Help – Neutering stitches!

[Mary]

Hello, this is my first post. I’ve owned my two rabbits for just over a month, two pure white angora boys. They were rescued and placed at around four months old. Three weeks ago we had the two brothers neutered as we had been advised it was best for them, and would allow them to carry on living together. During the op I received a call from the nurse explaining that my larger rabbit Apollo had two deep cuts to each testicle and one under his penis, all three wounds needed stitching and he was proscribed antibiotics. It was assumed that his smaller brother, Loki, had enough of his dominant humping and gave Apollo a nasty response. Anyway, after a little bit of irritation to the area, Apollo cleaned up well. Until tonight…We have been allowing them to spend small amounts of time with each other, always supervised, but tonight Apollo humped Loki’s face and Loki has managed to rip off his scab. It appears to have ripped off cleanly, and underneath it looks like a scab that has been removed too soon. We’ve cleaned the wound with warm water on cotton pads, and applied Aloe jelly. He isn’t bleeding anymore, thanks to cleaning and compression. Should we be taking him to the vets? Is he okay enough to just be treated at home? Also, is this a sign that they are no longer bonded?

[Wick & Fable]

No two rabbits are bonded until they’re both fixed and have gone through the bonding process. What you had were two young rabbits that got along because they were young and hormones were not coming into play.

They should not be together at all actually. It’s good you knew to neuter them, but from pre-neuter to 1-month post-neuter, they should not be together at all, to prevent these kinds of things from happening. They have bad air between them that they need to forget and repair, so they should be completely separated until the neuter areas are healed, in addition to another month so hormones regulate to normal.

For the first aid, I’d recommend going to the vet for a professional assessment due to the affected area and considering the operation itself.

Separate them immediately. No play dates. At all.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bam]

The backwards humping is not good at all and you should separate them and reintroduce them about a month from now.

Rabbits often get hormonal surges after a neuter/spay, because the body still has testosterone in the system and it takes a while for everything to calm down and rebalance itself. During this time, which can last from 2-8 weeks in boys, the rabbits can become extra territorial, aggressive and sexually interested. You should definitely wait for this to pass before you try rebonding them.

As for the wound I think it should be pretty much healed up by now if it’s been 3 weeks since the surgery. You could give the vet that did the neuter a quick call and describe it. My guess is they’ll just tell you to keep it clean and inspect it for excessive swelling, redness, seepage, foul odor etc every day until it’s all healed. That’s just my guess though, it’s of course safest to check with the vet.

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