Spay/Neuter Age and Development

[MoveDiagonally]

Helo is about 4 months old now and so far that haven’t been any overt signs of puberty. I haven’t looked at his underside business this week so I’m not sure what’s going on with his man parts at this moment. Inara is about a week younger than Helo and also hasn’t had any puberty indicators. I thought I saw her starting to develop a dewlap but it was just the way she was sitting. We’re starting to talk about when their speutering will happen. 

I’ve heard people say that spaying shouldn’t be done until 6 months because while some vets can perform it earlier it’s best to wait until they are more developed. Is this a concern? For males also?  What are the concerns exactly? Or is it not really something to worry about? etc… 

Just wanting to get everyone’s thoughts and opinions on whether or not there is a relation between development and speutering.

[LBJ10]

I always thought it was because spaying is so invasive, that it is best to wait until they are older. Perhaps there is another reason for it? With neutering, there’s no problem doing it at 4 months as long as the jewels are there.

[Bam]

There is a discussion regarding the spaying of female dogs that I know of, the brain develops a lot during puberty. If you spay too soon the frontal parts of the brain won’t be given the opportunity to mature properly, which would effect the dog’s personality. That would be if you do a full-spay, where you remove the gonads.

Sex-hormones influence the sceletal growth and the forming of muscles, the latter is most evident in males of course. A male dog that is neutered young will have a higher fat to muscle ratio.

These considerations is perhaps not at all as important in house-rabbits as in dogs, for obvious reasons.

[tanlover14]

The rescue I’m a part of told me that the estrogen helps with bone development. As well as vets like they to gain as much weight as possible until the spay to ensure their bodies can handle the procedure. And 6 months is about the typical time for adult growth to happen by

My Sidney was done at 4 1/2 months but Nora is about 6-7 and is still waiting to be spayed.

[MoveDiagonally]

Thank you all for your comments and the info!

Most of my other rabbits were spayed/neutered later in life. Dexter, Monty, and Penny were all 1-2 years when we got them and that’s when they were altered. I think Helo will go in for his op as soon as we see his man business and we’ll wait until 6 months for Inara.

[jerseygirl]

I just wanted to add that the larger breed rabbits are slower to sexually mature so this may be a reason why you’re not seeing puberty behaviours yet.

I’m not sure with E lops what is typical. Maybe the breeder you had contact with could give you an idea?

Regarding development & spay age, there is this one mention on medirabbit:

A spay is usually done around the age of 5 months, or when the rabbit is sexually mature. At a younger age, the surgery is complicated by the difficulty to locate the very thin uterus and the very small ovaries. A spay at immature age may also have a dramatic effect on the proper calcium absorption by the bones.

I do know some vets are happy to do procedures at 4 months so it could be a debatable topic…

I think breed and the individual weight & health of the rabbit comes into consideration on the appropriate age.

[RabbitPam]

My understanding is that it depends as much on your own vet’s experience, comfort level and size of the rabbit as anything else. Starting about 4 months, some very experienced vets are fine with a female, while others prefer to wait a bit longer to insure her growth makes it more manageable. The boys, as was mentioned, are easier and depend on their visible development. The age markers are really guidelines to alert owners about when to discuss an appointment with their vets. Older than 5 months is no problem.

[hannaroo]

My vet said it very much depends on the breed. She said smaller rabbits need to be a bit older just so it’s less of a risk with the anaesthetic and recovery is easier, large breeds mature later and medium breeds that are at a health enough weight can be spayed. I got mine done at 4 months simply because I had to split them up and Suri was very down for a while so I was eager to get them sorted and back together but unless there’s a behavioural issue there seems to be no harm in a waiting a few months

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