“Spayed” Female with False Pregnancies

[ImSoHoppy]

We adopted Daphne from a rabbit rescue last year and was told she had been spayed.  A few months later, we adopted two brothers and personally took them to be neutered.  Pre-bonding, Daphne exhibited no false pregnancy behavior but since she’s been with Judah (around February) she’s been nesting off and on.  It was kind of cute at first when she would go up to her food dish with a mouthful of hay and peek in a few times, unwilling to put her treasure down for even a moment, but the past couple times she’s starting to pull fur from under her belly.

I read somewhere on here regarding veterinarians who may spay a doe by only removing her uterus, allowing her ovaries to continuing producing hormones.  So, we’re assuming that may have been what happened or she was possibly overlooked and the woman who runs the rescue only *thought* she had her spayed.  But seeing as we think Daphne is around 4 years old, should we try and find out who performed her surgery and what his usual practice is and then maybe have the ovaries removed if they are indeed still there (surgery is so scary) or do we continue to let her pull her fur out once a month?  I know they *can* have litter after litter in the wild, but is it okay for her to go through false pregnancies that frequently?  Is there anything we can try/Should we try something that would discourage her from using her fur for nesting?

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[LoveChaCha]

You can’t discourage her from having a false pregnancy. The only way to find out is to have her checked out by a vet. I read someplace that if a vet does a spay, there will be a scar under the fur or something?

I would take her in. If you cannot rely on this person who ‘thinks’ she was spayed, I would get your rabbit checked out. The % of reproductive cancer in an unspayed doe is way too high.

My 1 1/2 year old female has been spayed since she was 6 months and exhibits no signs of false pregnancies.. I would not want to witness one for myself

[Beka27]

Definitely contact the rescue and request documentation from the spay, and the name and address of the vet who performed the spay. You need further clarification on what exactly was done. It is true that some vets do not perform full spays (hysterectomy AND oophorectomy), but most I’ve encountered do the entire thing while the bun is open. Scars are not typically visible. Some vets will make a tiny tattoo over the belly indicating a spay, BUT this still leaves the question, was it full or partial? Another option is to have an ultrasound, or have the bunny opened and take a look. That is a last resort tho.

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