One rabbit bleeding after spay, another very groggy still?

[tab_b]

We had both of our lovely (female) rabbits spayed yesterday. They are housed separately and one (Ella) is 3 years old and the other (Bishop) is 5 and a half. Ella was pretty much awake and happy when he picked her up from the vets yesterday but this morning when we checked on her hutch, there's a rather large patch of blood on the floor of her hutch. Is this normal? I know when our dog had surgery, seeping blood was expected but I don't know for rabbits. Unfortunately, we admit to being terrible and not doing research for post-op care. Is it still too late to provide a blanket and warmth source? She seems happy and healthy, I'm just worried about the blood.

Our other rabbit, Bishop, hasn't moved much. She's ate and drunk a little bit, but doesn't appear to have been to the toilet yet. They're housed separately so I'm not concerned about the other licking each other's wound or anything like that. She's a smaller rabbit compared to Ella and older, so is it likely she's just still groggy from the surgery? We didn't get given any pain meds to administer ourselves, but they did get some while they were at the vets.

I'm hoping both our rabbits bounce back (pun intended!) so I can slowly introduce them on neutral territory in hopes that they'll bond, despite being two females.

Thank you for any advice you can offer! I read plenty about the benefits of spaying and why it's important, and somehow neglected to read what to expect afterwards and feel terrible.

 

[JBun]

Have you checked the incision site to make sure she hasn't chewed on it or opened it up? If she has, contact your vet immediately.

If your other rabbit is hardly eating or drinking at all still, you need to call your vet as she likely needs more pain meds and you may need to start syringe feeds. It's not good for rabbits to go more that 24 hours without eating enough to keep their digestive tract moving well.

You also really should have been sent home with oral pain medication to give to them, usually meloxicam. This is an invasive and painful surgery. If I just had a hysterectomy, I certainly would expect to receive pain medication. Frankly any rabbit vet that doesn't send home pain medication after a spay, isn't very knowledgeable in my opinion. Pain control is an essential component to getting a rabbit eating again.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/opcare.html

 

[tab_b]

I'm unfortunately starting to realise that now after our vet. When we called them they said they did rabbit spaying no problems and they had a vet who knew the procedure and it seemed fine (they seemed confident) but after reading a few things online, I wish we hadn't blindly trusted them.

Ella doesn't like to approach people when her cage is opened but I will try to coax her out so I can look at her incision gently. And I'll contact the vets regardless, because while Bishop has eaten and drunk some, I wouldn't consider it much.

Thank you for your advice, I hope they'll both be okay despite the circumstances. I won't be making this mistake a second time.