Spaying my Netherland dwarf

[Thumby]

I have a female Netherland dwarf bunny. She is now a year and 3 months, I have had a lot of mixed feelings about getting her spayed. Of course I am worried about the risk of her not making it through the surgery. I am in LA and so far I have not found any vets who’ve worked with any type of bunny rabbits. Thumby is a very well behaved bunny and so far she doesn’t seem to show any aggression toward me.

So my questions:
Due to Thumbys age, what would be the risks of getting her spayed?
Does spaying a netherland dwarf lengthen their life span?

Any vet recomendations for the culver city area?

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi Thumby and welcome to Binky Bunny

With boys, getting them neutered isn’t essential unless you want to bond them, but with girls, spaying is really important as they have a very high risk of uterine cancer if they’re unspayed. Often, older rabbits have to have emergency spays after cancer has developed, at which point it is higher risk, and the cancer may have already spread.

Just over a year isn’t old to spayed, so that doesn’t make it any more risky. There are always risks with spaying rabbits, as it is more invasive than a neuter, but the majority of rabbits bounce back completely fine.

You’re right, the most important thing is an experienced vet. You want someone that has does the procedure regularly

The HRS has a list of rabbit-savvy vets by state, but I’m in the UK, so I’m not sure how good it is. You should look for someone classified as an ‘exotic’ vet. Another good thing to check is if they ask you to fast your rabbit before surgery – a good rabbit vet will never ask for that, as it’s important for rabbits’ guts to be moving all the time, but an inexperienced vet might tell you to fast them like a cat or dog.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

[Luna]

Hi! I agree with S&L . If you have not been able to find a bun savvy vet who regularly performs spays yet, then I would not risk the surgery until you can find the right resource (vet should have a mortality rate of no greater than 1%). Are there any rabbit rescues in your area? They too can be a good resource who can refer you to possible vets. Since your bun is only 1 year and 3 months old, you still have plenty of time to get her spayed, so don’t feel rushed into making a forced decision as to the choice of vet . In general, the risk of uterine/ovarian cancer in unspayed buns is greatest after the bun turns 3 years old. [Note: All buns are different, so the risk of uterine/ovarian cancer may be less or greater in a bun under 3 years old than the stated average.] 

[tobyluv]

Here is a list of vet in L.A, and there is one in Culver City.

https://www.bunnyluv.org/recommended-vets

[Author]

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