To Neuter or Not?

[Amanda Bartlett]

Hi BinkyBunny community! I have a year old male Holland lop named Cheeto who is a rescue. He has not been neutered. My partner and I are moving out to San Francisco from the state of Iowa, and are struggling to find any spay/neuter services at all, let alone affordable ones (please note: we are in our 20s and paying off student loans while trying to survive the chaotic housing market there.) Cheeto is the sweetest, friendliest bun I could imagine, and does not have any behavioral issues other than peeing on the bed occasionally  Also, he won’t be living with any other bunnies. Is there a health risk for male rabbits who are not neutered? I’ve read that it can cut off their life span from 10-12 years to 5-7, which worries us. Please provide any and all information that might help.

[kurottabun]

Hello and welcome to Binkybunny!

There is a risk for testicular cancer for male bunnies, although when compared to uterine cancer in female bunnies the percentage is still much lower. If money is tight at the moment, I don’t think it’ll hurt to delay the neuter for a bit since he’s only a year old

[Sirius&Luna]

I’ve had a quick look, and most places seem to say that the risks of neutering get higher when a rabbit is over 3, with 5-6 being considered ‘too old’. Of course it does depend on what the vet feels comfortable with too, but I would say you have a couple of years to save up/find a different clinic.

While neutering isn’t as essential for male rabbits as it is female, I think it is worth doing while they’re still healthy, rather than when it becomes essential because of something like cancer. I can’t find any stats on the rates of testicular cancers in male bunnies, but I don’t think it’s especially high. I’m not sure where the cutting of their life span by 5 years comes from though, that seems dramatic.

This is all I can find:
http://animals.mom.me/testicle-problems-rabbits-3089.html

[Bam]

I don’t think the 5 year cutting off of the lifespan is correct if you have a single male intact bunny. Like cats, intact male buns get into fights with other males and that can lead to very serious injuries and even death. Intact girls and boys can also fight. But fighting requires the presence of another rabbit.

Another thing that potentially could shorten an intact male rabbit’s life could be the stress from an intense urge to procreate. Before my Bam was neutered he had a crush on my dog, and I think it would’ve shortened his life if I hadn’t put an end to it by getting him neutered. He pursued the dog, circled her, peed on her, even nipped her. He’d follow her everywhere, all the time, and when I tried to separate him from her with a gate, he tried to jump the gate and bite his way through it. He was relentless, like a bun possessed. It must’ve been so stressful for him, and if it had been allowed to go on, I think he’d have had a heart attack or sth.

Male buns can be neutered when they’re old. My Bam was at least two, maybe older (he’s a found rabbit). If a bunny is on the old-ish side you can have blood tests done beforehand to find out if his liver function is good enough for him to cope with anesthesia.

Here’s an article about testicular cancer in rabbits. Richard Saunders who is listed as a contributor to the article is a very well-renowned British rabbit vet: http://www.vetstream.com/treat/lapis/freeform/testis-neoplasia-overview

(Neoplasia means abnormal growth of tissue that usually forms a mass, in which case it’s called a tumor.) 

[Author]

Messages