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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Nimmy finally got neutered!!

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    • Samicles
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        Originally I wanted to get him neutered as soon as he hit six months old, which would’ve been late July/early August. But he broke his elbow mid-august, and that was SOOOOO expensive! I was so broke! The vet was willing to do the neuter while he was doing the leg surgery, but I couldn’t afford it. Right around the time I was becoming financially stable again, Nimmy got an ear infection and the vet didn’t want to neuter him while he had an ear infection. So that put it off once again. But his infection was gone for only a couple weeks before it came back again . Finally in January I bought a low-cost neuter certificate to get the procedure done. But then my boyfriend’s mom was diagnosed with cancer. As soon as she was finished her treatment, I scheduled the neuter and the surgery was done today! 

        The surgery was done around 11:30-12:00, I picked him up at 5:30 and during the car ride home he was digging and chewing up the towel I had at the bottom of his cage. This terrified me, cause he might hurt himself. But I had to keep reminding myself that he knows what will hurt and will not hurt him. We got home around 6:30, I left him in his cage with a fresh bowl of hay, pellets, a treat and some sliced carrots. He started eating almost immediately. Less than an hour after that he wanted out of his cage to go hop around. He hasn’t done any binkies, just casual hopping, he peed in his litterbox, pooped in a couple places and now he’s laying down. Honestly if I didn’t know he got neutered earlier today, I would’ve NEVER guessed. He’s acting almost totally normal. 

        So, onto the questions! 

        Is this an average bounce-back time? I expected him to be groggy for a day or two. But he’s had two surgeries before, so maybe he’s used to it or something?? 

        Should I check the wound?? I’m a big worry-wort ever since he broke his elbow. I don’t want to hurt him/cause him unnecessary stress. The vet glued the incisions shut, so I shouldn’t be worried about them opening.. but ugh I’m worried. 

        Will I see a behavior change?

        Anything else I should be aware of? I did research before-hand, but again… I’m a worry-wort. I know when to give him his meds, his poops seem fine, he’s peed, eaten, right now he’s totally chill. Except he stomped while I was typing this.. probably just an airplane flying by (he hates them). 


      • tanlover14
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          Awww, yay! It is great when they bounce back so quickly. It varies rabbit to rabbit. I had a boy who bounced back just as quickly! He came home from his neuter and was nothing but energy. He gobbled down his whole bowl of pellets & then started shaking his pen to come out and play!

          Definitely check the incision but you can give it a day or two. You want to look to ensure there are no signs of infection (angry red color or puss) on the incision site. It should really be checked once a day. I would say for the first few days until you feel comfortable that it’s nicely healed. Even though they are glued, it’s always a good idea to check b/c some buns will also mess with the incision site. One of my girls literally chewed the skin around her incision and we had to take her back, put her on meds so she didnt’ get an infection, and put an e-collar on her.

          Be careful with his activity. Keep him away from any areas he can jump up on. I keep them confined to a smaller space for the first 3-4 days to ensure their incision is somewhat healed so they don’t tear it open jumping up onto something or flinging themselves around in a binky!

          Behavior change — depends on the rabbit again! Boys can take up to a month before all signs of hormones are gone. Some buns lose a lot of their “teenage” behaviors w/ the spraying and aggression, etc. during this period of time. Others lose it sooner or later! Just give him a chance to heal and for his hormones to mellow out and you should be good!


        • kirstyol
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            You are really lucky! Bramble had a really poor recovery after his neuter, he barely moved for three or four days. Refused to eat or drink and we were having to force feed him and syringe water into his mouth. My vet told me at the time to keep him confined for at least a week, check the wound daily and bring him back if there was any evidence of him chewing the wound. Were you given painkillers to take home? We had to keep poor Bramble pretty dopped up because he had his teeth trimmed at the same time and was in quite a bit of pain so that’s probably why he was more lethargic than most bunnies.

            Bramble’s behaviour was a little odd for the first few weeks after he started recovering, he was doing strange things (for him anyway) like trying to dig up the hardwood floors and at one point I swear he tried to climb up a wall! People usually say it takes 4-6 weeks for the hormones to settle but my experience with Bramble was more like 8-10 weeks before the strange behaviours stopped, but they did stop and he is a happier bunny for being neutered for sure. Before he was starting to show signs of aggression and frustration and I just didn’t think he was happy. Now he is a lot more laid back, don’t get me wrong he has his moments but he is never aggressive anymore and very rarely shows signs of frustration, when he does its usually because something has happened that he doesn’t like and he cant fix it – for example he was throwing his hay box about the place like a madman the other day, it inevitably flipped over (making a mess of the floor in the process by the way) which meant he could no longer grab the edge to throw it about or access the hay that was inside – he was a little mad until I picked it up for him and fixed it.


          • Samicles
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              You guys are awesome, thank you. I’m going to wait to check the incisions until later tonight or tomorrow. He’s even more normal than he was yesterday, but I don’t want to cause him any pain. So I want to see how he hops around later tonight, he’s most active around 7-8 o’clock, so I’ll see how he’s doing then. Yesterday I thought I saw him chewing on the incision site, but he was in his cage and turned away from me so I couldn’t tell. Today I haven’t seen him chewing that area, but again, I’ll check later.

              He’s been getting some royalty treatment, but he’s such a bugger. I’ve got two water bottles set up in his cage for him to drink from. But I read online that some rabbits don’t want to “work” for the water after getting neutered, so they won’t drink. So I had a small bowl of water I gave to him. He drank from it then grabbed it and tipped it over! And later on I held it in my hand so he wouldn’t throw it, but he managed to pull it out of my hand! -_-

              I’m hoping his behavior will change for the better. He has a favorite pee spot on my carpet, and he almost never poops in the litterbox. So *fingers crossed* HOPEFULLY the neuter will put an end to that!


            • LBJ10
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                If you can get a mirror to fit under there, you can use that to check the incisions. Hold a treat up above his nose so he stands on his hind legs and then slide the mirror under there to look. No stress for bunny that way.


              • Samicles
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                  Oh, I’ll have to do that. Thanks for that. I tried to pick him up today to look but he flipped out on me before his feet were even off the ground


                • kirstyol
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                    That’s exactly why Bramble doesn’t have a water bowl, he just tips it over and throws it about the place. When he has been ill and I have noticed he hasn’t been drinking I will try him with a small dish of water and even though he gives the impression that he is too ill to do much more than lift his head up, he still picks it up, tips it over and throws it about!


                  • Beka27
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                      That’s great that he’s bounced back so quickly! :o)

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                  Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Nimmy finally got neutered!!