Could my rabbit have died due to a spaying procedure?

[Jiallombardo]

Hello. My bunny died today during a spaying procedure. The doctors said that he stopped breathing during the operation, but his heart was still beating, and they failed to resuscitate the rabbit. It was a male bunny, half a year old, didn't have issues with weight. They also mentioned that they applied a half dosage of anesthesia due to this being our rabbit's first procedure.

The question is -- how likely is it that the death was caused by the veterenarians who handled the procedure? They said that the reason of death was unclear and could have been related to a genetic disorder.

 

[peanutdabunny]

I had my bunbun die in a spay, she also stopped breathing, wasnt a great vet because they didnt do a checkup. They should offer to get your bunny sent to a lab to see how they died, sorry for your loss

 

[JBun]

If they aren't very experienced with rabbits, then yes, it could very well have been caused by the vet. Rabbits are very sensitive to anesthesia, and a vet that doesn't know what they're doing when it comes to rabbits, could easily make a mistake.

But it's also possible your rabbit had an underlying health condition that caused him to have problems dealing with having anesthesia. There's really no way to know for sure without a proper necropsy done.

 

[Jiallombardo]

Thank you for the reply! The thing is, that same vet performed spaying on our other bun, who is female (and, AFAIK, the spaying procedure is more dangerous for females), and it went well. Our female bun had a very strong character, and she actually was very territorial around the now deceased bunny (she even bit him a couple of times when we tried to bond them, that was actually one of the reasons we decided to spay the second bunny). May he rest in peace in bunny heaven...

 

[NYAngela]

Hello. My bunny died today during a spaying procedure. The doctors said that he stopped breathing during the operation, but his heart was still beating, and they failed to resuscitate the rabbit. It was a male bunny, half a year old, didn't have issues with weight. They also mentioned that they applied a half dosage of anesthesia due to this being our rabbit's first procedure.

The question is -- how likely is it that the death was caused by the veterenarians who handled the procedure? They said that the reason of death was unclear and could have been related to a genetic disorder.

I’m so sorry for your loss, unfortunately I know how you feel . We lost our first bun after a failed neutering attempt. His heart reacted poorly to the anesthesia so the (very experienced) vet did not proceed. We brought him home and the next day he suffered an aneurysm, and he bled out. The vet had a necropsy performed but the results were inconclusive. They believe it was an underlying heart condition the vet said she hadn’t seen anything like it before.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

So sorry for your loss. Sometimes it just happens. Human surgical mortality is 1 in10,000 for no apparent reason. Every time we do a neuter, it is a very nervous time for us. Nicky is due next month and it's scheduled, but, there's always a bit of doubt.