To neuter or not to neuter?

FORUM

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 13sd replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 9 months ago by jerseygirl.

Viewing 13 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 09/19/2017 at 6:58 PM
  Em
  Participant
  86 posts
  I had booked my 4 month old male rabbit, Wolf, to be castrated yesterday morning. All was well and he passed his pre-op check up with flying colours and because I had used this vet for my other three buns, I have absolutely no doubt over her ability to perform the procedure as she is a brilliant rabbit-savvy vet but alas, things still happen.
  
  I received a phone call late yesterday evening from the vet letting me know that my precious Wolf had stopped breathing soon after being prepped for surgery, and had to be resuscitated – postponing his operation. I’m now absolutely petrified to have him operated on for fear of losing him, which I can’t even bear to think about knowing just how close we came to not having little Wolf in our lives anymore. I could never forgive myself if anything happened to him.
  
  I’m also now questioning if it’s even worth the risk. My two females (lionhead & mini lop) were both spayed for health precautions, but how important is it for males to be done? Spaying issues aside, is there anything else neutering is useful for? Wolf is a very chill little dude, and has never caused any problems with my other male or females before – he was solely getting neutered as a standard procedure, but I understand that behavioural problems can still arise as he gets older, forcing him to be a singleton if he remains intact (which I’d hate to do, because he loves other rabbits so much). If he was your rabbit, would you take the risk – if no underlying health issue is detected – and try the surgery again, or would you leave it? and why?
  
  The vet did conduct x-rays on him to rule out or identify any possible underlying issues that may have caused him to stop breathing, but we won’t know the final conclusion of that x-ray until Friday. She said she herself couldn’t see anything wrong, but forwarded them onto another specialist just to double check. In the moment I was just to relieved to have my little Wolf back in my arms again that my brain was just too foggy to think of asking her too many questions, but does anyone know what could have possibly caused this? She did mention that if it’s not an underlying health issue, it could have been caused by the breathing tube moving slightly while moving him to the operation theatre. She said he took one big gasp for air and then his heart rate went through the roof before he stopped.
  
  Wolf is a French Lop, so I’m insanely worried that he may have a heart issue seeing as it’s a common problem with the breed – but surely that would have shown up in x-rays, right?
  
  Definitely holding my Wolfie close tonight… I can’t believe how insanely lucky we are to have gotten him back. He is an absolute character, and the house would just be empty without him. https://imgur.com/a/WcNGb
- 09/19/2017 at 10:10 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Very rare but possible, his testicles can fill with fluid and blood, eventually causing them to burst (incredibly rare and fairly easy to detect). Of course, neutering also removes the chance of testicular cancer. Other than that, neutering is not really needed for health reasons, but more so because people want to bond their rabbits and stop any hormonal behavior.
  
  If he doesnt act out hormonally and he gets along well with his bond mates, I wouldnt neuter him. It wouldnt be worth the risk, to me. Even if he had to be single, a single alive bun is much better than a possibly dead bun.
  
  Not all heart problems show through xrays. Some will show through blood tests and/or ultrasounds. I would imagine its not always easily detected, even if all of the tests are done to check for it. A heart problem would explain the stop in his breathing, though. Anesthesia can cause the heart to momentarily beat differently, so if he has any heart problems, they would likely show when he is put under.
- 09/20/2017 at 2:18 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17044 posts
  I agree with Mikey. You don’t absolutely have to neuter a male. The risk of testicular cancer is small, if it happens it tends to be in very old rabbits. I’d not risk the procedure with this particular bunny.
  
  I’m so glad you didn’t lose him.
- 09/20/2017 at 4:59 AM
  Boston's Mama
  Participant
  1452 posts
  I agree with above about the risks not being high health wise.
  Personally I would not have gone through with my bunnies neuter if he went through what yours did under anestetic. However I personally ( and this is personally as I’m sure others will disagree) would not have him with other males. My experience with neuter males even was not good and my experience has been male/ female bonds are much easier , a entire male bonded to another male would scare me too much. BUT that is what I personally feel based on my history with bunnies.
  Yours is already bonded – so may be fine – but I would be careful to watch for signs of aggression starting cause at 4 months he is still young
- 09/20/2017 at 6:11 AM
  12345ABCDE
  Participant
  5584 posts
  Wow, that’s so scary. I’m glad he’s okay but I can understand your hesitation to get him neutered after that.
  
  My only concern would be if he starts behaving hormonally towards the other rabbits, and thus ends up having to live alone which I don’t think is fair but of course you won’t know if that’ll happen in advance. It’s a tough decision and I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer
- 09/20/2017 at 6:26 AM
  Em
  Participant
  86 posts
  Appreciate the responses guys, thank you. When he goes in for his vaccines next week I’ll have another chat with the vet to discuss what she thinks is best for Wolf and if leaving him intact is it, I’m content with leaving him be. I’ll also discuss having blood work done on him – thank you for bringing that up, Mikey. Even if it can’t detect everything, I think i’ll bring it up with his vet anyway for at least some peace of mind if anything.
  
  I’m glad to hear that testicular cancer at least isn’t as huge of a risk as the reproductive cancers associated with females – that was my primary concern with him not being neutered, so that puts my mind at ease at least a little bit!
  
  @Bostons Mama; That’s a huge concern of mine – that he is still young, which would explain why he has yet to turn on the other boy. Gatsby (the neutered male) is a very placid buck, and is the “peace keeper” of the group – but I’m sure he has his limits as to just how much nagging by an intact male he could tolerate before he’d snap.
  
  I definitely agree that the male/female bonds are easiest – my two girls were a nightmare, and it took me months to finally solidify their bond whereas they each took to the male with no issues at all. Gatsby has never been a problem though but of course, Wolf is still a baby and there’s still time before his hormones are in full swing. Gats wouldn’t be the one I’d be concerned about acting out if Wolf becomes hormonal, though – it’d be more so the females, particularly the older girl Bailey. She is a typical sassy lionhead and would have zero tolerance for constantly being pestered.
  
  If Wolf cannot be neutered, I’m leaning towards splitting the group and pairing him with one of the girls – as much as it’d break my heart to do so, it’d break my heart even more to see poor Wolf alone while the others are out playing & grooming each other. But of course, that’s **if**he remains placid – as I do have to consider the safety of the other rabbits too, seeing as he’s already bigger than the other male & youngest female, who are both fully grown and only about 2.9-3.5lbs so in his adult size he is capable of causing serious damage. That, and it’s not fair on them either to be living with a bun with raging hormones in full swing.
  
  Still weighing out the options! If having him as a ‘lone Wolf’ is what’s best, a lone Wolf he will be – I have no issues whatsoever with giving him his own dedicated space and spending extra time with him, to at least somewhat make up for him having no bunny friends if that’s what it comes to. But I want to make sure that I evaluate all options and find out exactly what went wrong before coming to any final conclusion as to what exactly we’ll decide to do.
- 09/20/2017 at 7:55 AM
  Muchelle
  Participant
  1141 posts
  I have a male intact bun! If the testicular issues bug you, I’m writing to say that’s it’s very easy to check on the bun’s family jewels to make sure everything is going fine. I palpate them when I groom him and he doesn’t mind If Wolf stays intact he will need a love doll to get hormones off his system (and prevent bad behaviour) and you gotta be careful he doesn’t chew off and eat the plushie, but that’s about the only problem.
  
  Here I am asking to the more experienced members: if space allows for a thick netting to be placed, could Wolf have his fix of safe social-ness with the net protecting the girls? If that could be an option it would be beneficial for everyone I guess!
- 09/20/2017 at 8:37 AM
  Em
  Participant
  86 posts
  That’s a great idea, Muchelle – to allow Wolf have at least some form of socialisation with the other three, even if through a barrier. I have a very secure back garden so my rabbits are indoor/outdoor (indoors at night, and freedom to come & go both inside and outside whenever they please) so I could easily set Wolf up with his own area of the back garden so he could see & sniff the other buns through the bars. I guess my only worry with that is if he would trigger any of them off with his scent or things like that and have them turn on each other! Anyone know if that would be a problem?
- 09/20/2017 at 11:11 PM
  Boston's Mama
  Participant
  1452 posts
  Potentially it can – yes. That’s one of the reasons that all rabbits in a bond should be spayed or neutered
  I totally understand why you wouldn’t neuter him – and I wouldn’t either – but you will have to watch your groups dynamics for any sign of change – whether he is bonded to them or divided from them
  If things change you would need to house him seperately and spaced apart from the others – possibly in seperate room depending how they all cope
- 09/28/2017 at 9:51 PM
  Em
  Participant
  86 posts
  We received Wolf’s x-ray results a few days ago. They were sent to one of the top exotic vets in Ireland (if she’s not *the* best, she’s easily second best!) and came back clear. The vet who conducted the operation (and subsequently halted it when Wolf started having trouble) is leaning towards the cause of the issue being that the tube became displaced when moving him (hence his sudden gasping for air, etc) so has deemed him otherwise fit for the operation if we go ahead with it.
  
  Not gonna lie, even with the peace of mind that it is extremely unlikely a heart related issue, I’m still on the fence about getting him the snip. My Dad is adamant that I shouldn’t get it done, and that this (the previous failed attempt) was my “warning sign” to not do it, but I still don’t know what to do.
  
  He has also starting irritating the other rabbits and as I suspected, Bailey – our sassy female lionhead – is having none of it, so he’s had to be removed from the group for his own safety. It breaks my heart seeing buns alone knowing just how much my other three really depend on & love each other – I hate thinking that Wolf would be deprived of that same level of interaction with his own species but at the same time, I don’t think I’d ever get over it if he passed during an operation that was otherwise unnecessary and I’d feel even worse knowing that it was on my call. I have a very light college schedule this semester so I have the time to spend with him and give him extra cuddles due to him being alone, but a human just simply can’t fill the shoes of another bun.
  
  Gah. Decisions decisions. I want to get him neutered so he can have friends, but I’m also completely petrified of losing him now that we’ve already come so close to not having him anymore. Ironically enough, Wolf was the one who I had the *least* concerns about when he was going in for his neuter… I was more freaked out about our little 2.9lb mini lop girl and her spay op, but she came home with not a bother and acting like she just came out of a spa treatment!
  I just don’t know what to do with Wolfie. I’ll give it a week and research more into it. Everyone in my personal life is so eager to give me their opinions, but I feel like it’s so much easier to make a decision/suggestion when it isn’t your pet on the line.
- 09/29/2017 at 2:20 PM
  Fluffykins
  Participant
  239 posts
  For what it’s worth here’s what I’d do. Not do it.
  
  I’d keep him alone and become his “bonded companion”.
- 09/29/2017 at 3:25 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Sounds like he absolutely has to be neutered if you want him with your other bunnies. At this point, you have two choices:
  
  1) Risk the neuter. If its successful, he can be slowly bonded back into your bunny group and have all of the attention he needs, from them. And although chances are low anyway, he wont have any risk of testicular cancer. He will also generally act much less hormonal. If its not successful, you risk losing him forever.
  
  2) Dont neuter him, and keep him forever single. Remove him completely away from your other bunnies (as hormonal bunnies can cause even spayed and neutered buns to act hormonally due to hormones in their scents), and give him as much attention, toys, and room to play in as possible. Youll have to dedicate much more time to him as youll be his only/main social outlet, but atleast you have peace of mind that hes alive and well.
  
  Youll have to weigh the pros and cons, and see which is not only easiest and best for him, but what is also best for you. For example: if you cannot give him the amount of attention and socialization that he needs, it might be better to risk the surgery knowing the error was on the vet (although, you might need to consider a new vet; its very hard to kill a male during surgery and an error that small should not have been so easily overlooked).
- 09/29/2017 at 4:20 PM
  Azerane
  Moderator
  4691 posts
  If you’re able to house him separately, there is no rush to make a decision on whether you want to neuter him or not 4 months is still pretty young and small, and he is in his hormonal teenage stage. Once past the teenage stage there is a possibility he may mellow out a little (not completely, but he may not be quite so crazy ). Either that or wait until he’s grown up some more, closer to a year old before taking him back in to ensure he has the best chance possible. It’s great that they ruled out a medical issue, but I certainly still understand your concern.
- 09/30/2017 at 10:53 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  Talk about a rock and a hard place! What a scare.
  
  I do agree to wait a little while before making your decision. He is still so young. Even if he was successfully neutered this first time, you may have had to separate him from the others for a short time anyway. It’s not uncommon for rabbits to stay hormonal or get more hormonal right after the neuter.
  
  It sounds as if they monitored him very closely and are very conscientious about looking into what may have gone wrong.
  They were able to bring him out of the anaesthesia okay also?
  Your vet might be interested in looking into V-gel masks for managing the breathing. http://docsinnovent.com/products/product/rabbit-v-gel
Author

Messages