my vet and my girls’ spays

[andremw87]

Hey everyone, I have been lurking on this board for awhile, and have a question
I am hoping you can help with.

I have 2 female rabbits, about 7 months of age. Everything I have read online
says that for their health and longevity, I should get them spayed. I am from
the Toledo, Ohio area, and the local exotic animal vet (recommended on
rabbit.org and with an ohio rabbit society), seems to be trying to discourage me from getting this done. I was
told that “because of the many health problems rabbits can have, that often they
pass away before signs on uterine cancer or disease can be apparent.” They
mentioned bunnies passing at 8 years of age.

This doesn’t ring true with me, as I’ve read of uterine changes and cancer
happening at even 4 years of age! They said that they would go forward with the
surgery if I wished, however. I have an appointment for the girls to get their
physical exam this evening, and I am sure I will have to listen to the vet
telling me that perhaps it isn’t a good idea to get them spayed.

Should I just ignore them and schedule the spay anyway? They have a good
reputation as far as I can tell with rabbits, but they kept talking about how
hard a spay is on female rabbits and how it might not be necessary. Some advice
would be appreciated. I don’t want to put my girls through a painful surgery if
it’s not necessary!

[Roberta]

Is there another bunny savvy vet in the area ? I don’t like the sounds of this one.

[Sarita]

HRS recommended them and the Ohio HRS chapter? I would email them with this information and see what they say about this vet if they do have experience with them. I cannot imagine that since the House Rabbit Society who advocate spaying and neutering would agree with this. Is the actual vet the one that is saying this or one of the staff? I would want clarification to make sure I’m understanding their stance on spaying…

[andremw87]

I have had both vet’s from this clinic, as well as staff, tell me this. The closest bunny savvy vet that’s reccomended is an hour away! I am concerned that this drive would be too stressful on my buns. I would be happy to drive them that distance, though, if you guys think an hour in a comfortable carrier would be ok for them.

[Sarita]

I think an hour drive is fine.

[scatterbunny]

I live in a mall town and have to drive about an hour to get my bunny to the vet. while its not his favorite, in my mind any stress is canceled out by the fact that the vet knows bunnies. I just try to make sure i get there extra early so he can calm down from the car ride before seeing the vet. If this vet is trying to disuade you frm getting them fixed, i would definately not want him to be the one to do the opperation. one of the first questions my vet asked was if Scat was neutered and if i was interested in having it done.

[andremw87]

Thanks. It’s so strange that this vet is acting like this, because they seem to be a very good exotic vet! But it disturbs me that they don’t think my rabbits would live long enough to be affected by cancers! I think if I drove to somewhere else within an hour I would be able to find a vet that is experienced with rabbits, plus more spay positive. I called an exotic vet about an hour away earlier to ask what they recommend to their clients with female rabbits, just to make sure my local vet was crazy, and they said they tell people that if it’s financially possible for them, to get their lady spayed. They were very nice and helpful on the phone. Maybe I should just go with them!

 If everyone here thinks an hour away wouldn’t be too stressful, maybe that’s the way to go. Being typical unspayed females, my two rabbits hate each other, so they have their own plastic cat carriers that I put soft bedding in, then I give them a pile of hay to busy themselves with.

[andremw87]

Also, I did email several people from the Ohio HRS chapter to let them know what this vet is telling people. Thank you for the suggestion. Hopefully I get a response from them! I also asked if they have any vets within an hour they highly recommend.

[tanlover14]

I would say it’s strange too — my vet is from Pittsburgh and very bunny-savvy and she immediately asked if we planned on getting our buns neutered or spayed and encouraged it a lot. In my opinion, the only vets who don’t advocate for it are the ones who are scared of performing the procedure. My boyfriend and I did a lot of googling on this subject before we got our rugrats and I haven’t read about ANY place that doesn’t advocate strongly for getting them neutered or spayed.

[andremw87]

If they are telling people it isn’t necessary, I wonder how many spays they actually end up doing. I didn’t ask, because at this point I was very annoyed. I just called and told them I had to work tonight, so I couldn’t make it in, and I would call them to reschedule. It definitely game me such a bad feeling, since every single thing I have read online says it’s important to spay.

 

Even worse, my husband was there when they were saying a spay wasn’t necessary, and so now he thinks I’m being silly and over reacting about getting an expensive procedure done. *waves fist at vet* I will have to show him this thread so he sees I’m not insane! 

[tanlover14]

Guys always say that! That’s what my BF said after I couldn’t get our little guy to eat veggies and the vet said if he never takes to them it’s okay just make sure he ALWAYS has a lot of hay and so he was like they don’t NEED to have veggies and so I glared at him until he realized I wasn’t going to not feed them veggies. The little one has taken to them now anyway though. He tried to angrily grab it out of my hand and throw it one time when I kept poking the side of his mouth with it and got a big chomp and was like “wait, thats actually yummy.” and then chowed it all down. HA.

[andremw87]

I think I’ve been pretty lucky so far in that my girls will eat pretty much whatever I offer them. If only they would let me trim their nails, though!

[tanlover14]

If you’re having trouble finding a really good vet — I thought maybe this link might help you!

http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm

[Elrohwen]

An hour drive is fine – I’ve never found good vets within 45min and I live in a fairly dense area.

I agree with the others that I would stay away from a vet who tries to discourage you from spaying. Generally that means that the particular vet just isn’t comfortable doing the procedure (I wish they would just say that outright, instead of telling people it’s not necessary!)

Good call with contacting the local HRS chapter. I’m sure you’ll be able to find somebody else!

[Monkeybun]

Agreed, go to the vet an hour away. An hours drive is fine And this vet telling you bad stuff about spays… ugh.

[Toady]

I travelled 2 hours to find a bunny savvy vet to do Ash’s spay (mainly cause I live in the middle of no where) and she travelled well, although I think she was grateful to get back home to her own crate after a long day.

[Chele]

Hey I hope you get this. I also went to the same vet in toledo, who told me the same thing about my female rabbit; to not proceed with the surgery. You mentioned you were planning on going to a different vet an hour away for a more experienced vet. Where did you go and who was the vet? What was your experience? My female is 3 and like you, I’ve read a lot online, and when my last bunny died at 9yrs from cancer, I told myself I would NEVER make the mistake again of not doing the surgery. Please get back to me ASAP. You can email me too: Chelediamond@gmail.com

[Sarita]

Chele, this post is from over a year ago and this member is no longer posting – we ask that members do not pull up on old posts and ask questions. I am going to lock this thread.

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