After the spay

[Nicolene]

Hi all, I feel like I should be doing a better job of looking around for the answers, but I’m new and am still figuring out the navigation of this forum. Anyway, I’ll throw this out there and see what you guys have for me. I took Carmela for her spay today. I had it done at Napa Humane. I feel guilty for not having my regular vet do it, but he charges $500! Napa Humane was only $60. They do dogs, cats and rabbits. I read only glowing reviews about their spay/neuter clinic, so I am hoping I won’t regret my decision.

They had a 8 am drop off time and a 4 pm pick up time. So I fed her and took her over this morning and picked her up at 4. I expected a very groggy bunny, that would be ling down and “out of it”. But instead she is up and at it. Hopping around her (decreased in size) pen with a cardboard litter box instead of the usual one she has to jump over. She’s drinking water and circling her plate, sniffing at everything but not yet eating. She even stands on her hind legs looking for me when I leave the room. She doesn’t even seem mad at me. She even picked up her new toy (peace offering from me) and threw it.

Right now she is sitting in the litter box grooming herself and chewing little pieces of hay.

The vet said they did internal stitches so there is nothing for her to pick at. They gave her pain meds after the surgery, BUT they didn’t send any home. I talked to 3 different people there who assured me they don’t ever send pain meds home, and that they always do fine. But they said if I feel like she needs meds tomorrow I can ask my own vet. Should I be concerned? They said it would take about 12-24 hours for the pain meds to wear off and that she should be eating well by tomorrow night. I was really worried about the pain meds issue, but if you didn’t know different, you wouldn’t think this bunny had surgery today.

If more pain meds is a must, let me know, so I can call my vet, with my tail between my legs, tomorrow morning and get her some metacam before they close for the weekend.

Thanks!

[Stickerbunny]

I would get her some metacam just in case if your vet will give it to you, if they get too painful they can stop eating and you don’t want her to go into stasis. But it sounds like she is doing well. Nibbling on hay already is a great sign. Last thing they eat usually is pellets, so offer her favorites up for her to eat when she wants it and try to keep her from moving around too much for a few days.

[Nova]

I just had my Phenom spayed two weeks ago, and if she were doing that well I would have been thrilled!
The big things to look out for are licking/biting with the incision, (sometimes they need a cone for that), not eating or drinking (it’s quite normal for them to lose their appetite after surgery, but in that case you have to push fluids and Critical Care until it comes back & manage pain in case pain is making her lose her appetite), not peeing or pooping, signs of infection near the incision (redness, swelling, oozing or pus) and any other suspicious “ill” behavior.

Phenom was not sent home with pain meds either, and the vets who did her spay (expensive rabbit wise vets!) told me that the metacam would last her well into the next day. I was definitely concerned about her pain level considering this is technically a total hysterectomy, but by the second day she began to eat on her own again, indicating that all was well. In Phenom’s case, she was very groggy the first day, and she didn’t need any metacam by the second day. 

Usually the low fee clinics aren’t as good with rabbits but it sounds like the clinic you took your bunny to are very, very good at rabbits!

Other than that it sounds like your bunny is doing terrific. Just keep an eye out for any of those signs of a problem and you should be okay. If she stops eating/drinking you need to give her Critical Care. Have you ever tried to use it before?

Hope she gets well real soon.

 

*edit: the other responses are good to keep in mind – sometimes the buns will stop eating *because* of pain (mine stopped because of all the drugs!) in that case yes, ask the vet for extra meds for pain

[Nicolene]

Thanks, she really has no running or jumping space right now. We don’t usually feed her pellets (she’s on a diet) but I got some in case they strike her fancy. I have tried bananas and craisins with her in the past, and she didn’t like either, so I have no real treats to entice her with.. She always eats the grape tomato first if we give her one, so I did. She used to live on colorful pellets, iceberg and carrots, so she doesn’t have a very refined pallet.. yet

[Nicolene]

Posted By Nova on 03/08/2012 04:37 PM

Other than that it sounds like your bunny is doing terrific. Just keep an eye out for any of those signs of a problem and you should be okay. If she stops eating/drinking you need to give her Critical Care. Have you ever tried to use it before?

 

Thank you, yes, I have used Critical Care in the past, with a guinea pig, I always have some stashed in the freezer.

 

[emkvet]

If I were you I’d get a few doses of Metacam. If I had my uterus and ovaries removed through an abdominal incision, I sure as hell would want some pain meds! I think it’s a good idea and better to be on the safe side. I would call your vet and ask, plus give them her most recent weight, since that’s what the dosage is based on.

Most rabbits seem to like the meds, since they are super sweet. Mine just licks it right up. If she doesn’t end up liking it, you can try mixing it with banana babyfood or fruit juice.

[Nicolene]

I have been watching her and she has pooped, peed and had a cecal poopy that she ate. She does seem to occasionally pause to stare at nothing in particular. Maybe she’s a bit woozy. I was so sure she’d be giving me some bunny butt, but all she seems to want is pets.

[Nicolene]

Update: Carmella seemed fine at first yesterday, but by the evening she had picked a spot in a corner and just laid there. I was getting worried and feeling really bad for her (she doesn’t know why I let them hurt her!). She wasn’t eating but would occasionally take a sip of water from the bowl in from of her nose. I took her food away for a couple of hours and before we went to bed I gave her a fresh salad.

All I wanted to do was pick her up (she doesn’t mind being picked up and cuddled) and rub her, but I told my husband we should just not pick her up for the next two weeks, so I’ll need to stick with it.

This morning I got up 30 min before my usual time, so I could spend some time with her and make sure she is set for the day. I expected her to be in the same state as last night, but she was up, eating pellets, she had finished her salad overnight. When she saw me she stuck her head through the NIC (we have a couple that have 5×5 openings, instead of the usual 9×9, can’t use them for the guinea pigs, but they are perfect for her) for head rubs.

She’s moving around, more of a hobble than a hop. I think in part due to being sore and in part because she has little room to really move. She chewed on her new toy and pulled a twig out of her tunnel. She looks VERY alert and like she’s wondering what the heck happened to the size of her pen. She’s standing against the side of her cage now, which means she’s looking to see how her breakfast is coming along, so I best be off and get that done.

I think she’s going to be okay.

[Nicolene]

How long do I need to keep her confined to her small cage? She’s DYING to get out.. hehe. When can I enlarge her cage again?

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