They were spayed today

[Sandy]

Hi everyone, Milkshake and Pizza were both spayed today. They sent them home wuth ecollars. In your experience should they get used to that and be able to eat? I have offered food but they would only eat a few nibbles of kale. Any suggestions please would be appreciated.

[Luna]

I know some members here have used post-spay/post-neuter collars, so hopefully they will chime in with their experience . Luna wasn’t sent home with one. It isn’t unusual for buns to not want to eat right when they come home from a spay, so that’s good that they are starting to eat veggies on their own. Were they sent home with pain meds? One reason buns will mess with their incision is due to pain, so if their pain is managed well I think it would be ok to take their collars off to at least eat (while you supervise) if you think it will help. Are the stitches subcutaneous or did the vet say they needed to come back to get the stitches removed? There’s less of a chance of them ripping them out if the stitches are subcutaneous.

[Sandy]

The stitches are self dissolving and yes i do have pain meds. It is liquid and i give it every morning. I have them in separate cages and they are both laying in their litter box which i cleaned last night with hay on top. I laid one of their small blankets in there to lay on for softness, do you think thats ok?
I plan to put the collar back on before bed.

[Luna]

Absolutely . If they are within eyesight, you can probably leave the collars off if they don’t start licking their incision site. I agree that it is a good idea to keep the collars on while you sleep since you won’t be able to watch them. Did the vet say how long he thinks Milkshake and Pizza will have to use the collars? A few days?

[Sandy]

She said 14 days ugh!

[Luna]

That seems long for collars. I would think that once their pain meds run out, then the collars could come off. Of course, this might be something you need to call your vet and discuss again. I would call and ask the following: if after their pain meds run out they aren’t licking their incision site, can their collars come off?

I am not suggesting you go against your vet’s advice. However, if my Luna were sent home with a collar, knowing that I am managing her pain with meds and that she is not licking or otherwise interested in her incision, I might leave the collar on overnight for the first few nights, but then I would be inclined to keep it off if she isn’t showing signs of pain or that she will mess with the incision. Luna healed exceptionally quick though, so a few days for her might be a week for a different bun.

[Sandy]

Today is the day after surgery. Milkshake has drank water and i seen her eat a few blades of hay. Pizza however has not drank much water at all if any and i haven’t seen her eat except for the nibble of kale last night. I read where if they haven’t eaten by the next day after surgery i should take some pellets and water and made a mush and feed with a syringe. I did give her a syringe of water this morning. She is groming herself though which encouraged me. Do you think i should go ahead and do the mush or wait a little longer? I did give pain meds about an hour ago.

[Lauren]

When I got my rabbits done both didn’t eat after surgery and wouldn’t go to the toilet so I had to take them back and they were given an injection to get everything moving again and then they started to eat. The vet also gave me some recovery food which was given as a mushy liquid but they weren’t a fan as it’s got a very strong herb smell. I’m guessing mushy their pellets up with water is basically the same thing. It’s important to get your bunny eating something and going to the toilet otherwise they can get blocked up.
As for the collar mine weren’t given one and didn’t really bother with trying to lick the stitches. They never had any problems either than not eating or going to the toilet.

[Sandy]

Update, Pizza did eat a small piece of kale when offered a little while ago. I will monitor them carefully today. If they don’t bother their incisions I’m going to leave the collar off. They can’t eat or drink with it on. Thanks for all your help, don’t know what I’d do without you all!

[Luna]

If leaving the collars off helps them to eat/drink, then I would definitely leave the collars off while you monitor them. That’s good that Pizza ate some Kale . If they don’t start eating more, then I would make the pellet mash too.

After a spay, it’s not unusual for them to not go back to eating their normal quantity of food right away. It does take time. But every day they should be eating a little more than the day before. Poop consistency and size can also take time to return to normal.

[Nutmeg]

nNy update Sandy? How are they doing?
How have the collars been going?

[Author]

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