stopped breathing during neuter

[Milove]

I took my 4 month old rabbit Milo to be neutered today. They gave him pain killers and the anesthetic injection followed with isoflourane gas. After they began increasing the isoflourane he stopped breathing and so they stopped and didn’t perform the operation and resuscitated him (thank god he was okay!). I am now not sure if it is worth it or not to try again in a month or two…? But all the reseach I have done seems to lean towards a neutered rabbit being a happier and healthier one. He is a house rabbit and after I brought him home from the vet today he sprayed urine for the first time all over my bed, which just made me even more confused on what to do…

has anyone else had the same thing happen with their rabbit while under anestesia and had a successful second operation?

also as a side note, the vet I took him to was an exotics specialist so I don’t think it was her doing that he stopped breathing, just a bad reaction?

[Monkeybun]

It could definitely be a reaction to the anesthetic. It happens to some bunnies, just like it happens to humans. It isn’t common, thankfully. I would call up the vet and ask their opinion on it, whether they think it’s worthwhile and safe to try again or not.

Vibes for Milo!

[SirThumpsey]

oh dear, im so sorry this happened but im glad hes okay!

Happy & healthy vibes for Milo!!

[Milove]

Thanks guys!

[BinkyBunny]

 I’m sorry.  That’s scary.  I would be feeling quite worried as well after such a close call. The thing that is tricky with rabbits and anesthesia, is that due to a rabbits system, higher heart rate, prey animal metabolism, is that they do need more anethesia to make them truly go under.  It actually is a bit of a fine line between just enough and too much.  So typically there is a real balance that a skilled rabbit-savvy vet needs to achieve to keep a rabbit safely under.  That is also the reason why rabbits need to be healthy when they do go under as some health issues can cause complications when going under.  

I am not saying your vet wasn’t skilled as I am sure if I asked my very experienced rabbit-savvy vet that she’d have some close calls before too. I’ve never asked her that, but it would be hard for me to imagine that something like this never happened before. 

So I would just talk to your vet about this.  Ask him/her why she/he thinks this happened. And ask if there could be a health issue (like liver or kidney problems) that could have caused this. With older bunnies, a blood test will usually be done to rule that out before a bunny goes under surgery, but with younger bunnies, it is less likely that the blood test will be done first just because it is assumed that a younger bunny will not have health issues. 

  You could also get a second opinion from another rabbit-savvy vet as well. 

[TaraMichele]

When I was choosing my vet I went to one place and asked how often this occurred and she said it happened to her a few times, this made me nervous so I went to another vet and asked and when she said she hasn’t had it happen in a long time, and that usually it occurs when a vet isn’t as experienced at giving the anesthesia because it is such a delicate process….I chose the second vet

[RabbitPam]

I think it’s OK to talk to your current vet about it, but see if there is another one near you that may give you a choice.
I also wonder if a different kind of anesthesia would not bring on a reaction. I know I can’t have a kind that used to be used in hospitals, but was fine with another type.

It’s better to get it done. However, males do not have the same risk that females do, ie. cancer, if they don’t. But he will spray and act more aggressive while his hormones go unchecked. If he’s going to be a solitary bunny you can live with that. Not good if you wanted to ever get another one. I’d say your next step is to make some calls and do a bit of research locally.

[Stickerbunny]

That is scary, I am so glad your bun is OK though! Call up the rabbit vets in the area and discuss it with several. Also, did you get blood work done before the surgery? Some medical problems make neutering not an option, though it is very rare. If you can’t get him neutered due to his health, you may have to deal with a little bad behavior (especially while he is young) but it would most likely calm down as he got older.

[Sarita]

Definitely discuss this with your current vet and see what she advises. Bloodwork would be a good idea as well.

[Milove]

yeah i am going to take him to a rabbit-only vet and have blood work done to see if anythings up. thanks for all your responses!

[bunnyfriend]

Oh that is is so scary, I’m sorry. Glad he is okay though! There’s a list on the House Rabbit Society of recommended vets, have you checked that out?

[Cuckoo]

I have a friend who works with lab animals, and they usually perform injection on animals after anestheisa.

He worked with lab mice and usually they sedate then with isoflourane gas. Sometimes the mice would die in isoflourane gas. Now I know mice and rabbits are different species, but they share the common ancestor traits. I think the therapeutic index for isoflourane gas is pretty low for rodents. He said that the mice usually die because isoflourane gas could be stored temporary in their fat tissues. And you wouldn’t see any affect on them right the way to stop increase the gas concentration. Then the fat tissue would release the toxic gas slowly, which could kill them since now they’ve exposed to lethal dose of gas.

I am sure the vet has more advance system and skilled, but that happens everywhere and also very scary. Good luck with this!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

OH WOW!! I was freaked when I saw the title-but so glad to hear they revived him!

 I agree-discuss with the vet and even get a second opinion and blood work done. Certainly it could have been a disagreeable anestetic and there could be a different one available.

Now I’m going to say something unfavorable…but here it is: If that were my bunny I wouldn’t attempt a neuter again. I am the BIGGEST proponent of spay/neuter. I honestly can say I don’t stay friends with people who ‘don’t feel it’s right to mess with their pet’ and let them stay intact. I think it’s irresponsible and wrong. BUT given this occurence, IF it were me, I think I’d just let him stay as is. If he were a she, that would be harder call as females are so prone to cancer. But a male bunny…gosh I really would go against the grain and just leave him intact. (Now that’s for ME and knowing I wouldn’t have an intact female ever around him, and would forgive the litter habits, possible biting and spraying…just mho)

[Cassi&Charlie]

I’m glad Milo is ok! This will be a tough decision for you, but I”m sure that after talking to your vet and thinking about it, you’ll come to the right decision 🙂

[blackfang]

any update yet?

[Milove]

No, I still have to make an appointment with this other vet but I haven’t cause I’m still thinking about everything. I’m kind of leaning towards not neutering him… is that going to be a huge problem if I want to get a spayed female rabbit in the future? Will he be aggressive towards her?

[blackfang]

Yes it will be aggressive towards to her like humping her every 15 minutes or so.. It depends on your male rabbit’s personality.

[Beka27]

That’s so scary! Neutering in males is more of an “elective procedure”, so I might not try to neuter again if I were you, unless you can get some kind of concrete answers as to what happened. If you do not get him neutered, he WILL need to be a single bunny however. I would not get another rabbit for the purpose of bonding, or IMO opinion, at all. Having an unneutered male in the same house as another bunny can bring up all kinds of unfavorable behaviors like marking territory and spraying urine. You would be better off not “rocking the boat” and just keeping him solo.

BUT… with that said, this presents a larger concern if he ever needs non-elective surgery, like for tooth trims or an abscess or any number of health problems down the road. So I would definitely try to figure out what happened…

[Stickerbunny]

I would leave him solo if you can’t get him neutered, there have been some who have had success but the likelihood of him humping the female like a mad bunny is high and it stresses them out to be in that situation. My male even through a baby gate went NUTS smelling a female, even a spayed one. And the hormones might make him spray etc more if you get another rabbit. My male unaltered was a perfect gentleman until I got the girly in the house, then I had to get him fixed to have any peace, even with her across the house (though now they are bonded). 

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