Risks of Spaying too early?? (Urgent)

[Cayzi]

I brought my 2 Rabbits to the vet. One had an appointment to be neutered. That rabbit is 4 months old. The other I was just bringing for a check up because shes way to young to be spayed. Shes roughly 12 weeks.

The vet told us our first rabbit was actually a girl. So that was a surprised and we said okay, let's spay her. They told us they could spay the other rabbit as well. We questioned it saying we just brought her for a check up we thought she'd be too young being only 12 weeks. (shes very small as well 1.12 pounds while the other rabbit is 3 pounds.)

They told us that its actually better to have her spayed earlier because it's easier her organs are smaller and less developed so they can do it easier? They only wait till about 3-6 months for males because their testicles have to descend. We said okay, and sent them both to be spayed.

Now that we are home we did a little more research. We called 2 other vets that are closer and have a pretty good rep and they both said they dont spay until 5 months.

Is my young rabbit at a huge risk here? How much? Should I call and ask them not to spay her? I'm very worried. I love her very much.

The vet I took them to is Rockwood Vet in Ontario, Canada. Which seems they have a good number of rabbit patients. We saw one leaving as we walked in. All the staff seemed nice and knowledgable but i'm not sure.

They have them now and are spaying them tomorrow then we'll get them back on wednesday.. hopefully.

 

[Geoff]

I personally find it a lot easier to spay older rabbits than itty bitty, immature ones, but that does not necessarily mean someone else does. I find very young rabbits are a bit more risky to anesthetize as well, which is why I have a 2lb rule, unless the rabbit is obviously mature and it will never make it to 2 lbs.

 

[Watermelons]

No your rabbit is not at a huge risk.
My guys have all be done at 3 months ish of age. No issues at all and my newest was barley 1lb when done.
The sooner their done the better. There are no risks about stunting growth etc. It will help prevent rotten hormonal behavious from becoming imprinted and will allow you to finalize bonding sooner.
Its about the vets comfort level. If you vet is confident in their abilities then let them do it on the younger rabbit.

 

[Geoff]

I don't know if I agree with the sooner the better since there is little hormonal influence on a bunny until about 4.5 months of age... but I certainly agree with the rest of what Watermelon's says.. if the veterinarian is comfortable with the surgery and anesthesia, there is nothing wrong with doing it at 3 months and there is certainly no long term ramifications from early spaying.

 

[Cayzi]

Thank you so much for the responses. I can breathe a little easier now..

 

[missyscove]

Agreed, definitely personal preference on the veterinarian's part. We have a lot of controversial research on when (or even if) to spay/neuter dogs because of a number of health conditions that are tied to either being spayed/neutered or being intact but to my knowledge we don't really have enough research on that issue in rabbits.
The biggest age-related risks are the anesthesia and the subsequent healing process. Some feel that younger animals bounce back from the procedure faster, for example.

 

[pani]

I brought this up with my vet when I got Clem spayed. He said that he personally feels more comfortable operating on smaller girl buns, because their organs are so small that they're easier to remove.

 

[Geoff]

Having spayed literally thousands of rabbits, I am impressed with those that find super young rabbits easier to spay.. .their uterus is like a fine thread and very easy to tear accidentally, and does not tolerate much manipulating. I prefer them a bit older so I don't inadvertently tear any tissues. Also, their ovaries are super tiny at that age and not only a bit challenging to find, but hard to exteriorize (again, without the danger of tearing things)... if tissues ARE torn, though, there is certainly less likelihood of bleeding since vessels are so dinky- but I don't like to take any chances. I have only lost 3-4 bunnies during anesthesia (out of like I said well over a thousand), but all but one of those were very young... they seem to have a bit less 'reserve' at that young age and they are also extremely difficult to intubate at that size, so if something goes wrong, one has few options of trying to save them. But had I lots of experience spaying such young rabbits I might feel differently. It's really all what one's comfortable with.

 

[Cayzi]

My vet called me. Apparently Mimzy, who originally I thought was a boy but he said was a girl. Is indeed actually a boy. So he got neutered and that went well he said. Molly, my small female bunny. He decided not to go through with spaying her because he measured the anesthesia and decided she was too small to do it and didn't want to take the risks.

I just wish he could've found that out sooner. It's hard to go over 48 hours without my buns<3

 

[Maureen Las]

I have "heard' ( not documented research ) that if a rabbit is spayed too early that it may affect bone growth / strength later on. I believe that the premise behind this theory is that certain hormones that would become active in a very young female in puberty would never have an opportunity to circulate within the body thus causing (possibly issues later on. This makes sense to me and it seems sensible that if a rabbit is spayed in early puberty that it would be a lot different than in infancy. In terms of size I have never heard that smaller is easier but only the latter. I had always noted that the Marshall Farms rabbits that were spayed /neutered very very young and then sent to Petco never looked as robust or healthy as other young rabbits that I have observed. Just an observation