Did he say why not to get her spayed? Does she have an underlying medical condition that would make it dangerous? If she is healthy and no medical issues making it risky, spay her. She has a 80-85% chance to develop cancer if she is not spayed. I have never heard of a rabbit savvy vet not recommending a spay before, honestly (unless there was a medical condition).

Spaying will get rid of her chance to get uterine cancer, I don’t know why your vet would say that isn’t true? Mine says its true & has a info notice on spaying/neutering and eliminating uterine or testicular cancer is one of the benefits listed.

If your vet is a rabbit savvy vet and has done the procedure many times before, your baby girl will come through just fine. If you vet is trying to talk you out of it, I’d be worried that your vet isn’t as comfortable doing the spay. Along with the cancer risk (which is very high, like others said) spaying will also deal with the hormones that can cause a temperamental bun.

The risk is small, for a healthy rabbit with a rabbit savvy vet, HRS has had a 1% mortality rate due from anasthesia. I have no idea why your vet would say the cancer risk is not high, given my vet treating rabbits for 25 years agrees with the cancer risk being too high in a female to leave her undone unless there is a reason and HRS also lists it as a reason to spay (he is OK not neutering a male if no reason to, since he hasn’t had many cancer issues in males). Not to mention, an unspayed female is hormonal and territorial often and can get false pregnancy, especially with a male rabbit in the house, leading her to believe she is pregnant to the point of actually building a nest (plucking her own fur out to do it). If you’ve ever seen a female in false pregnancy mode, you would not want to see it again. :s

If you are interested in the scientific study they did, where the 80% number came from here is an article on it: http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/uterine.htm. That also lists the NAME of the study, which if you do a google search you can likely find the original study if you want to read that, but it will read like … well, a scientific journal.

Sounds like your vet may be discouraging it as they don’t have the experience for it. While you may trust hem with your normal rabbit care, I would get a rabbit savvy vet that has done numerous spays to do one for your bun, its DEFINITELY a good thing to do for them.

Agreed with monkeybun. Your vet may have the best of intentions and be great with other types of animals, but I suspect that he or she might not be up to date with the latest rabbit literature and techniques…I suggest seeking a second opinion. The House Rabbit Society has a listing of vets in different areas that are very familiar with rabbit medicine, as well as tips for finding one on your own. We also have members from all over…if you need help finding a vet, there might be somebody on the forum that is able to help you.

I also agree with Monkeybun. The vet does not sound like they have experience with dealing with female rabbit spays. If a vet is comfortable, they should go along with your wishes.

Spays are excellent procedures. It not only gets rid of the chances of reproductive cancer, but also allows them to show their true personality, and you will not have to deal with potential false pregnancies.

Take it from someone who has had to deal with it, you do not want to go through false pregnancies, especially multiple ones (two little girls and Mummy all at the same time) it was a nightmare. Piglet hid under the daybed and refused to come out, I was tempted to join him.

I just wanted to ditto the others… it sounds like the vet might not be comfortable with the procedure, and by extension, you should not be comfortable with a vet who discourages spaying. I would definitely start looking for a more experienced vet.