Shuggy’s “neutering” ????

[Sugarbear]

O.K. A strange event happened on Wednesday.  We took Sugarbear in to have his molars filed and to get neutered.  Later on that day the vet called to say the filing went fine but they had something weird happen before his neutering.  They tried to locate his testicles and could not. O They even used an ultrasound.  She concluded that he was either previously neutered or just not there.  Our obvious first question was if he is a boy and she confirmed he is. 

  We got him when he was 8 – 9 weeks old.  We called the pet store and they said they do not acquire young neutered rabbits or have them neutered.  They confirmed that it is dangerous to do that when they are that young.  They said they work with the same breeder all the time and the breeder does not neuter the rabbits they sell to the store.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Or have your heard of this? 

 

[Monkeybun]

That is just weird. I really don’t know what to say.

[Minty]

I am with Monkeybun on this one…
Since they say they did an ultrasound, even if he was a boy and his testicles hadn’t descended, you would still be able to see them. Is this vet rabbit savvy? Maybe get a second opinion?

[Karla]

Some dogs lack testicles due to a genetic failure, could the same not apply for bunnies?

Does he act like he has sexually matured?

[Beka27]

Very weird!!! How old is he?

[Sugarbear]

Posted By Karla on 06/26/2010 12:02 AM
Some dogs lack testicles due to a genetic failure, could the same not apply for bunnies?

Does he act like he has sexually matured?

 

He chins things to mark them, if your on the floor with him he circles sometimes… he hasn’t tried to mount anything.. his urine changed smell around 10 months, he is now 1 year 2 months.  He is a little small, even for a polish. 

[Karla]

I just looked it up and humans born without testicles do have a sex drive as well, although very small. So perhaps?

It is called cryptorchidism if the stones have not descended and anorchia if it is actually missing from birth, so you might want to look into it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptorchidism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorchia

Of course, it will affect him physically if this is the case, as far as I can read. Although I’m not sure why since, a castration would mean anyhow that the stones were removed.

[Sugarbear]

We are bringing Shuggie in tomorrow for a 2nd opinion–see posts about newly adopted bun.

[Sugarbear]

The Vet thinks she located the testies. At least one of them and she said it is small and easily missed.  It still is very high up, we had the blood work records transfered so we can get an appointment to redo the work up or the surgery.

[Sugarbear]

Surgery is tommarrow.. We are hoping for the best.

[Sarita]

I’ll be sending vibes – please keep us updated.

[jerseygirl]

(((VIBES))) for your Sugarbear!

[Queensbun]

Good luck, Shuggie!!

[Beka27]

(((Sugar vibes!!!)))

[Free2Dream]

I don’t know if it’s unusual in rabbits, but I know that cryptorchidism is common in dogs and other species. My first dog, an Italian Greyhound, had only one testicle. The neutering procedure ended up costing us more then usual because they had to go inside of him to locate the missing one, lol.

I’m glad you got a second opinion. Good luck, Sugar!!!!

[Beka27]

Any update yet?

[Sugarbear]

Just got Shuggy home.  They found both testies.  One they had to go into the abdomen and the other they had to go into the ingunal area (where the leg meets the torso).  They were cryptorchids.  He is still very groggy and won’t eat, he just ate a small piece of dried apple.  The vet let him come home and wants us to get him to eat, but so far he won’t.  We will try again in an hour.

[jerseygirl]

He’ll prob be uncomfortable for a bit. It wasn’t your standard procedure for sure! Still, so much better for his health in the long run. More (((healing vibes))) for Sugarbear.

[Sugarbear]

Any tips for getting some food in him?  At what point should we worry?  We had dropped him off at 9:00 am with hay and greens–neither of which he ate according to the staff–they don’t do their surgeries till after lunch.  We picked him up at 7:30pm.

We have the critical care, which we had tried to use once before (when he got his teeth done), but he was not too fond of.

I will call the vet tomorrow, but was wondering about tonight.

 

P.S.

He is in his condo (his day room for sleeping).

[jerseygirl]

Some have had success by tapping hay or some herbs on their nose. Sometimes they’ll bite it just to make you stop, then continue to eat it. Or just putting in front of their mouth? btw, if someone did that to me post-surgery I’d be mighty cranky! lol. But it is for rabbits benefit so…
He might not be insterested until tomorrow. Was he given long lasting pain meds or were you given any to take home?

[Sugarbear]

Posted By jerseygirl on 07/26/2010 06:52 PM

Some have had success by tapping hay or some herbs on their nose. Sometimes they’ll bite it just to make you stop, then continue to eat it. Or just putting in front of their mouth? btw, if someone did that to me post-surgery I’d be mighty cranky! lol. But it is for rabbits benefit so…
He might not be insterested until tomorrow. Was he given long lasting pain meds or were you given any to take home?

 

They gave him a subcutaneous shot of pain meds post op, and she gave us meloxicam syringes (oral) but cautioned they can be upsetting to his stomach and asked that we get him to eat before giving him any.  They gave us 4 syringes dosed for once a day.

[Doe of Chai]

Try grinding up his pellets with some water. Feed the mush to Sugarbear with the syringe gently. It is best to place the syringe in the side of his mouth, behind the front teeth. Have a cloth nearby as it can be messy.

[Monkeybun]

Definitely try his favorites. Hay usually isn’t as appetizing to them right away after surgery. Smudge would go for the romaine lettuce though She didn’t eat any of her hay til the day after. But, at least she was eating something!

[Sarita]

Yes, I imagine that his neuter was more involved than a regular neuter – more like a spay and spays usually take a good 3 days before they return to normal. I say just wait the night as he has had pain meds and anesthesia and needs to recover from that. Do make sure you get pain meds for him though.

[Beka27]

Vibes for Sugar! Definitely more invasive. If this were a famale spay, the lack of eating would be completely normal at this point. Keep a very close eye on him like you’re doing, and don’t hesitate to call the vet up if you feel you need assistance.

[MissKris&Koji]

I’m glad the new vet managed to locate them both! I hope he’s started nibbling some by now. If he didn’t like the critical care stuff, did you try baby food? I know that’s an alternative, and lots of flavor options which he may find enticing.

[Sugarbear]

Thanks for all the vibes and suggestions.  He is nibbling on hay and dried fruit right now.  We gave him his pain meds this morning and they seem to have helped.

[BinkyBunny]

Oh good…nibbling is a good sign. Sending more healing vibes! Keep us updated.

[Beka27]

Is he starting to eat and move around a little more normally now?

[Sugarbear]

Today he has been active and actively seeking grooming from us. He has eaten greens and hay more normaly. About 2/3s of his normal.

[Sarita]

That’s great! I’m glad he’s getting better.

[RabbitPam]

I bet you see a lot more progress today.

[Beka27]

Wonderful! Did the vet want to see him back for a check-up in a couple weeks?

[Chazz]

I’ve had success getting a sickly rabbit to eat with parsley and cilantro. They have nice stems and you can stick them right in the mouth, encouraging them to want to eat. Sometimes, just getting them annoyed causes them to bite at it, and thus keep munching.

[Author]

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