E-collar

[Otti]

 So, I was worried about how much Sammy was licking his incision from his neuter (he got neutered this morning) and his incision was looking red to me when I lifted his front legs, so I decided to take him to a 24 hour pet emergency clinic to be on the safe side.

I called ahead of time  and they said that he should not be licking his incision and that he would need an e-collar. I had read online that rabbits really don’t tollerate these and that they’re only necessary in the most extreme cases, so I was weirded out but I also didn’t know what he had done to his incision, if anything, so I decided I would just take him in and have them check the incision.

I brought him in and the vet tech looked at his incision and said it actually looked fine (he had seemed to groom the area or at least in it’s vicinity kind of insistently every 10 minutes or so in the few hours before i brought him in). She said he would still benefit from a collar if he was licking…. I was kind of like, well she’s the vet tech, she must know.

She put it on him and as of then he’s been acting like he’s drowning in mud or something. He is NOT happy. I seriously doubt he’ll stop being upset about it long enough to eat or drink or anything. He’s just hoping clumsily around his cage right now, tripping over it and trying to get it off… I’m seriously questioning whether it might be worth the stress to him to keep him with it on, when it seemed he wasn’t licking his incision enough to damage it anyways. 

Links I’m reading online suggest that ecollars should only be used in rabbits in cases of extreme chewing.

Anyone with advice/experience with a rabbit who was licking near/on his incision a lot post neuter (or spay for that matter)? Was an e-collar suggested/used?

I’m pretty much ready to take it off him, he’s just too pathetic and his incision is fine… not sure what to do…. 

Thoughts?

[Otti]

Ummm so I read more stuff online about how only non-rabbit-savvy vets prescribe ecollars and how they should only be used if the rabbit is chewing his sutures (and he isn’t, when she lifted him it looked like they were the internal ones and his incision looked fine), so I just thought it was awful to submit him to that.

Took it off. I’ll wake up every few hours to check on him tonight and call his actual vet first thing in the morning, and see what she says.

[LoveChaCha]

I would NOT ADVISE putting the collar on him! I am very upset that the vet tech suggested that! Sounds like more like torture!

My rabbit chewed at her stitches.. I’ve heard that some  rabbits WILL do it (they are chewers after all). She was fine, but it did scare me! I had to take her to a follow up a week later and the vet said that she chewed ’em off O_o;;

A good way to check his stitches is to give him a treat and lift it up above him, so he is on his hind legs.
Your poor baby

I am not sure about boy rabbits, but did your vet also glue the stitches closed and sewed it?

[Otti]

I know I’m kind of mad at the vet tech too… it just goes to show that really when it comes to rabbits, you need to find a really rabbit-savvy vet, and if you’re talking to any other vet, you need to take their opinion with a grain of salt and either double-check it with the normal vet or online.

I took the collar off but he rode in the car with it on and had it on for 5 mins. at home. He seems okay though, he’s sitting in his bed (he was eating, pooping and everything fine before I brought him to the emergency clinic). He licked his bed immediately when i took it off, and groomed himself thoroughly LOL (not just his incision area, all over).

My vet that neutered him did not say anything about coming back to take his stitches out, so I was already thinking he had the internal dissolvable sutures and glue. When the vet tech at the emergency clinic looked at his incision tonight is just looked like 2 lines with the sides of the skin on either side folded in on itself (so definitely internal sutures and maybe glue?). It looked 100% fine. For all I know he might just be licking the fur around the incision… he does that halfway nibbling thing they do too when grooming (like cats do) but he isn’t ‘pulling’ at his stitches or taking them out…. especially because there are no stitches to take out.

Oh well, I think he’ll be fine and that I overreacted, but the vet tech was definitely overreacting as well LOL

[Lintini]

I wouldn’t worry if he isn’t pulling the stitches out. Sounds like he’s just licking his battle wound! I would just keep an eye on his incision to make sure it’s healing well and keep his litterbox clean! The raisin in the air is a great trick to check out the zone like Britt said.

[Monkeybun]

If he is just licking it, then I wouldn’t worry. I had to get an e-collar for Smudge when she was pulling fur out of her neck and causing little holes to appear in her skin, and she was miserable. Couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink with it on. She had it on for maybe half an hour before I had to take it off, she was so miserable. I would only use them in dire circumstances.

If your bun is just washing the would and not pulling at stitches, just keep an eye on him.

[Beka27]

Like your research indicated, in extreme cases, they are necessary for some rabbits… and even then they need to be modified (cut down) so the rabbit can still see, eat, drink, and consume cecotrophs. It’s not like with many dogs, they all get an e-collar all the time.

[RabbitPam]

It’s probably too late now, but I think you should continue to consult or call the vet who did the procedure. They should be available to answer any questions and make adjustments if there is something going wrong. I’m sorry you had to go through an emergency visit and the collar. The problem with the second opinion was that they didn’t know exactly what was used in the first place. Hopefully he’s doing better and healing well enough that licking will not do any real harm.

[Otti]

Thanks for the support/advice everyone! I played phone tag with Sammy’s vet today (Sunday is their busiest day), but couldn’t get a hold of her. My phone is being weird and not ringing when people call me, so I missed her call.

It doesn’t matter though ’cause I checked and Sammy’s incision looks good today – no redness, swelling, pus or anything, just some folded in pink skin LOL He was a true sport about letting me lift his front legs and move his fur around down there to get a good look.

He’s back to normal in terms of eating, being active etc. I just wanted to know from the vet about how long I should wait to let him out of his pen because he’s definitely a bit P.O.ed that he’s been there two whole days in a row. He’s used to much more run time, but I want to make sure I’ve waited long enough that he can’t hurt himself.

He actually tried to jump his pen for the first time today, from his litter box. Too bad for him that his litter box is in the corner of the pen surrounded on all sides by walls… Not his smartest moment to date lol

Thanks again for the support while I went crazy about a routine procedure! LOL

[Michelle&Lolli]

He actually tried to jump his pen for the first time today, from his litter box. Too bad for him that his litter box is in the corner of the pen surrounded on all sides by walls… Not his smartest moment to date

I find boys to be like this. Eddie was not the brightest light bulb in the box either. He tried to jump OVER the coffee table to get to me. Landed on some candles and other items. Thank god the candle weren’t lit. lol And sometimes he missed the couch altogether when he tried to jump up on it. He’d actually get mad and pouty if I laughed at him and would hop away to sulk about it. He was the biggest baby. lol

[Otti]

Sounds like an inter-species but gender specific thing LOL

Aww Eddie sulked? That’s cute thank god he didn’t catch on fire! lol I think Sammy isn’t smart enough to sulk either LOL Sometimes he turns around when he does something stupid, as if to say “I wonder if anyone saw that” lol But I loves him anyways ’cause he’s my baby.

In italian we have a saying “Ogni scarrafone e’ bello a mamma sua”… more or less, every cockroach has a mom that thinks he’s beautiful LOL

[Monkeybun]

Moose does that too…lol. Most direct route, even if it means going through/over/under things lol. Never go around!

Boys. lol

[Bonnierabbit]

My rabbit was recently spayed. She needed the e-collar otherwise she’d rip her stitches open. Every rabbit is different, some need them and some don’t.

[LongEaredLions]

Hi Bonnierabbit, welcome to the forums.
We do ask that members do not reply to old topics (this one is nearly 4 years old). I am going to lock this topic. Feel free to start your own topic.

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