Spaying My rabbit

[Marie]

Here the thing. When I first got my rabbit 8 months ago. I was all about having her spayed since I read so much into it and was scared to death she would develop a cancer. However I quickly realized after bringing her home she was very ill, not eating or pooping I brought her to a vet and paid an arm and a leg to get her well again even though the vet told me the chances were very low since she was in such bad shape. After her recovery I started calling vets asking for prices and could not get anyone on Long Island who 1. I trusted enough to preform the procedure on a rabbit, and 2 would do it for below 600. I eventually found a vet who said he would do it for a decent price but asked me why I wanted to preform the procedure, when I told him all the things I read he told me he had not once seen a rabbit fall ill from not being alter and considering her past medical history he wouldn’t recommend I put my bun through a surgery. Sooo, I put it out of my mind and we’ve been living happily without any complications. Now, I recently started working a full time Job and I am forced to leave her alone for 10 hours a day, sometimes more, and all I can think about is how lonely she is at home. I have her loose in the house 24/7 (shes very well behaved) and she just chooses to lay around looking bored these days, even when I come home early. I considered adopting an already spayed/neutered  friend for her to bond with. 

Now here’s finally my questions….Will she be able to bond with an altered rabbit without becoming hormonal or stressed? And if I do choose now at ~1 year to get her altered does anyone know any vets who can preform the procedure at a reasonable rate on Long Island, Ny? 

The last thing I would want is preforming the procedure “for her benefit” and her not being strong enough to make it out of it. I just want what is best for my rabbit, whether it be spending the 600 and getting her a friend, trying to bond her with an altered rabbit or just leaving life the way it is now with just me and her. Anyone have an actual experience with anyof this? I have already read all the “suppose to’s” and “statistics”, so now I’m looking for real life experience 

[LittlePuffyTail]

What was wrong with your bunny that caused her to be ill?

Most intact females will not bond with another bunny as they are very territorial and can be aggressive. I think it would be unfair and cause a lot of stress and possibly result in injuries to try to bond an unaltered girl.

There’s a list of House Rabbit Society approved Rabbit Vets in Long Island here:

http://www.rabbitcare.org/vets.htm

[Emiline]

The same thing happened with my rabbit. She got very ill from EC about two years ago and the vet didn’t think she would make it, thankfully she did and after she recovered I asked my vet about getting her fixed because I too was worried about her getting cancer. My vet did not think it was a good idea and at first I was shocked by when she explained it made sense. Bunnies are very sensitive especially when it comes to surgery and since my bun had a history of illness it increased her risk of dying during surgery. My vet also said that if she did develop cancer, the treatment would be to just get her spayed. I’m glad my vet recommended not doing it because my bun has always had issues with her digestive system and she has recently developed a reoccurrence of her EC, so if I would have gotten her spayed, who knows if she would have made it. My vet and I do keep a close eye on her to see if she ever develops any symptoms of uterine cancer, so far she is fine.

As for her behavior, she has been around other bunnies before and was fine. She isn’t aggressive (unless she feels threatened by new people but that’s not that unusual) she is also perfectly fine around my dog.

The decision is up to you but I just wanted to tell you my experience, your bunny is younger than mine so she has a better chance of survival. What you could do is get blood work done just to make sure she is healthy enough to do the surgery.

Hope his helps

[Marie]

When I first got the vet wasnt sure what was causing her to not eat or poop, so she sent me home with several meds to give her, a parasite one, gastrointestinal, a steriod and a vitamin, I gave them to her every 3 to 6 hours and she got better. I agree, I worried about her becoming stressed if I do introduce her to another rabbit, Im just also worried abut her when shes alone since rabbits are such social animals. Thanks for your help.

[Marie]

Thank you so much it does. It makes me feel less stressed knowing that others have had a similar experience

[tobyluv]

Has your rabbit fully recovered from her illness? Is she the correct weight and does she eat well and have good poop?

When a rabbit is older or if there have been some medical problems, a vet will perform blood tests before any proposed surgery to make sure that the rabbit’s organs are functioning normally and that they are healthy enough for surgery. Of course, there is always a risk when a rabbit goes under anesthesia, but those instances are rare. If you find a good, rabbit savvy vet and he or she thinks that your rabbit is healthy enough for surgery, you should definitely consider it, especially if you want a companion for her.

[flemishwhite]

Our first rabbit, Bunny, was 5 years old when she was neutered.  I was anxious to have her neutered since I heard that there was a 90+% chance they’d get uterine cancer.  Just in time.  When the vet first saw her uterus he said his first thought was that she was pregnant because of the lumps in her uterus.  We got her just in time.  They lumps were tumors and we got them before they metastized. 

You folks are quoting some large prices for neutering.  I had our two Flemish rabbits neutered for $600 total.  Bunny cost $500 but that included liposuction…yes liposuction!  Bunny was a fatty.  She went in for her operation at 9 pounds and came out weighing 8 pounds!  After the operation she never became obese again, even though she could eat all she wanted.

I live in Los Angeles County.  There’s clinic in Orange County that only does neutering for cats, dogs, and rabbits.  I think they charge something like $90 for a female rabbit.  I might be mistaken about the $90, but whatever it is it’s very inexpensive.

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