Neutering: what should I expect and should I worry?

[Krista]

My 5 month old Holland lop, Bilbo, is getting neutered this month. I’m nervous about getting him neutered and have to drive half an hour to get him to the nearest /exotic/ vet in order to have him neutered in the first place. I’ve heard awful stories about rabbit-surgery gone wrong. I’ve heard anesthetizing any small animals, rodents and lagomorphs, was risky. Neutering isn’t really that complicated and I probably just worrying over nothing, but is it something that is more dangerous than say getting a dog neutered? I also am in fear of losing our bond. I heard of a person who got her rabbit neutered and he had completely changed and wouldn’t come out of his cage and didn’t want to be around his owner. I got some Stress-Away pet spray for Bilbo to spray on his collar (it’s a breakaway and I keep it lose enough to not freak him out but tight enough he doesn’t get his legs in it) for when I leave him at the vet, but what if he still gets over stressed out? I’m pretty much asking for neuter stories (no unhappy ending ones please, I’m already worried something will go wrong) and I’m asking for advice on how to make it less uncomfortable for my fur-baby. Thank you all.

[Mikey]

To help ease the worry, consider getting blood work done first. Getting it done will show if his body can handle taking the anesthesia safely or not. Of course most rabbits can take it safely when its given by a rabbit certified vet, but sometimes little things can throw off organ values which can make anesthesia work a bit different. For example, one of my rabbits needed a diet change before he could be neutered, and we wouldnt have known that without having the blow work done first

That said, all three of my babies got neutered and all three are perfectly fine Bombur (the one who needed a diet change first) handled his surgery the best. He came home and acted almost perfectly normal. He was happy, trying to play, eating, drinking, pooping, ect. Blue was tired and obviously in pain for the first day or two, but was otherwise normal with eating, drinking, and toileting. Badger was not neutered by a rabbit vet (not my choice/didnt know about it) and had a few complications, but with love and care, hes perfectly fine. If you trust your vet, there is nothing to worry about

As to what to look for and be aware of, he may or may not be his normal self for the first few days. Males usually bounce back pretty quick, but that is not always the case. Just make sure he is eating, drinking, and toileting fairly normally. His poops may look a little weird or be a little mushy, but that is often a side effect of the pain killers and/or anesthesia. Its nothing to worry about unless it because very watery or starts to stick to his fur. If it does, call your vet. My Bombur had to stop his pain killers early due to it messing with his stomach way too much; he still acted perfectly fine after being pulled off of the pain killers a week early, so if that has to happen with your bun, do not be too worried about it. He may also get cold easily, so find something you can put into his cage/pen that will safely warm him up if he needs it. I have an animal safe heating pad we used for our bunnies, but they all mostly ignored it. Badger (easily cold due to health problems) also had his towel that he snuggled in a lot to help keep warm

Personality changes….. I mean, aside from the change in territory marking, all of my boys mostly stayed the same. Bombur got nicer, actually, but he had testicle problems that likely caused him to act out aggressively in the first place. But, yea. Blue still cuddled and is still curious, Badger stills sprawls next to me and binkies across the room, and Bombur got nicer and calmer. Of course, litter habits and all of that changed too, for the better

You mentioned your bun has a collar, do you mean an ecollar? Rabbits shouldnt wear normal collars on a day to day basis. What is the spray you have as well? Are you sure it is rabbit safe?

[Vienna Blue in France]

Henry was neuteured 3 months ago.
Apart from a big haematoma on one the sacks which went down after a few weeks (and so he was kept in the vets for 2 nights to make sure all was ok), everything was fine. Character all same. Maybe a little less hyper… but a tiny amount

Re the collar – I think the vets would take it off anyway. They wouldn’t keep it on in their cages for safety reasons.

Some vets spray their recovery room with a safe de-stress spray – you could call them and check.

You will be on eating, pooping and weeing patrol when he returns.

[sarahthegemini]

My little Peanut’s surgery went very well – apparently he was up and eating 10 minutes after the anaesthetic wore off lol. He was absolutely fine, he ate well when we brought him home and he was pretty much his usual self, just a little sleepy. He didn’t drink as much for the first couple days but he was peeing okay. His poops were a little on the smaller side, but in terms of frequency, all was normal. He even charmed the vet nurse and got some apple from her lunch

He was neutered about 2 and a half weeks ago and his behaviour hasn’t changed at all with the exception of his litter habits which massively improved (he peed in his litter box but would poop everywhere) Now he does about 95% of poops in his tray. He’s the same old Peanut minus two things! Lol.

[Krista]

Oh no. Not an ecollar it’s just a small collar that has a jingle bell on it. He wears it when he’s loose in the house so I know where he is (not to mention it has LOTR stuff on it which is where his name came from) I don’t leave it on him for more than 3 hours at a time. It’s rabbit safe I already did plenty of research on what not to do with collars and harnesses a long time ago (since he is also harness trained so he can go on hops around the yard).

If the vets will just take if off I’ll just bring his rag and spray it. He has kind of shredded it though >.> He loves his rag. I’m hoping they’ll allow me to bring some of his litter for when he’s in the kennel whether it be for a few hours or not. He hates peeing out of his litter box and has held it for 2 hours before simply because he didn’t want to go in his cage. He ended up letting it all loose on my friend >.> Heh.

[Krista]

The spray is also rabbit safe. It’s specifically for animals to calm them down. It’s just a generalized aromatherapy spray for pets. Doesn’t specify dogs doesn’t specify cats. As a vet tech in training we were introduced to it and it came very hand with psycho cats. It’s name is “Pet Remedy” if you’d like to give it a look:3 expensive stuff though. $40 for a small bottle

[Mikey]

You wont want to use the collar while he is healing, in case it irritates him while he is recovering (surgery and healing can make rabbits moody). Using his rag with his and/or your smell on it would likely be a better idea. Having a familiar scent and touch can help a lot with recovery

Call the vet ahead of time and ask if you can bring a small litter box for him. My vets office is ok with stuff like that (they asked for food+bowl, water bottle, and any toys/blankets to aid in comfort, for Bombur [also a LOTR/Hobbit fan, lol] we brought his favorite corner litter box he likes to sleep in)

The spray sounds pretty cool. It would just be a worry if he chews it as a lot of oils are not safe for rabbits to ingest or have on their skin. But if hes not a chewer and it doesnt directly touch him, then it sounds fine

[Krista]

I’ll ask the vet about the litter at the wellness check Thursday I suppose:3 I have several questions to ask them since they aren’t the normal dog vet I go to. Like if they are going to intubate him because we were taught never to intubate rabbits due to having extremely sensitive tongues (like if you tug on it too hard while trying to intubate you may accidentally tear their tongue). As well as if they can keep him away from the dog room (I am not sure if they have separate rooms for cats and dogs, my dog vet doesn’t) but Bilbo is terrified of barking. He isn’t scared of dogs, but he goes nuts when they bark. Which is funny because he isn’t scared of guns. I took him out for a hop around farm while my brother was out shooting guns and Bilbo didn’t care whatsoever.

QUESTION while I’m on the forum, Bilbo began digging at my stomach of my shirts and hoodies recently. Like within last two weeks. He is pretty much “developed” down there as in they look filled, but I wasn’t sure if it was because my shirts had a smell, if he was just being friendly, or if it was a hormonal thing.
EDIT: For about 15 minutes (not even half an hour ago) he continued doing the digging. Not only that he kept nipping me. Excessively. I would try to pick him up and put him farther back from me and he would try to flatten himself to the ground as he is continuing to nip and dig at me. He also began to smell like cecal pellets (that nasty foul odor that they have?) But there was only one and none on him.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Pet remedy is the one i bought for their bonding a month ago. It stinks !!!

It reminds me of geranium essential oils (used against mozzies) and i dislike (quite strongly) the smell !!!

It’s ok for rabbits but should not be sprayed directly on to the animal (obviously! – but not obvious for everyone!) though i’ve just read the instructions and it doesn’t say you can’t (just “dont spray directly into the animal’s face!!)….

Ive no idea if it works for the rabbits, but i did sleep awfully well that night !!!!!!

[Chloe]

With our bucks we were offered blood work (so that they can see if they need to use a different anaesthetic), and fluids whilst under too. However, the price would have gone up and up and up unfortunately. I can’t really say if it went well, as it was too risky at the time because they were under a kg, but our other buck, a mini lop we have has been neutered with absolutely no problems whatsoever!

We literally dropped him off at the vet in the morning, the surgeon checked him over to make sure he was healthy enough and big enough to go through with the op, then got us to sign some papers, then took him into the back and we left. We got a call around 12.30pm saying that everything went extremely well and that the greedy little bunny was already eating straight away. So at 5pm we went and picked him up, he seemed as if he was in a strop, took him home and placed him in an indoor cage. We were told all he’d want to do is sleep! But no, not him! He kept escaping the cage, binkying around everywhere (don’t worry he didn’t damage anything!) We actually ended up having to lock him in the kitchen because he was so crazy! Seriously, neutering is way less riskier with bucks and neutering is such a routine operation – it literally takes like 20 – 30 minutes to do a neuter op as it is a very small operation. Timber’s loving nature hasn’t gone away either, he is now much easier to litter train, however is still very territorial and will chase us about when we’re in his home (now the kitchen!)

I’m in your sort of place too, as I’m getting my other 2 neutered on the 30th of January! So please let us know how they got on!

[kirstyol]

Bramble was a bit quieter than usual for the first few days and didn’t really want to do much which is actually a good thing in a way because you don’t want them doing to much and irritating the wound. Within a week he was back to himself, just a less frustrated happier version of himself.

[Cheesecake]

I just got earl done today – he came home and instantly started bouncing around. He’s now sitting sleepily by my side. Good luck xx

[Stormybun]

When Storm got home after his neuter, he just was kinda chill for a while, after a week and half, he started to get a little more active and curious, just like his old self.

[Deleted User]

Does the surgery require any stitches? Has any of your buns chewed on the wound?

I have to get a appointment for my little guy too. Holding off for hopes of better driving weather here! 

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Tracy7768 on 1/05/2017 4:04 AM

Does the surgery require any stitches? Has any of your buns chewed on the wound?

I have to get a appointment for my little guy too. Holding off for hopes of better driving weather here! 

Mine had dissolvable sutures. He wasn’t interested in chewing or over-grooming the area.

[Author]

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