I'm freaking out

[Ivythelionhead]

Hi so I just set up a vet appointment for Saturday morning to get Iris spayed and I'm freaking out, I've just heard all these horror stories about rabbits dying while getting spayed or after coming home there personality is different and they are vicious and or just not the same and I just need people to talk with me about this being a good thing cause I know I should get her spayed because it can prolong her life and keep her from getting cancer and other diseases but I'm just so scared this is my first rabbit I've ever spayed and I have taking my pets to this vet many times and no problems but I'm just worried I guess about what could happen.

 

[jelandusn]

If it helps, when I had my rabbits over 10 years ago, they got spayed and had no problems at all. I'm sure things have only gotten better!

 

[katiecrna]

I had my rabbit spayed 4 weeks ago and I was freaking out too. She did great. But like a lot of bunnies she went into A little GI stasis right after because of the anesthesia and stress and when the vet took me back to teach me how to give her her medication I just started to cry. I thought the worst of course.

But she did great, I'm just a baby lol. And her personality is as sassy as ever which is what makes her her.

I am so happy and relieved I did it. It's worth it. But I agree it's a stressful time for you.

You and your bunny will be fine! ) goodluck and we are here for you.

 

[RavenousDragon]

There is a fairly low risk of an animal not waking up from a spay surgery (almost none if they are healthy!). I'm sure if you look, you will find millions of horror stories, but no one reports the surgeries that went off without a hitch! In my experience, if a rabbit's personality changes after a spay, she becomes LESS aggressive- not more. Often, they do not change (although I've found most do have better litter box habits!). I personally very strongly believe you are doing the right thing by spaying her!

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Thanx everyone it helps to hear positive stories, I want to get her spayed I really do I've just always been a very paranoid animal owner and I freak out at the slightest change in my animals behaviour or when they have gone to the vet I'm just worried sick.
Do you know if the vet will give me any medicine for the pain afterward just cause I've heard some rabbits need it cause the pain is so bad and stuff afterward, also how long dose the healing process take....I guess that's a silly question because all rabbits are different....and what should I expect after the spay and signs I should look out for if there's an issue, also can I still let her run around free range right after the spay.

 

[stevesmum]

You have to demand pain medication for after the surgery. A rabbit in pain will not eat and then you invite issues like gut stasis. A good vet will know that. Don't leave there without pain meds!! And no, she cannot be let out for at least 3 days after surgery to run around, or she may do something reckless and hurt herself. Even if she begs just make her stay in her cage. I don't know what you use for bedding but when my first bunny got spayed I had her on an old towel and used soft stuff like newspaper for her litter box. Keep everything as clean as possible and soft so that she doesn't injure the incision. It's also a good idea to have critical care on hand for just in case she doesn't eat on her own. If you don't have any then learn to make a slurry out of moistened pellets. She will need some tlc but should heal up just fine. Inspect the incision daily looking for redness warmth discharge or swelling. Good luck.

 

[stevesmum]

Oh yeah also you should have a hot water bottle or something like that, when they first come home from surgery they get cold and should be kept warm and quiet.

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Okey I use fleece as a bedding and and my litre box litre is pretty soft already but should I clean her litre box out daily also how much pain meds should I demand??

 

[stevesmum]

I'm sure someone on here can advise on pain meds, I'm not sure how much, but the vet will know. I would clean her litter box daily for sure.

 

[RavenousDragon]

Generally 3-5 days of pain meds are enough. It obviously depends very much on the rabbit, but we do have to keep in mind that silly humans believe they will be in pain and so they are (e.g. if you have a big gash on your body, it's almost like a placebo effect that you are in pain after a certain time). Few rabbits (in my experience) with the combination of IV pain meds given during surgery and the oral meds sent home show signs of pain after 3 days (which doesn't always mean they are pain free, but usually that's sufficient time to prevent most pain). Generally, keeping these guys quiet for 3-5 days is also a good idea (7 if you want to be super technical in terms of suture strength and healing potential of tissue), but complete inactivity leads to stasis, so it's sort of a give and take. It would be best if there were no binkies until after 7 days.

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Okey so 4 to 5 days of pain meds should be good also she's not a huge binkyer but I'll keep her in her cage for atleast 4 maybe 5 days and keep her as calm as I can so there's no problem, how soon should she eat and drink and stuff after her spay, right away because I know when people have a huge surgery they don't feel like eating right away also can sage eat and drink before surgery?

 

[stevesmum]

Yes they don't fast before surgery. Rabbits can not vomit so there is no risk of her aspirating stomach contents. Rabbits always have to have something in their tummies. She may not feel much like eating after surgery so be sure to keep the hay always fresh and offer wet leafy greens.

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Okey will do thank you all so much for your help

 

[Aki]

I agree with everything that was said.
All of my rabbits have been neutered / spayed with no problem. The rabbit should eat until just before the operation (bring her with hay and a bit of greens). She probably won't want to eat much when you take her home, as she will be hurting and feeling bad, but should be eating again the day after. This is why Metacam is important (I give it for five days, it's about 0.5 ml for one kilo of rabbit - normally, the vet will have given her an injection for the first night, but let him tell you that it suffice for several days, it's NOT as it lasts only 24h). You'll have to make sure the rabbit doesn't eat her stitches if the vet doesn't bandage her.

About the risks of the operation. The House Rabbit society reports about one death for a thousand rabbits they had neutered / spayed. The risk is very very low. 3 times out of 4, if the vet is good, it means the rabbit had an underlaying heart condition which would probably have killed the rabbit at some point anyway. Bringing a rabbit for an operation is daunting so ask the vet at what time the surgery ends and if you can call to know how it went (generally the vet will want to keep the rabbit 5-6 hours after the operation before you can get her to make sure she woke up fine and ate something). That way, you are only stressing out for 3-4 hours instead of the whole day^^.
About the change of personality... Think about it for one minute. It's a spay. They take out ovaries. It's not a personality transplant. Some people say that their rabbit "changed personality", but I think it's because we generally spay when rabbits are teenagers. A baby's personality won't shine through before the rabbit becomes an adult. I think people like to accuse the operation when it's really just that they don't like their adult rabbit as much as when it was a baby (most rabbits are more independant, don't like to cuddle or be handled as adult). None of my rabbits ever changed personality after a neuter or a spay, except for the fact that they were cleaner and able to cohabitate without trying to hump other rabbits to death.

 

[BlackMiniRex]

when i dropped Andy off to get neutered i also freaked out when the form i had to sign said '...your rabbit could die...' (not exact words) but it was probably just so if anything went wrong i couldn't sue them Lol

I kept Andy in his cage (dog crate, with comfy bedding like towels and fleece) for about a week (he was not happy) he didn't really seem interested in going the bathroom for the first few days, he was just really tired from the surgery. Then gave him his metacam, (i think that's how you spell it) following the instructions they gave me. after the week had past i let him out of his crate for only a few hours a day. this was all back in October, now he's perfectly fine and he's back to his old self (just without the mounting thankfully :rollseyes )

 

[katiecrna]

Okey I use fleece as a bedding and and my litre box litre is pretty soft already but should I clean her litre box out daily also how much pain meds should I demand??

So I'm paranoid like you... so what I did was clean her cage when she was gone, removed anything that she can jump up in because they shouldn't be jumping it can tear their stitches.

I also made my pen smaller because I didn't want her to run around and hurt herself.

I cleaned the litter box everyday and any poop I saw in her cage for 2 reasons... one was so when she sat in the litter it was clean, you don't want her to sit in poop/pee and infect her incision. Second was so I can closely keep an eye on how much she was really pooping everyday. Even how much she was pooping within a couple hours.

A spay is more invasive than a neuter. They are essentially doing a hysterectomy on our rabbits ... so anyway I read and was instructed to keep my rabbit in her cage for 10-14 days and not let her jump on anything. Of course I had to take her out 3x a day to give her her medication but that was Bc she went into stasis.

 

[katiecrna]

So I'm paranoid like you... so what I did was clean her cage when she was gone, removed anything that she can jump up in because they shouldn't be jumping it can tear their stitches.

I also made my pen smaller because I didn't want her to run around and hurt herself.

I cleaned the litter box everyday and any poop I saw in her cage for 2 reasons... one was so when she sat in the litter it was clean, you don't want her to sit in poop/pee and infect her incision. Second was so I can closely keep an eye on how much she was really pooping everyday. Even how much she was pooping within a couple hours.

A spay is more invasive than a neuter. They are essentially doing a hysterectomy on our rabbits ... so anyway I read and was instructed to keep my rabbit in her cage for 10-14 days and not let her jump on anything. Of course I had to take her out 3x a day to give her her medication but that was Bc she went into stasis.

 

[JBun]

These are really questions you should be asking the vet before the spay so that you know if your vet is rabbit savvy or not, as getting the wrong answer from them might mean you should be finding a better rabbit vet for the surgery.

Questions to ask the vet are: if you will be sent home with pain meds, which one, and how many days worth. If they don't say they send several days worth of pain meds(usually meloxicam/metacam) home with you I would suggest finding a more rabbit savvy vet who knows that rabbits need to be sent home with pain meds. Ask if you need to fast your rabbit the night before the spay. If the vet says yes, find a different vet as this one is not rabbit savvy. The vet should also tell you how long to keep your bun on restricted activity. This should be 1-2 weeks of no running or jumping, as a spay is an invasive surgery and you don't want to risk injury to the incision.

You will likely get the answers to these questions from the receptionist. Sometimes they are not well informed, so if they answer any of these questions wrong, ask the receptionist to confirm these things directly with the vet. If the vet confirms that you will not receive several days of take home pain meds or that you should fast your rabbit, find a different vet. Any good rabbit vet should know that rabbits need pain medication as rabbits in pain are less likely to want to eat, and that you should never fast a rabbit prior to surgery as rabbits can't vomit and it's also essential to keep their digestive tract moving by continuing to feed them, to help prevent GI stasis setting in.

As for eating after the surgery, a rabbit should be eating well by the next morning, if not then syringe feeding may be necessary. But again, this is something your vet should go over with you either before or after the surgery.

A few other things that can make the surgery and outcome as safe as possible for your bun, though it will also increase the costs of the surgery. Have blood work done prior to the spay to ensure your bun doesn't have any kidney or liver problems, and doesn't have an underlying infection. Make sure your vet intubates for the surgery. This ensures a secure airway during the surgery. Not always necessary, but I did have one rabbit that would have died without this being done. Check or request that your bun has an IV set up for the surgery. This means your bun will have IV fluids and will also be able to more easily receive life saving meds if anything does go wrong. Also having the best and most experienced rabbit vet in your area performing the surgery. None of these things are absolutely necessary for a successful spay for a normal healthy rabbit, but there are always the rare few instances where having these things done can save the life of the rabbit if there does happen to be a problem. But like I said, it will drive up the cost, probably by a few hundred dollars unless it is already included in the current price you were quoted.

You may also want to take a look at this link, as it has some good pre and post spay/neuter info.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/opcare.html

 

[Ivythelionhead]

How do you k ow if your rabbit goes into GI Stasis?

 

[Aki]

Ivy, you'll know if your rabbit is in stasis. She won't poop and won't eat,
staying hunched (like a hen on a nest) or pressing her belly on the ground and not moving around much. It never happened to any of mine after a spay, so it can happen but it's not a fatality .
To avoid it, you need to manage the post-op pain (metacam, leaving her alone, but checking everyday that she hasn't chewed on her stitches and that the wound doesn't look red / infected), make sure she eats hay and wet vegetables, and gently moves around (I know some vets advise to keep the rabbit confined in her cage after a spay, but moving around help the guts to work - your rabbit shouldn't do big jumps for 2 weeks after the spay, but preventing her from moving will stress her and increase the risks of stasis). Check her litter often. As long as she's pooping, everything's fine. You might have a few small poops one day or two after the operation and that's nothing to worry about.

If you think GI stasis is occuring, you'll need to go to your vet again, for a gut stimulant and probably an injection of pain meds (it works better than the oral version, and stasis is often caused by pain). Stasis is generally easy to cure when you do it in the first 24H. So, the important thing is to keep an eye on things, while trying to keep your cool (that's the hard part ^^)