Upcoming spay, UPDATE of the spay!

[Nelli]

Yes, scared to bits, haha. I’m taking our two bunnies to be spayed on the same day (next Tuesday) as that is the most convenient. I spoke with the nurse on the phone, and she seemed really well informed about rabbit spays, They asked me to:

– bring the bunnies there in separate carriers

– supply with favorite foods even before spay, but no hay in carriers as the buns might injure their eyes when waking up

– provide water bowls for both

– line the carriers with towels and fleece, and provide a warm blanket/fleece to cover them after the operation

However, as I asked about the pain meds, she said they will give one shot and that will be enough to keep the bunny comfortable until most of the pain is gone. So that there is no need for pain meds! I’m not so happy with this, I will try to ask and demand some pain killers for them (I went through enough operations myself to know how terrible the pain really is), but now I’m scared that they just won’t write a prescription. What to do?? (Other places weren’t spaying rabbits) Can I somehow help them with their pain with “home remedies”?

Do you have any other advice what I should do? What I have then at home is:

– another adult to watch over the bunnies

– I’m going to stock up on their favorite foods (which foods did you find helpful after a spay?)

– they will have separate “pens” with fleece on the bottom, plus litter boxes with lower sides (easy access)

 Should I put the pens next to each other so they can get some comfort from each other? (They’ve never been separated) Should I try to let them wear some “bodysock” or something, so that they won’t pick on their incisions?

Any advice and even small tips will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Sally and Harley just got the shot for a 24 hour pain med and that was it. Sally actually did better than Harley did. She was nibbling on her kale late that night and the next day she was being a piggy. On the 3rd day she was going crazy to get out of the cage and run around and was basically back to normal. The vet said if Sally doesn’t eat within 24 hours from coming home THEN to bring her back and they’ll give her pain meds but they did hundreds of rabbit spays and it was a rare occasion that someone had to bring their rabbit back for pain. When they were giving out pain meds they had more people returning their buns from busted stitches because the rabbit wasn’t as aware of the pain and doing more things than they were capable too soon. But neither of my buns got additional pain meds

My advice is to speak with your vet about your concerns they may have a good reason behind it and reassure you or they may give you pain meds to make you feel better lol

[Nelli]

Thank you so much NewBunnyOwner123, that was really helpful and comforting! I can believe that would be the reason here as well for not giving additional pain meds, makes sense now that you said it.

[MoveDiagonally]

All my bunnies got the shot and take home pain meds. Honestly, I would feel more comfortable with pain meds on hand. If you don’t need them, great! But if you do need them you’ll have them.

[Nelli]

So, now we have both bunnies spayed. It was an ordeal I have to tell you, and it’s still tough. The operations went well, no complications or anything. We got the bunnies home pretty soon after the operations, the bunnies were still groggy. Nelli was very still, she only came out of the carrier when we opened it (and didn’t enter it again although we left it in her temp cage as a “hut”) and just dozed next to a warm water bottle under a fleece blanket. She didn’t eat anything until we gave her some lukewarm oat and pellet mix with a syringe (recommended by the doctor). We gave her that two times more that day, and by the evening she was nibbling some parsley and lettuce. Malla on the other hand was very agitated, she got out of her carrier and jumped straight on it! (It’s a big carrier for flying cats) She was so scared and tried to run and hide. Finally I got her to settle down next to a warm water bottle and under a fleece. She wouldn’t eat either, and syringe feeding was a terrible failure with her.

In the morning after the spay Nelli had produced some nice looking poop, but Malla nothing. I fed them again with syringe, and Malla seemed to be in a lot of pain. I called the vet, and they told me to bring Malla back in. She got a shot of pain meds, a shot of liquids under her belly, and a shot of vitamin B. They told me to call again the next day just to be sure she’s getting better. They also told me, that we could put the bunnies together into a cage, no need to separate them. Malla started nibbling some lettuce first, then some parsley. They both had some banana. By that evening Malla had pooped just the tiniest little poop. But what happened then was that Malla started attacking Nelli for some reason, so we separated them for the night.

In the morning Malla hadn’t pooped or peed or eaten anything during the night. So, I syringe fed them again, with some more luck with Malla who actually ate the stuff this time properly, not just a mil or two. I called the doctor and he said everything sounds much better, that medicating more is not going to help, but that when Malla starts moving around her stomach is going to work as well. In the afternoon we decided it was time to put their regular litter box into their cage and try to let them be together again. While fixing the cage we let Malla wonder free on the floor, and so happened that the litter box was ready and waiting on the floor Malla jumped in it and left behind a nice heap of poop and a good amount of pee. I guess she wasn’t happy doing her business somewhere “strange”, haha. Anyway, they both eat better now and move etc, BUT, Malla is still attacking Nelli. We don’t know what to do, except separate them for now. Nelli has lost lots of weight and I don’t think this stress is good for her. They don’t fight, by the way, only Malla kind of bites Nelli from her sides (leaves no marks). Nelli just runs away.

Any advice?

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