First of all, I’d like to say: Get a new vet. He obviously doesn’t know a thing about rabbits.

http://www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

Thats a good site right there. Theres an 80-85% chance of an unspayed female bun getting uterine cancer by age 4, that should be a good enough reason to spay! I have to urge you again to get another vet, one that is rabbit savvy. A rabbit vet will tell you exactly what that site does.

You are absolutely right, you should always spay a female bunny.

Everything you need to know is here: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

A major, major factor is that by the time a female rabbit reaches 4 years of age, they have a 80% chance of contracting uterine cancer. It’s just not worth the risk. Link here: http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/c…terine.htm for more details, and if your vet still says it’s unnecessary, the 80% figure is backed up by scientific research that dates back to 1958!

From the first link: ”They are calmer, more loving, and dependable once the undeniable urge to mate has been removed. In addition, rabbits are less prone to destructive (chewing, digging) and aggressive (biting, lunging, circling, growling) behavior after surgery.

Suggest you get a new (bunny savvy) vet. I’m pretty sure there is a list on the House Rabbit Society website (see the first link).

I agree with Monkeybun 100%!!! It is absolutely a necessary procedure if you want a healthy, happy rabbit. And you need a new vet. One who is a little more up to date with how rabbits are taken care of as pets, not livestock. Not only is it good for health reasons, but it dramatically reduces your chances of having a rabbit that is wildly unpredictable, sprays (yes, females can), and is even dangerous. Females already tend to be a little more territorial of their cages, the last thing you need is a rabbit that can go into a false pregnancy and attacks a hand that goes into ‘her space’. Rabbits can do serious damage, and sometimes injuries have required stitches. As I mentioned in another recent post, if you take away the ‘breeding’ problem for hormones then if your rabbit does start acting strange then you can take care of it. If you just assume that the problem is related to hormones you might leave something undiagnosed until it is too late. Plus if you don’t get her spayed now, then in 4 years when she probably does have uterine cancer, if you want to save her life you will have to spay her then and it will be more expensive and risky.

He might be a fine vet, but that doesnt mean he’s a good bunny vet. Not all vets know bunnies, as they are considered exotic pets. In fact, MOST vets dont know about bunnies! He may be fine for more common pets like cats and dogs however

I have to wonder what the cancer risk for unspayed dogs and cats are – I’ve never looked into that but I would imagine vets would know. I imagine that he says that because he’s not done a spay or neuter on a rabbit. I totally understand though that your mom would listen to him – he is after all a vet who has gone to school and even horses are totally different from dogs, cats, and rabbits as well.

Think of it this way, when someone wants to become a vet there is the general stuff, and then vets typically specialize in one of 3 categories (there are more, but that is not important here). The categories are; dog/cat, equine, and exotic. Dog/cat is the most common, and it is also the most studied. Equine (or large animal) is also fairly specialized, though I have met vets with a large amount of knowledge, or who have gone from equine to exotic. Exotic ranges from amphibians, reptiles, arachnids (yes, I have a vet that can treat my tarantula), rodents, lagomorphs (rabbits), birds, and probably something else I am leaving out. Essentially, even if someone is an exotic vet, that is a broad term and I doubt that most are really specialized in every particular species. That is why it is a good idea to look for a vet recommended by the House Rabbit Society as they have shown a particular interest in treating rabbits, as well as answered questions asked by the HRS. Perhaps, if this vet is a friend of the family, you could recommend that he go through the process of getting on the list and getting up to speed with rabbit care (though word it in a nicer way). You might want to still find a more experienced vet to do the spay though. Even if you have to drive a little ways, it would be worth it for such a surgery.

I would also advise you to learn as much as you can about what to do if your rabbit ever gets in a situation that requires vet care so you know as much as you can about what is going on, as well as know what to look for and both ask the right questions and get the right answers. Being a rabbit owner often means that you are working side by side with a vet, not sitting idly by. Because rabbits are prey animals and hide things very well, a vet will rely on you to help determine normal behavior.

Some of the general vets do neuters because they’re simpler than a rabbit spay. So it could also be that this is something they just don’t offer or do much of through their clinic. If you do plan to have Ava spayed, I also recommend finding an experienced rabbit vet. It will be good to have the family friend around for general care though or when you need pain meds or flea and mite treatments etc.
Great to hear you’re getting to keep Ava by the way!

I agree with what everyone had to say. Sometimes a vet who is not comfortable with something will just discourage it. That’s not entirely ethical, it would be better for him to refer you to someone with more experience… but in his defense… it’s also possible that he just doesn’t know. There have been great strides in rabbit health care in recent years, so it’s possible he has not kept up-to-date with the latest information. As you say, he’s been your “cat/dog/horse vet for years”, so he is not a recent vet school grad…

Definitely look for a rabbit experienced vet. Does he say boys should be neutered, or is he against that altogether? As a vet who specializes in horses, it’s likely he views rabbits as replaceable livestock.

I just want to ditto everyone here-spaying is super important-and unfortunately you’ll likely need to find a new vet who is more comfortable doing it.

That’s great. It really depends on what type of stitches the vet uses. Some use the dissovable glue kind, some uses staples, etc…you’ll want to find out from the vet what they use.