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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Please Provide Advice on Neutering Post-Op Care!

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    • Teddy
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        Hello everybunny!

        So my boy, Teddy, is a 6-month old Holland Lop, and I took him to the Washington Humane Society Spay & Neuter Center here in Washington, DC to get his surgery done. I brought him home thinking all went well, but once I took him out of his carrier onto his playmat/pen area with his food and bedding setup, I saw that the area between his legs were covered in blood all the way to the bottom of his back feet!! I freaked out and brought him back to the neuter center immediately to have him checked out. Turns out his suture opened up?! Not sure how that could’ve happened, I should have asked more closely but I was at a loss for words from being so terribly upset and stressed They had his bloody mess cleaned up and the vet who had done his surgery told me that he will be ok, she explained that the blood that I saw was probably the last of it since it just needs to clot? I asked wouldn’t this make him vulnerable to getting infection and she said no, I just need to apply a cold pack on him every 4-6 hours for 10 minutes at a time… I haven’t been able to do this though, Teddy doesn’t seem to want anything touching the area as of now..

        So I brought him back home, and this time he seemed a little more at ease. I provided him with fresh romaine lettuce and some cilantro, which he started eating almost immediately. He went through 2 full servings throughout the rest of the same evening, and he even ate some of the pellets I had out for him. What worries me is that he hasn’t had any water (didn’t touch the sipper bottle or the bowl), and he hasn’t touched the hay at all either. He is eating the veggies and pellets quite well though, and he is pooping too (although they’re slightly softer than usual). I noticed in his litterbox that he peed as well, not sure where it’s coming from since I haven’t seen him drink any water, I guess it’s from the vegetables? 

        The vet also told me to check his surgical site daily but it’s been difficult to see clearly since:

        A. Teddy makes a scene when I try to lift up him gently by his front paws– I’ve tried dangling treats high up in front of him to get him in the periscoping position

        B. When I do manage to get him standing on his hind legs, he has so much fur down there, it’s very hard to see or check anything!

        Other than not eating hay or drinking water, he seems pretty comfortable! He started hopping around and even jumped on top of his cage (I’ve been told this is not advisable to have him hopping on high levels since it hinders with recovery, but I guess he wanted his exercise) :T Now he’s sprawled out on his playmat with his hind legs spread out flat, but I’ve noticed very faint pinkish-red smudges of his blood here and there where he sat (but nowhere near as much blood as from yesterday)… is this a natural part of the recovery process and will he be ok? Is it even ok for Teddy to be sprawled out like that? I feel like he shouldn’t be squashing that area on anything since it probably hurts! And from your experiences, when do boy bunnies get around to start eating hay and drinking water again after the neutering surgery? 

        Also, the vet gave me 3 syringes filled with pain medication (one is metacam and the other two are something else), she said to start giving it to him tonight (one each for the next 3 days), so I will be doing that later today.

        Sorry for the long rambling and thanks for reading, any kind of tips or advice would be immensely appreciated!!!


      • Bam
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          The blood-thing sounds really scary, I can see how you must’ve freaked =(
          Other than that, it seems to me like he’s recovering well. If he’s eaten greens, he’s gotten fluids from them. Since he hasn’t eaten hay, his probably less thirsty than when he does it his hay. He may also have gotten some intravenous fluid at the vet during/after his procedure. A bunny eating after surgery is the best sign! Pooping and peeing – great!

          The position he’s lying in seems to indicate to me that he’s not feeling pain in the incision-area, which is good. But there really shouldn’t be any blood coming out.

          To check his incision area it would be good if a friend could help you hold him, his back against his/her body, with a good grip under his hind legs and another around his chest area.

          I think he ought to start eating hay pretty soon, and drink too, but as long as he eats anything, it’s fine for now. Boys generally recover rather swiftly from a neuter, but there are individual differences. One of mine wouldn’t eat at all so he had to be syringe-fed after 12 hs, my other one started eating the minute he came home.


        • Teddy
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            Oh thank you SO much for the reassuring words Bam! Yes, the little blood smudges are becoming less and less, I barely see anything now– even in his litterbox. I think the pain medication is also helping, because once I gave it to him and waited about half an hour, he started hopping around a bit and even flopped in his favorite corner He eats just the veggies and pellets every now and then when he feels hungry I guess, but still no interest at all in hay or water… I even tried putting a strand of hay right under his nose and he just stared at it with disinterest and hopped away. I will give it another day tomorrow to see if he perks up a little more to (hopefully) resume his regular diet. 

            His ears and head feel warm, and he’s also been tolerant of me petting him more than he was yesterday so I suppose that’s a good sign too! 


          • LittlePuffyTail
            Moderator
            18092 posts Send Private Message

              That must have been upsetting!

              How is your little guy doing today?


            • Teddy
              Participant
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                Teddy is feeling a little better today, but he seemed pretty frustrated from staying in his pen (he’s not used to that since I let him run around and play for most of the day while I’m home). So I let him out and he hopped around for a bit and went back into his litterbox. Only thing that still concerns me is that he’s still not eating hay or drinking water at all… so I’ve been giving him fresh lettuce and pellets this entire time so far. I know hay is a very essential part of their diet and I don’t want him eating just veggies and pellets for too long I called my vet and was told not to give the last dose of metacam because apparently there is a side effect that decreases appetite? Maybe it’s from not eating very well, but Teddy just sits very still most of the time, or lays on the playmat. Do you guys think he’ll come around soon or is this something more serious? Today, 8/20, is the second day after his surgery.


              • Bam
                Moderator
                16838 posts Send Private Message

                  What if you hand-feed him small wads of hay? The Metacam may make them a little drowsy, so that may be the reason why he’s not been so active. Is he still pooping?


                • Teddy
                  Participant
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                    Hey Bam, thanks for your kind follow up! I tried doing that this morning, I smeared some banana on a piece of hay and he devoured that whole piece! Of course I can’t do that with every strand all day, so what I did instead was empty out the old hay, washed out the hay bin and refilled with a new bunch of hay… after that, Teddy sniffed around a bit and started nibbling on some by himself! YAYYYYY

                    Now all’s left is for him to drink water on his own, hopefully he’ll come around to that soon too… Because eating hay makes a bunny thirsty right? Also, yes, he’s pooping like crazyyyyy so I don’t think there’s any issues with bloating or gas. Thanks again for your concern and tips guys!!


                  • Gina.Jenny
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                      Good for ((Teddy)) 

                      Both my girls seemed to take too long to start drinking after their spays, maybe cos they were less active, and like you say, not eating hay. I was feeding them cucumber and wet greens after the op, but then those won’t make them thirsty! Two weeks later, and they are eating and drinking normally.


                    • Teddy
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                        Hey Gina.Jenny! So that means it’s good that I’m letting Teddy out to exercise outside his pen right? Recovery was pretty quick I think, because he started running around like usual and didn’t seem at all uncomfortable with being active. Maybe I’ll let him run some more so he’ll get thirsty in due time >


                      • Gina.Jenny
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                          I would think, if he is ready, let him, as long as he can’t do anything too energetic.

                          I found that the girls initially only wanted maybe ten minutes out, before going back into their cages of their own choice. Two weeks on, and when they get floor time (they aren’t together though hope they will be in time) they both like to run up and down the stairs, run 500s and binky every so often.


                        • Teddy
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                            Good news everyone! Teddy is finally eating hay and drinking water, back to normal! I actually bought new bag of hay, Vitakraft, and he eats this a lot better now I think I will stick with this brand, it doesn’t seem as dry so maybe he likes this one better. Thank you all so much for sharing your tips and helpful words!!


                          • Bam
                            Moderator
                            16838 posts Send Private Message

                              So glad to hear he’s back to normal!

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                          Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Please Provide Advice on Neutering Post-Op Care!