Post Op neuter questions

[lillian]

So, again with my questions with the neutering lol. It has been, 2 days, since the procedure (was on Saturday). Am helping my friend with his neutered rabbit but I am really at a loss. When mine was neutered, I think my father did more of the work as I was so busy with school and work at the time. So, a few questions have come up already

1. Water bottle. The little bun will not use his water bottle. We have replaced the water bottle with a bowl, and, he luckily drank out of it. My bun did not do this, so, will his bun go back to drinking out of a water bottle soon? My friend is really worried about this as the current bowl isn’t the most stable option lol. Hes not drinking as much as I think he should be, but he IS drinking
2. Lethargic. The vet told us that most of the lethargy would end by the end of the night on the day of his surgery. Although he no longer looks like a drunk falling over, he is super lethargic. We let him out (in a very small space where he couldn’t do binkies or hop on anything) and, he moved around for a few minutes, then just sat there. We would go to pet him, and he would jump like he had no idea we were there. Finally after 20 minutes of him sitting there, we put him back in his cage.
3. Poops and eating. We have removed everything from his diet besides hay and food about a week before the procedure that way a. he would be used to the diet and 2. would be a lot easier to monitor. He is eating, no where near as much as he usually does, but hes not pooping as much as hes eating. I’m cleaning the cage daily, both to prevent infection and to watch for poop and pee. I think today I found 10 wet poops stuck to the bottom of the cage and a few semi-wet ones. Is this normal? What can I do to help with this?
4. Affection – So, the bun was never the most affectionate, more of a runner than a cuddler, but he does enjoy a good pet. Hes actually grown on me, I guess because I’m the one doing the most work with him. Hes kinda…changed though, on my friend. My friend will touch him, and he will jump and back away. Will this behavior even out? Is this normal?

[Arthurs BunMum!]

Hi, im bunny got neutered a couple of weeks ago and the vet told us to feed him anything, whether it be his favourite treats to veggies etc, as after aesthetic the rabbits hearts tend to beat faster than usual and therefore his digestive system moves very quickly, hence why the bunny NEEDS to eat, no matter what type of food is given. This worked for my bunny and he started to poop/urine straight afterwards. My bunny still used the litter tray, however i used puppy training pads to line his pen/cage just incase he had an accident and this worked great! Easy to dispose and to clean.

My bunny was lethargic for around 3 days due to the medication he needed so that isn’t a worry unless it turns into a long period of time, then the bunny should be took back to the vets for a check up.

It also took my rabbit a while to start drinking but he soon warmed up to his water bottle.

I think its a waiting game, the rabbit has been through trauma and looses trust with humans once its been poked and prodded. He will soon warm back up to his owner once he gains the trust back, (giving treats etc).

Hope this helps. x

[Bam]

As Arthurs BunMum says, a lot of it is a waiting game.
It is recommended that the bunny gets a water bowl after surgery since it may feel too bothersome for him to deal with a bottle. If he normally drinks from a bottle, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t go back to doing so once he feels his normal self again.

As with people, bunnies respond individually to having been put under. Some perk up right away, others eliminate the drug more slowly from the system and stay subdued and a bit confused longer. You need to see to it that he is keeping warm, rabbits can get hypothermia after surgery and that’s dangerous. You can give him a hot water-bottle wrapped in a towel, if he feels cold he might snuggle up to it. But make sure there’s enough space for him to move away from the heat-source if he wants to.

You can feed him his favorite foods if you like, f ex freshly rinsed leafy greens, small piece of apple/carrot/banana etc: Whatever he eats is good for him right now. He needs to eat to keep his tummy in shape + to keep his body temperature up. 10 individual droppings are of course a less than ideal amount, but the fact that there are droppings at all is great. He probably needs to eat a bit more though. Sometimes a bunny will like canned pumpkin (not pie filling, just plain unsweetened pumpkin), you can mix it with crushed pellets and if he won’t eat it on his own, (sometimes they like eating from a spoon for some reason) you can syringe feed it to him. Or you can just mix crushed pellets + water, just so he gets enough food in his GI system.

Behavior-wise, any and all peculiar behaviors can be expected these next few weeks. His hormones will go crazy, then eventually die down. In some bunnies this is hardly noticeable, in other bunnies, all the unwanted behaviors of an intact male will become twice as as bad as before the neuter and you might see territorial aggression, urine-spraying, humping, poop-marking etc. But time takes care of that.

[lillian]

So a quick update that has, confused all of us lol.

The little one has been stuck in a bedroom, pretty much alone besides when feeding him, cleaning his cage, and giving him a bit or roaming room. Suddenly my friend got the idea, let him see my bun. The two of them are kinda in a one-way bond. His bun is obsessed with my bun, but my bun doesn’t care for him. The second I dragged Midnight in the room, he went from the little lethargic bunny that would barely eat and drink and even move, to suddenly being wide awake. The magic of one-way friendships I guess lol

[Author]

Messages