I have only had two bucks neutered so I’m by no means an expert but can share my experiences. My vet gave instructions to keep them in no more than a 5 foot square area for 14 days. Some vets will have some slight variations to this. Mine got pain meds for three days post surgery. One buck was really sleep when I brought him home and spent most of the time in his litter box. He didn’t want to eat that day but his appetite picked up the very next day. The other acted like nothing ever happened. I would just make sure you have some of his favorite foods on hand in case he needs some encouragement to eat. My vet told me to call them if they don’t start eating and then we would discuss Critical Care. Some people will just give Critical Care without checking with their vet if their bun isn’t eating. I think my vet wants to review what is going on first to make the determination on the best action. It could be that they’ll need to be looked at again or have more pain management. I would just talk to your vet to see their preference just in case you do have an issue.

I don’t think a 5” litter box is out of the question but if you’re not comfortable with it you can get a shorter one or even cut a smaller opening in the front. My bucks binky’d while they were healing so 5” would be nothing compared to that.

I was lucky that my bucks’ neuters had no complications so it was mainly just monitoring that they are eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. You’ll want to monitor the incision area for any swelling, redness or leaking.

I’ll say don’t worry but I know it’s easier said than done. Neuters aren’t very invasive so as long as you have a competent vet he should be just fine. Of course even with competent vets complications can happen but it’s rare. I hope everything goes well!!

I totally understand. No matter what there is risk so it’s totally normal to be concerned. I’m glad you have a vet you trust because that is so important.

The first buck I had done was so pitiful I actually cried when I was watching him lying in his litter box. I had a brief thought that I made a mistake making him go through such a thing. By the next day we both felt so much better and definitely have no regrets. My doe was a little more stressful for sure.

I mean a 5X5 area. My bunnies would have gone crazy if they were stuck in 5 feet. Sorry! I should have clarified that more.

With my male who was successfully neutered, they told us to put him in a cage or pen with nothing to jump on and no other rabbits for 10 days. He used his regular litterbox. Your boy will probably be too drugged up and “off” for the first day or two to use a litterbox, though.

Neuters are easy for the boys. Ask the vet for pain meds and a bag of critical care (in case he isn’t eating right away) – those help tremendously after a bunny has any sort of procedure done.

Assuming you have a good vet, they will do a pre-surgical exam to catch any potential issues, which will lower the chance of him being “that one,” if that makes you feel better. That actually happened when we took my youngest bunny in to be neutered – they discovered he had a severe heart murmur that could cause death under anesthesia, so we were called to pick him up and not charged.

As far as the number of days given for pain meds I am sure that can vary by vet. My vet gave me 3 days worth of metacam. They were also given a shot for pain on the day of the surgery.

I would hope they would give him an exam on the day of the surgery but it might just be an abbreviated one since he just had one in January. It honestly just depends on your vet. I had full exams done on the day of the surgery.

If your vet wasn’t worried about the eye discharge I wouldn’t be either. What color is the discharge or is it clear like tears?

I wouldn’t be worried about that impacting his neuter but of course your vet will hopefully be able to give you ideas on what might be causing that.

I am sorry you are getting more nervous! Honestly I don’t know the statistics but I’m pretty sure most vets use gas and injected anesthesia for neuters. It’s such a simple, quick procedure. I would prefer them not to be intubated because from what I’ve seen that can cause irritation in their throat that really isn’t necessary.

As far as blood, I actually didn’t get it done for my first buck. I had to get bloodwork with diagnostics done later in the year for him and I regretted not getting the bloodwork done during his neuter. If I had I would have had a base line bloodwork to compare. For my second buck I had bloodwork done the day of his surgery. For my doe I had it done the day before because I wanted it with diagnostics (also recommended by my vet due to issues with my other buns) and that had to be sent out. A lot of rabbits don’t have bloodwork done unless they are an older bun. Rescues have a ton of rabbits fixed and most do not have bloodwork done because of the cost. Considering how concerned you are I think it would give you some peace of mind to have it done and like I said you’ll have the results in file in case his blood ever needs run again. This could also give you an idea if something is going on with his system in regards to his eye issue. Its worth asking your vet what they would recommend.

I don’t know if they talked to you about fluids but that can be another choice you have to make. Depending on your vet bloodwork and fluids might be optional, independent of each other of course. When I declined blood and fluid it was because I talked to the tech. When my doe was done I talked to my vet because it‘s obviously a more concerning procedure and he explained the benefits of the fluids. I always thought that it’s so quick and they would get fluids if they needed them anyway so why give it unless they really need it. What I didn’t consider is that it gives them a port already set up in case anything happens as well. This did increase the cost to just under $500 because the fluids alone were around $100 so it’s something you’d have to decide if it’s worth it. My vet made a good point that these are things that we can’t decline for human surgeries but he works with a rabbit rescue and does a lot of them without so he’s comfortable either way.

In some vets offices you get the bloodwork results within minutes.  I did a pre op appointment with Indie and I think I heard back in a couple of hours that all was well with it. 

It depends on the vet’s office and sometimes what kind of bloodwork you have done. Like I said I had bloodwork done the same day as my one buck’s neuter. If your vet runs blood in office it doesn’t take long at all. If you opt for blood work with diagnostics, like I had done for my doe, they may have to send it out which is why I had it done the day before. My vet can get results by early the next morning.

I had diagnostics done for a specific reason but generally you don’t have to go that far for a neuter. If you opt for blood just the basic test they normally can run in office should be sufficient. Please don’t feel required to have it done!

Sir Ollie how did it go, or has he been in yet? 

I am so glad everything went well! I’m also glad you opted for the bloodwork as it’s money well spent. I hope he is healing well.