to their limits.

All I can suggest is write down all your concerns and talk to your vet (the one who will be doing the spay). Ask how many / how often they spay rabbits, and if they've done one like this before. Go through all the risks if she is pregnant, and aftercare. Be persistent and get all the gory details. Then decide what to do.

I've known local cat rescues that had a policy to spay right up to full term to reduce the number of unwanted cats in rescue. That way they only had to deal with the adults and not dozens of extra kittens, so I can understand the logic. I had a few cats from there, and some had been pregnant when they came in. But a cat spay is less risky than a rabbit spay. Rabbits are more fragile with any intervention. They must keep eating and are more subject to the effects of shock. It's really not the best comparison as the risks are higher.

 

[Preitler]

I had a 7yo doe accidentially get pregnant, kit got stuck, couldn't do anything about it and and when I made it to the vet with her she was in pretty bad condition. Got kits removed and spayed, I don't think the vet thought she would make it but she lived to 11 afterwards.

So, can't get any closer to full term, and despite her age she made it. I'm very happy with my vet.

 

[Disney buns]

Spaying a pregnant rabbit (or any other mammal) or one who is going through a false pregnancy causes issues as there is more blood involved around the uterus. It makes the whole procedure 'messier' with the risk of greater blood loss and other complications. It also increases the time under anaesthetic, which is preferably to be avoided.

I can fully understand your need to spay ASAP. I would talk to your vet and get a full examination to see if she really is pregnant, and take it from there. If your vet is experienced in rabbit spays and she isn't in late pregnancy (which they ought to be able to tell by palpation), you could go ahead. There's a chance that she might lose the litter anyway, or be unable to care for them due to the stress of moving home, etc.

How old is she? If she's very young (say 3 months), there's a low chance of pregnancy - but she would also be very small for neutering. Nethies are not very big anyway, and often don't make the 1kg preferred minimum weight for a GA - which is another reason to use a rabbit savvy vet. My rabbits tend to be small and I've not had any issues with regular spays but I have had a vet refuse to do one as she was (very unexpectedly) pregnant. She lost the litter anyway.

I wish that more people were as responsible as this, and I wish you all the best.

Sorry to jump on this post , we have just got 2 mini lops, female 9 weeks, male 10 weeks. Vet had booked them both in to be spayed/castrated the same day when doe will be 12 weeks and buck 13 weeks. Vet said okay to leave them together until then. Is this accurate?

 

[bunny momma]

Sorry to jump on this post , we have just got 2 mini lops, female 9 weeks, male 10 weeks. Vet had booked them both in to be spayed/castrated the same day when doe will be 12 weeks and buck 13 weeks. Vet said okay to leave them together until then. Is this accurate?

I would not leave them together much longer and they will need time to heal after surgery, so I suggest separating them now. 12 weeks seems young for a female spay, yet her size and weight should be considered.