Post Neuter Care

[mdith4him]

We got Nibbles back from the vet this afternoon after his neuter. He was fixed yesterday around 2 p.m. and they kept him overnight. I brought him home around 4 p.m. today. He seems to be doing pretty good! He's fairly active, hopping around the small area we have set up for him, jumping in and out of his litter box (though not pooping or peeing yet), and is getting lots of pets from me! I do have a couple questions about his recovery...

-Normally, he runs around in a large NIC cage we've set up for him. I read that buns should be quiet and rest after neutering, so I redid a couple things and put him in a much smaller area (still plenty of room to stretch out)--about 3.5 ft long and 1.5 ft wide. He's already tried to push his way out and seems a bit stir crazy. How long should we keep him in there? Once we let him out into the bigger space, I know he's going to try running in huge circles--when will that be okay?

-How long should we wait before letting him jump up to upper levels or on top of boxes?

-What did your vets tell you about time between neutering and putting them together with a female? I've heard 4 weeks/1 month around here (and elsewhere), but our vet told me that while 4 weeks was okay, 8 weeks would be safest! I was really hoping to bond our bunnies sooner than 8 weeks from now! Any thoughts?

-He's been home for almost 5 hours now and no poops/pee. The vet said he was pooping/peeing fine overnight (and he actually peed in his carrier on the way home), but he hasn't gone in his litter box yet. He has been eating a bit. Do rabbits go longer between poops and pees after a surgery?


This is totally unrelated to the above, but do rabbits get hiccups? I was petting our other bunny earlier and all of a sudden her whole body was jumping/convulsing like you do when you have hiccups! It went away after about 30 seconds. Just curious :?

Thanks!

 

[OneTwoThree]

Did they give you pain meds?

I didn't make my females pen any smaller, but I did clear out anything she might want to jump on (her cardboard boxes). Her pen is about 4x6. I just put her box back in at 10 days since we got her stitches out today. But I also let her out for her play time after 6 days, she was begging to get out.
I've heard 4 weeks, but he's right, 8 weeks would be
safest. It would also ensure that all the hormones are gone.

Its been a while, has he pooped yet?

Yes they get hiccups

 

[oryctolaguslady]

Neutering is a relatively minor operation compared to a spay - I did not reduce the area my male buns had after a neuter, although like OnetwoThree I would suggest moving out anything he night jump on. Keep an eye on the incision for any excessive bleeding or signs of infection developing.

It is very important to coax Nibbles to eat enough and to drink. If he does not seem to want to drink water, you can add a little fruit juice to the water to tempt him to drink, and try coaxing him to eat a fair amount, even if that means offering a few little treats. It is normal for poops to slow down after surgery (and they may be small when they first reappear) but if there are no poops within 24 hours you shoudl call your vet.

 

[LakeCondo]

Does he like chewing on cardboard or paper? That would keep him busy but not strain "back there."

 

[mdith4him]

Thanks for the help! We did get pain meds (I dribbled it on a romaine leaf this a.m. and he ate it like a champ). He's eating and drinking a little less than normal, but he is getting some food and drink in his system. He loves cardboard and has plenty of that available, too! When we got up this morning, I saw he had pooped (looks pretty normal, too) in his litter box, but I didn't see anything wet. Of course, then he proceeded to pee on the blankets, not in the box! Oh, well...at least he IS peeing!

I let him out into his normal NIC cage area and he was doing some running and binkies ( ), but we did take away anything that he could jump on.

We'll see how things go today! Thanks again

 

[missyscove]

Glad to hear he's recovering well . I'd agree with your vet on the 8 weeks if your female is unspayed although if you plan to have the female spayed, it may be easiest to wait until after that to do any serious bonding as you'll likely have to separate them for her surgery as well.
You could certainly begin some aspects of bonding sooner, like caging them closer together or even swapping their cages on occasion, swapping items back and forth to get them used to eachother's scent, etc.

 

[mdith4him]

Our little girl bun is only about 9 weeks old, so she won't be spayed until this summer. We're really hoping we can bond them sooner since their cage/xpen/NIC cages are taking over our living room! We do have them in cages next to each other so they've seen and sniffed one another. She seems mildly interested in him. He...well, I can't tell if he's excited, annoyed, filled with hate, frustrated because he can't actually get to her, or what!! He likes touching noses through the bars, but sometimes I think he nips her because she jerks away. He also will sometimes run in circles around me when I'm in his cage area, then thump when he's circling past her cage, then starts to do binkies! :? Crazy bun!

 

[LakeCondo]

Well, it sounds like it will be interesting when they finally get together. But his behavior towards her might be calmer now that he's neutered.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our vet told us to keep the boys penned up for 4 days and then let them go back to normal. Was also told it can take up to 4 weeks for the hormones to vacate. Usually, girls can be done at 4 months and we've been told it's best to try bonding after instead of before neutering.

 

[mdith4him]

Our girl is a Netherland Dwarf and I had read somewhere that vets usually like the animals (bunnies or otherwise) to be at least 2 lbs before doing a neuter or spay. Not sure if that's accurate, but she's so tiny, I can't imagine she'll be 2 lbs at 4 months! She'll be 6 months by mid-May, but I figured I would just wait until summer. I teach, so I have summers off and it will be easier to schedule then