House bunny snafu…

[gflat]

We had a female bunny wonder to our house ~4 years ago (after Easter, so likely let loose by her former owners). She has not been spayed.

For the last year, we have been bunny sitting an unneutered male bunny.

If they were to get together (they are kept in separate cages and allowed to run loose at separate times, but what if…), what is the likelihood that she’d get pregnant?

She’s never mated. He has sprayed since we got him, excited to be able to nuzzle through the cage, but they’ve never been intentionally allowed contact without bars between them.

She is, perhaps, about overweight, but not obese. He is slim and healthy.

TIA

[Bam]

The risk of her getting pregnant is about 100%. It would be very bad for her, a girl bunny needs to be bred for the first time before her first year, or else fat starts to deposit around her reproductional organs and a pregnancy can be fatal. Does should be retired from breeding around age 2, so 4 years is way too old. So please have at least one of them de-sexed (and healed, sperms can survive for a month in a neutered boy) if you’re planning on letting them meet.

[Vienna Blue in France]

” what is the likelihood that she’d get pregnant? ” ?? Yep, totally agree with bam – pretty much 105% definitely !!!

There’s a reason behind the well-known saying ‘breed like rabbits’….

Get one de-sexed please and then make them into best buddies. How lucky they are to have found you !

[tobyluv]

Besides the 100% likelihood that the female would get pregnant, there is also a very good likelihood that they would fight. You cannot put unspayed and/or unneutered rabbits together. They will probably fight and can severely injure each other. If you want them to be together, you must have both the female spayed and the male neutered, then after recuperation you can try to bond them.

[gflat]

Are risks greater for spaying an older bunny? Where I live, the bunny ‘expert’ vets leave a lot to be desired. They give meat flavored tabs as medicine (ever tried giving a pill to a bunny? And meat flavored??). Living in the BFE capital city in Alabama means very little in the way of expertise is available nearby.

Guess I should start preparing for babies… He got out of his cage for about an hour and ran with her last night (as far as I know, their first unconstrained encounter) . I checked his reproductive area, and it was damp. Could be from spraying, but I’m doubtful I’d be that lucky…

[gflat]

Not seeing my last post, but perhaps it has to be reviewed before posting?

Regardless, I’d read that many who actually breed on purpose have experienced fertility issues, so I was hopeful that was a common issue…

The bunny ‘expert’ vets around here leave a lot to be desired in regards to their expertise. Prescribing meds in meat flavored tablets, etc… The joys of living in the craptastic capital city in Alabama… Only a couple hundred years behind the times…

How much does the potential for complications developing from the spaying of a 4 year old female increase? She’s been my buddy since we accepted that the original owners weren’t going to claim her…

[tobyluv]

With older rabbits, a vet should perform blood work ahead of time, to check liver function, and to see that other organs are functioning normally. A rabbit who is 4 is not too old to be spayed. And by spaying her, you will take away the chance of her getting uterine cancer, which is very high in unspayed rabbits.

Maybe you should look around for another vet. Sometimes you have to travel a bit to get a good rabbit savvy vet.

[LBJ10]

Bunnies can breed through the bars. But it sounds like they were allowed to run around together too? I would be on baby watch.

As tobyluv said, 4 years old is not too old to be spayed. If you can find a rabbit savvy vet, you could have them do an emergency spay. I would have them do bloodwork first, of course. But that shouldn’t take very long.

[gflat]

Thanks for the info. I’ll see what I can find in Auburn. I know they’ve got a good veterinary science school, so hopefully, I’ll have luck finding a good bunny vet.

These two have been in the same room, but kept separate in different cages across the room from each other. The male’s owner went through an abusive separation and found herself homeless, so we became the foster parents. For over a year, I’ve been able to keep them separated, only allowing run time for one while the other was locked away (though, they could nuzzle through the bars – 6″ plastic bases forced limited contact through bars). They each get 2-2.5 hrs per night of run time.

When I penned her back up last night, he came and nuzzled on my feet, which was a shock. I’d put him up before letting her out. Apparently, he was out again this morning when my wife got up (the female was locked away, though), so he’s figured out how to escape from his cage. Time to figure out his escape plan… Breeding them has never been the plan.

He was supposed to go back to his owner a month ago… I’m attached to him, too, though, so I’ve not pushed it. This is forcing the issue of spat/neuter for me, though. 6 cats, all spayed or neutered. Was just a little frightened about things I’d read on putting bunnies under, so I’ve held back on getting her spayed. Time to find someone I feel comfortable with, now, though.

[Bam]

Nowadays vet medicine for buns are much better than it used to be, and a veterinary science school most likely has state of the art equipment and knowledge. It used to be true that anesthetizing buns wes difficult and risky, but nowadays it’s not. That said, there are of course always a risk with anesthetizing any living beings, humans too.

An emergency spay would of course terminate a pregnancy. I don’t think infertility is sth you should count on, really.

Your rabbits have been lucky to find you. Or that you found them =)

[tobyluv]

There is a chapter of the House Rabbit Society in Alabama. Here is the link to their vet list. Maybe one of these vets isn’t too far from you.
http://www.alabamaears.org/veterinarian_recommendation.html

[gflat]

Excellent. We use Carriage Hills for our other furries. When we last checked with them, they admittedly told us that they were not as experienced with bunnies, but that’s been a few years. I’ll check in with Dr. OBrien.

Thanks again for the info.

[Author]

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