The number one reason to spay is to eliminate uterine cancer – unpsayed female rabbits have a 50 to 80% chance of getting uterine cancer and the only way to eliminate this is to spay.

The first reason, as Sarita said, is the risk of cancer. Female rabbits have an 80% chance of developing uterine/ovarian cancers by age 2 if not fixed. You don’t want your bunny dying of something easily preventable.
If you were to ever get a buddy for your bunny, both would need to be fixed, otherwise they won’t get along.
Even if she does not become destructive now, later in her life, she may. The problem with that is it is much more dangerous to spay an older rabbit, it’s easier to do when they are younger.

The last reason would be to avoid pregnancies and false pregnancies. If your rabbit was ever to come in contact with a intact male, she could easily become pregnant. Pregnancy is very stressful on the rabbit and there are already too many rabbits in shelters. Intact females can also have false pregnancies where they think they are pregnant, build a nest, etc. this can also be very stressful on the bunny.

Studies have shown varying levels of risk between breeds. Dutch rabbits are said to be in the highest risk category. I had linked to a scientific article on the subject once before. I’ll have to see if I can find it again.

BTW, 3 years old is not too old to spay. If your vet is familiar with spaying rabbits and does them regularly, the risk is still considered minimal even though she’s a little older.

Hmm, I can’t seem to find it. I’ll keep looking though.

In the meantime, here is an article written by a vet for a magazine. It says Tan, Havana, and Dutch have a higher risk than other rabbit breeds.

http://4h.msue.msu.edu/uploads/files/Uterine%20Adenocarcinoma%20in%20Rabbits%20Jan-Feb%2020130001.pdf

Posted By Calmknight on 01/18/2014 12:29 PM

I’m too worried she might die during surgery, my vet is rabbit savory and is 20 minutes away from my town, but she is a bit of a older rabbit, a few months from being 3.

Three years is in no way too old to have surgery, don’t worry. If your vet knows what he’s doing, the chances of her dying during surgery are tiny. On the other hand, if she doesn’t get spayed she has an 85% chance of dying of cancer. It’s an easy decision if you look at the odds.

Also, if you decide to spay her, please do it fast. At three years old, her cancer risk is growing rapidly.

I understand your concerns. The problem with not doing it, as stated, is the risk of cancer. If she develops cancer, she’ll need to undergo an operation to remove it, so she would need to be put under anyways. This is assuming it is caught in time. A surgery to remove cancer will be more expensive than a routine spay, and riskier because her system will already be compromised. They may also need to take more than just the uterus/ovaries, making her recovery more difficult.

Are you comfortable with your vet’s abilities?

If you have a rabbit savvy vet their success rate should be 99.5% or higher. This would put the risk of complications during surgery at less than 1% versus the 50-80% chance that she will develop uterine cancer.

You’re taking a risk either way but the risk of spaying is far less.

I wouldnt worry about her circling you, and the number one reason to spay is to prevent ovarian cancer. On this forum and every where else your gonna hear diffrent %’s of her chances of getting cancer. They will range between 65 to around 85. No one knows the true number, but it is likley she like any other female rabbit or even cat can develope it. If you can afford to get her spayed you should because itd be terrible to loose her to cancer. If you cant afford it then you should take her into the vet every so often to get checked on to make sure shes healthy. If you dont end up spaying then at least she hasnt had any behavior issues, thats good!

As far as I’m aware a vet check up can’t really ‘warn’ you if she’s developing cancer.
The statistics do vary a bit but there was a medical article posted about it on the forum a couple of months ago and it is around 80%. Even if it was 65%, that is still a lot, that’s a 3 in 5 chance.

I know it is a bit scary putting your bun in for surgery, but the chances are that if you don’t she will develop cancer. That will involve more surgery, more money, and more pain for her.

If you find a good vet, they will be experienced in doing spays and you should have no need to worry. A 20 minute drive isn’t far anyway.