spaying advice

[Misty's Mummy]

Misty isnt spayed and she was getting her nails cut at the vets today and i mentioned that she builds alot of nests and the vet said about spaying is the only way to stop this behaviour which i knew anyway. The vet said about the cancer and that in vet school they were told about the spaying and everything but in her career shes only ever seen this once in a rabbit. I asked about the risk and now i dont know what to do.

Misty is 3 years old and the risk is higher in older buns.

I would hate myself if she got cancer that could be avoided from getting spayed but im really worried that due to being older she wont make it through the op so id be basically killing her.

I know everyone here is for spaying but please look at it from my point of view. I want her to be happy and healthy (which she is) but i dont want to lose her.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

I would not hesitate in getting her spayed as long as she is healthy and you have a Bunny Savvy Vet

The risks of losing her to cancer far outweigh any risk from a spay

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

I had Poppy spayed at 4 years old and she is a sneezy snuffly bun. She was fine, apart from licking her wound open afterwards :roll: she's healed up fine and I don't have to worry about uterine cancer any more

 

[Babsie]

I agree with Jane.

Misty isn't an older rabbit at 3 - many rabbits live until 10+ (and she stands a much better chance of living a good long and healthy/happy life with spaying taking away the risk of uterine cancer).

Is your vet a rabbit specialist?

 

[Sky-O]

I would not hesitate in getting her spayed as long as she is healthy and you have a Bunny Savvy Vet

The risks of losing her to cancer far outweigh any risk from a spay

I agree with this.

And, when we choose to spay (or not spay) our rabbits, we always look from the POV you're looking at. We don't just make a mindless decision (well some people might) but the majority of good owners have to weigh up the situation the same way you are.

But the healthier the rabbit and the better the vet, the lesser the risks.

What I looked at was if I would forgive myself if I didn't get my healthy girls spayed and they later developed uterine cancer, and I chose not to prevent it. My answer was no. I couldn't forgive myself for if they got ill and I could have prevented it. So I chose the route with less risk which, for mine, was spaying (even with my originally unspayable girlie who then started to get hormonal and fight her friends so we did it as a 'quality vs quantity' decision and that was ok too).

 

[halfpenny]

Nobody can tell you what to do but if you want some statistics-
I have never lost a rabbit being spayed ( there is always a risk)- I've had 10 rabbits spayed- ages ranging from 2 to 8.
My intention is to spay females after they have been vaccinated and settled in, but we take in often older rabbits who have not been spayed.
I have lost 3 rabbits with known uterine cancer ( maybe more but that was before spaying was routine and no post mortem was done)
This year I lost 2 buns to uterine cancer, one was 9 and not spayed due to other health issues ( mammary cancer) , one was a new addition and only 3.5.
I recently had a 7 year old rabbit spayed, she had a uterine tumour and she is a much happier bun.
Hope this helps.

 

[cpayne]

I got Doughnut spayed when she was four months (I think). As early as possible anyway without it being too early. She had started nest building and I found it really sad as she seemed to get really frustrated.

She would dig and dig in a corner and then go back to it digging again, thinking she'd made a nest I guess as nothing was there. It seemed quite obsessive behaviour and pent up hormones. After the digging stopped and she just calmed down. Nothing else changed, still the same naughty, nosy bunny. I got her spayed purely for the risk of cancer as she is on her own so no chance of babies.

If no one on here has convinced you, maybe give a rabbit specialist a call to see what they say. It's good to have all of the facts to hand before you make a decision. I know everyone on here says to spay but it's because we want our bunnies to live a healthy and long life and with cancer you probably won't know they have it until it may be too late.

I did feel awful putting her through an operation when she wasn't ill but would feel even worse if she got cancer and I could have prevented it.

 

[iiisecondcreep]

We had our bun spayed at the start of this year at 5.5yrs, she was fine. She managed to escape from her pen on day 1 of recovery and it took us ages to get her back in (trying to gently encourage her, without making her run about too much but she did NOT want to go back in). We ended up taking her for her post spay check up earlier than planned because she was making such a fuss about being kept in her pen 24/7 :/

Our vet had no hesitation in spaying a rabbit her age as long as she was healthy, having her spayed was the first thing the vet recommended to us when we took her on last year along with vaccinations.

 

[silverrabbit]

She's still young at 3, I've had a couple of females done at 6/7 years old (they were rescues) and it was the best thing to do - they calmed right down, were no longer frustrated or nest making and I could bond them with a partner

Make sure your vet is familiar with rabbits and general anaesthetics on rabbits to minimise any risks, but I think it would be the right decision to make

 

[Misty's Mummy]

Thanks all for your helpful replies. I would like to get her spayed but im just worried about her not coming home but id regret it if she got cancer.

I guess its a risk pet owners need to make.

Im going to phone tomorrow and get it booked. Im off work for a couple of weeks so i want to be here with her

I really appreciate all your help

 

[cpayne]

Oh good luck. Get lots of nice herbs so she's tempted to eat. doughnut had no interest in pellets and didn't eat until the following day.

Hopefully you will also get pain relief for a few days, I got given a weeks worth so she was never in pain.

 

[Misty's Mummy]

Thank you