Spaying My 4 month Old - Have Urgent Question

[BerkleeAjax]

Three years ago I had two baby bunnies that I'm pretty sure we had spayed and neutered at 3 months. It went fine. We recently lost the female bun, and now how have a new bun to bond with the male. We cannot even attempt a meeting between them or bonding until at least a few weeks after the after the spay so my concern is getting her spayed as soon as possible. I called a different vet this time, who has a new rule that she won't spay any rabbit until six months old. I guess she had a rabbit that she could not find the parts she needed and now demands all clients wait six months. That seems extremely long considering most rabbits can have babies quite quickly. Is that wait time excessive? I realize I can probably call the other vet that did my previous bunny, but am wondering there is any REAL merit to what she's saying or is she just building in some liability in for people who don't actually know they ages of their rabbits? My rabbit is over four months old. What are the odds that this rabbit's adult parts aren't there yet?

I do not want to wait two more months to attempt to bond these bunnies, plus the three weeks after that to get out all her hormones. With that figured in, I am looking at a wait of approximately 3 months. For one, I don't have the room to keep two bunnies separate for three more months!

Is that crazy?

For the record, my male is neutered.

 

[Thumperina]

just my own opinion, and I am no way an expert.
1- I had a neutered male and unspayed female who were perfectly bonded for years.
2- I had a buck that was neutered after 6 months old and another one that was neutered at barely 4 months old. I don't know if this is just a personality sort of thing, but the one who was neutered early, was later interested in food only. the one that was neutered later, and experienced some other things, was much more interested in other stuff after neuter.
If I could roll it back, I wouldn't have a rabbit neutered before 6 mo. But its just my gut feeling

spay may be different

 

[Thumperina]

I had four rabbits live all together.2 neutered males and 2 unspayed females. They all were getting along very well, females were friends to each other.

 

[ChrissieK]

Three years ago I had two baby bunnies that I'm pretty sure we had spayed and neutered at 3 months. It went fine. We recently lost the female bun, and now how have a new bun to bond with the male. We cannot even attempt a meeting between them or bonding until at least a few weeks after the after the spay so my concern is getting her spayed as soon as possible. I called a different vet this time, who has a new rule that she won't spay any rabbit until six months old. I guess she had a rabbit that she could not find the parts she needed and now demands all clients wait six months. That seems extremely long considering most rabbits can have babies quite quickly. Is that wait time excessive? I realize I can probably call the other vet that did my previous bunny, but am wondering there is any REAL merit to what she's saying or is she just building in some liability in for people who don't actually know they ages of their rabbits? My rabbit is over four months old. What are the odds that this rabbit's adult parts aren't there yet?

I do not want to wait two more months to attempt to bond these bunnies, plus the three weeks after that to get out all her hormones. With that figured in, I am looking at a wait of approximately 3 months. For one, I don't have the room to keep two bunnies separate for three more months!

Is that crazy?

For the record, my male is neutered.

 

[ChrissieK]

My 4 year old neutered male was placed in a cage next to an unspayed ( if that’s a word) female in her cage to begin the bonding process. I left her door open because she was a fat rescue who barely moved in her life. Well, the next morning I came into the room to find that the male had opened his cage and the two found a towel to cuddle up in. That was the end of the bonding process. They stayed free - range bunnies in the basement, where I could sweep bunny poop and put it in the litter box until she got the hang of it. That took maybe two weeks.

 

[BerkleeAjax]

Awww that's a nice bonding story!! I'm glad it worked out so easily. I could only hope for something so good for us.

I found out that our bun is actually six months old so the vet I initially chose will do it, but I'm so irritated with their six month rule, I'm just going somewhere else.

 

[BerkleeAjax]

I had four rabbits live all together.2 neutered males and 2 unspayed females. They all were getting along very well, females were friends to each other.

Thank you! I've seen way more positive bonding stories than not. I realize it is a possibility, but the male is so chill and his first mate wore the pants and he was like "meh, whatever." He even tolerates our guinea pigs who love to be near him and one tries to mount him all the time.

 

[Popsicles]

I think you’re sensible to get her spayed because you can never be sure how friendly she will be towards him, my female rabbit was a terror before being spayed!!
All I can think is that, like you said, on smaller rabbits if they are very young it can be very hard to find the uterus! And the tissues are so fragile and friable that it’s quite difficult to actually ligate the vessels without them just tearing. Some Vets would say they’ll do it earlier, maybe this vet just didn’t wish to risk it.

 

[BerkleeAjax]

Well it all worked out well enough. I got the confirmed date of birth from her breeder and she is actually five months old, not four. This bun is so tiny. I don't know a lot about lionheads, but this bunny is half the size of my previous lionhead. I know she is definitely the age she said she is because her hair is so wild and so long and it took a long time for my first lionhead to have hair that long and filled out. I have a spay appointment with her on Aug 2, so only two weeks away. I'm so worried for her because she's so small, but I really trust this vet so I'm keeping a positive outlook. I've attached a pic of her. Not sure how to get it into this post any other way?

 

[Sophia]

Females shouldn't be fixed until 4 months but males can be at three months because it is more risky to have a female get fixed then a male. 6 months is when bunnies can breed with the least complications

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our vet in Calif siad when males show they can go and females can be done at 4 months. our avatar, Nikki was done at 4 months and she was a tiny rabbit--less than 4 pounds.

 

[Lexi Ward]

I talked to my exotic vet this week and he spays/neuters at 6 months. I have a 4 month male...Oliver.

 

[Lexi Ward]

Well it all worked out well enough. I got the confirmed date of birth from her breeder and she is actually five months old, not four. This bun is so tiny. I don't know a lot about lionheads, but this bunny is half the size of my previous lionhead. I know she is definitely the age she said she is because her hair is so wild and so long and it took a long time for my first lionhead to have hair that long and filled out. I have a spay appointment with her on Aug 2, so only two weeks away. I'm so worried for her because she's so small, but I really trust this vet so I'm keeping a positive outlook. I've attached a pic of her. Not sure how to get it into this post any other way?

 

[Lexi Ward]

BerkleeAjax...your Lionhead is adorable!

 

[Popsicles]

Cute bunny!!!! Good luck for her op

 

[BerkleeAjax]

Thank you! Her surgery is tomorrow and I can't tell you how nervous I am. She's an extremely small girl and very jerky. The vet will need to be very careful with her. I'm also worried about handling her after her surgery because as I said, she loves and wants to be held, but getting a hold of her is down right impossible. I'm afraid that reaching for her is going to cause her to jerk and flail like she always does, tearing her stitches. My daughter can pick her up like nobody's business and do it safely, but I've not the knack. My daughter will be leaving for a week two days after the spay. Ugh. This should be an interesting week. I'm just wanting my bun to get through this spay with her fine and not freaked out!

 

[BerkleeAjax]

I talked to my exotic vet this week and he spays/neuters at 6 months. I have a 4 month male...Oliver.

Awww, he's adorable! and so fluffy!

 

[Popsicles]

Maybe just don’t pick her up after he surgery for a while, if you are worried about her getting stressed about it. Let her take it easy for at least a week good luck!