Any way to tell if a female bun has been spayed?

[bunnnnnnie!]

So, my sister has some friends who have a pair of female bunnies.  Despite my warning, they didn’t get them fixed.  Now one has cancer.

It just made me really think about West.  The vet said by the tattoo in her ear she can tell she’s fixed, but is there any other sure-fire way.. except for putting her under anesthesia and opening her up to look?  Do females have a scar like female dogs and cats do?  Are there any foolproof behavioral indicators?  West doesn’t act like an intact female.. no “false pregnancies”, no territorialness (except not wanting Zeus near her toys &#160, good litter habits.

I know I shouldn’t worry, if the vet says she’s fixed, then I should go with that.  But it’s not cut-and-dry like males.  It was very obvious when Zeus was intact.. there were parts visible that said so.  But with the news of the sister’s friends’ bunny, I’m just feeling paranoid.

 

 

[Sarita]

They MAY have a scar if it was done recently. The vet may be able to shave and tell.

I don’t believe there is anything full proof as far as behavior.

The only absolute real way to tell is maybe by x-ray (but you would have to verify that with the vet) or to have her put under anesthesia and an incision done if you don’t have the paperwork from the vet of course.

Here has been my experience with this:

1. I had a little netherland, Chloe, who was definitely spayed by one of my vets and she ended up having some issues – she had what was obviously an ectopic pregnancy and when he did an x-ray to see what was going on, he could see where he put the “clips” in the tubes. And he also was able to see the unborn fetuses, but that is another story….so that’s the only reason I’m guessing about the x-rays, but I’m not expert about that.

2. I had a very large NZW, Maxine that I got from a shelter so I took her in to be spayed and the vet opened her up and she was already spayed which was bizarre for a big old red eyed white rabbit.

[bunnnnnnie!]

I know she wasn’t spayed recently, she was at the shelter 7-8 months and was fixed before arriving there.  I’ll ask the vet about xray, I left her a message asking if there was any surefire way to tell.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

The vet could likely do an ultrasound or xray and see for sure

[BinkyBunny]

I don’t know about the tattoo in the ear as some bunnies have tattoos from breeders which has nothing to do with neutering/spaying. Bailey was spayed before I got her by the San Francisco Animal Care and Control and they somehow added a permanent blue mark on her tummy after the spay. That blue mark was the way they could tell if they spayed a bunny already. You couldn’t see it easily, but underneath the fur, it was obvious. I have heard other places do that as well. The one from the ACC was just a blue smudge about the size of a thumb print. (not all do that though)

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