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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A bunny abortion

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    • Cinnabunn the bunny
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        Hello, if any of you have been following my threads I rescued two bunnies on sunday. It is an intact male and female pairing and when I took them to the vet today i was told it was highly likely she felt little bunny babies or poop (hard to tell since bunny babies are so tiny). She said I have two choices, carry on with the pregnancy or abort the litter. I hate the fact that i’d be bringing more bunnies into the world when there are already so many of them that need good homes. On the other hand, rabbit abortions are risky since there is potential for a lot of bleeding and I wouldn’t want to put the moms life at risk. I would also need to consider how pregnant she may be as I am not sure when she got pregnant if she is pregnant. I would like your opinions on the matter as I am a bit new on bunny pregnancy. Should I opt for a risky abortion or allow her to give birth if she is pregnant.


      • vanessa
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          Yeesh… what a tough question. Can they spay her at the same time?


        • sarahthegemini
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            That’s a tough one. Abortions are risky but so is pregnancy at such a young age. I don’t envy your predicament. Hopefully someone with experience can chime in. Gosh what a hard decision.


          • Gina.Jenny
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              A couple of days after we took Jenny in, age maybe 6 months, she started building a nest. She had been caught living feral, and the advice I was given was that it was in her interest to spay immediately, which would abort if she was expecting, and if it was a false pregnancy, spaying would end that frustration for her. I followed that advice and she was spayed. She was quite poorly after the spay, but thankfully she bonded with Pippi, when he lost his mate about a week after Jenny’s spay, and she recovered once she was able to snuggle into him.

              I didn’t like the thought of aborting if she was expecting, but the reason I kept Jenny in the first place was because the local RSPCA was already at full capacity following the annual post Easter influx of unwanted buns, so they couldn’t have been able to take her, never mind any babies. They asked me to keep her, and I did, but I would have really struggled financially to take on any more buns, having already kept Gina, who we think is Jenny’s sister, as well as Jenny herself.


            • tobyluv
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                That’s usually what is called an emergency spay. If you suspect that a rabbit may be pregnant, or if it’s been confirmed that a rabbit is pregnant, and it’s early in the pregnancy, a vet can perform an emergency spay. I haven’t been through this with any of my rabbits, but I do know of a couple of times it has been done, and the rabbit was fine in those cases.


              • vanessa
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                  Warning- disturbing. So Im not sure the bleeding risk would b that great. Iv opened a bunny that turned out to be pregnant. In humans its messy. Our blood seems to beeverywhere. Rabbits veins r actually well positioned i.e. Not messy. The fetuses r also well positioned. I dont see it as a difficult surgery based on what iv seen. I would personally prefer 1 surgery, instead of 2. If they can spay her at the same time, id go for it. All surgeries are risky, especially on a small animal. Id find a vet who is experienced at small animal abdominal surgeries.


                • Mikey
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                    If she is under six months old, you would want to have an emergency spay done. If shes under six months old, pregnancy is going to be horrible on her body and she may even die during birth


                  • Cinnabunn the bunny
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                      I wasn’t able to determine her age as she was a rescue. I know she is probably under a year old but both me and the vet agreed she looked young between 4-6 months as she is a purebred dutch and was pretty much almost full dutch size. The vet actually said the pregnancy shouldn’t be too risky as the male is a small bunny and she examined her hips and said everything was okay.

                      I guess the reason why i’m so iffy about this bunny abortion is the fact that I’ve seen one too many cat abortions and it’s not for the faint of heart. I volunteered at a feral TNR clinic and there was just a trashcan full of babies. some of them were still breathing but had to be put down because they were too young and it was just suffering at that point. I actually held a litter that was a few weeks from being born after they had taken them out and decided that they were old enough to live. It was absolutely heartbreaking holding those small kittens with their eyes shut and ears closed. It breaks my heart so bad. there were five of them but only 2 of them survived pass a few weeks due to complications with developed airways.

                      Since bunny pregnancies are so short i don’t know how developed the babies are. I’m crying so bad right now just thinking of any suffering I would cause them. I know they are unborn but it still hurts so much


                    • Mikey
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                        Focus on the good right now: the vet said if she does go through with the pregnancy, she should get through it perfectly ok.

                        To make your decision, think about it from a logical standpoint. Could you care for the babies until they are old enough? When of age, would you keep them, give them to a shelter, or give them away/sell them to friends/family? If you give them to a shelter, do you have atleast three shelters picked out that have room to take them (you want three since you cant predict how many buns theyll get in the next few months)? If you plan to keep them, can you afford it? Do you have the space for them?

                        No matter what your decision is, it is the right decision.


                      • Cinnabunn the bunny
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                          A nice rabbit rescue in portland would be willing to help me to some extent financially and with the adoption process afterward. If I did keep the babies i’d probably keep them till 4 months when they can get spayed/neutered. Ive already had offers on the parents and I think i would be able to find good homes for them. The only problem I could see with keeping the babies is that I am not experienced in raising rabbit young. Does anyone have any experience with rabbit babies? how hard is it to properly care for them?


                        • vanessa
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                            I’v had 36 rabbit kits. Lets assume she doesn’t die during birth – and there’s a good chance she won’t. We don’t have exact numbers on what the chances are. The doe would be taking care of them up till 2 months when you would separate them. It’s a difficult desicion based on not knowing her exact age. For any doe under 6 months – there is a “small” risk she will die. So it’s not “probably die”, but “small risk”. The bigger risk is that the kits will die because she won’t be a good mamma. She might build a nest after they are born instead of before, she might scatter them, not create a warm enough nest, ignore them, not feed them enough, there are a number of things that young mothers can do that are bad for the babies. That’s the bigger risk. Another problem for you – is that because she might build the nest after the kits are born, you might miss your cue. Since you don’t know the exact conception date (assuming she is indeed pregnant), you won’t know when to expect the babies. Typically, nest building ahd pulling fur to line the nest, happens a few days before the kits are born. So you would want to provide her with a suitable nest, and line it with fluffy material, just incase she has the kits without building a nest first.
                            Are there other professionals you could also ask for advice? Your vet, rabbit rescue, HRS etc?
                            I would be asking the following questions: Vet – how many abdominal spay/abortions have you performed – what was the average outcome – what are the risks to the bunny – how many <6mnth pregnant does have you seen – what was the outcome…
                            If you do end up having to help her raise the kits, you’d be feeding them twice a day. Here’s a link for you to read. Some websires say feed them sitting upright, others say feed them lying down like they woudl be when they suckle. I prefer upright for syringes (force feeding), while lyign down is ok for bottle feeding (suckling). http://rabbit.org/faq-orphaned-baby-bunnies/


                          • vanessa
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                              They would need to be fed cecotropes from a healthy adult – 1 cecotrope a day for the first 5 days.


                            • Cinnabunn the bunny
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                                The vet seemed pretty convinced there would be no complications with birth and after birth. She mentioned how stillborns are extremely rare in rabbits and told me what to look for. She told me so long as I don’t stress the mama out, provide her with enough nutrition, and look for rasin babies it should be fine since rabbits are pretty good breeding machines. She is a pretty well reputable vet however I will be getting a second opinion in a week or so when I go for an ultrasound.


                              • vanessa
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                                  Well, it looks like you have a lot of information both here and there to help you with your desicion. Not an easy one. I dont envy you… its a good thing you rescued the bunnies.


                                • vanessa
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                                    Oh a little more clarification… when young/first time bunny mammas scatter the kits, the problem is they will get cold and die. Guins first litter had one seperated that got cold and died overnight. The mest must have a 6″ lip to keep the babies frim hitching a ride iut. They can latch in to momma, catch a ride out if the nest, and get cold and die. They need to remain buried under the layer of fur that she plucks out to line the nest.


                                  • Cinnabunn the bunny
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                                      Good news. I got an ultrasound and it looks like the female is not pregnant or is early enough in pregnancy where I should be able to get a spay done tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well!


                                    • vanessa
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                                        Good news 🙂


                                      • Mikey
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                                          Wonderful! Hope it goes well.


                                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                                            ((((Safe Procedure and Speedy Recovery Vibes)))))!!!


                                          • Cinnabunn the bunny
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                                              Thanks! I just brought them home. Apparently the female was never pregnant so the surgery wasn’t complicated. The females a little out of it but the male is bouncing around as if the operation never happened.


                                            • tobyluv
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                                                That’s good news! It can be normal for a bunny to be a little out of it. Hopefully the female will eat well and recover quickly.


                                              • LittlePuffyTail
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                                                  Glad to hear it


                                                • vanessa
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                                                    Sounds normal to me. Keep an eye on her – she needs to eat. Offer her veggies, pellets, hay, whatever is her favorite food. (Just not loads of fruit…) If she doesn’t eat in 8 hours – you’ll want to think about syringe feeding her. The rule of thumb is 12-24 hours for not eating, but I’d start to consider my options at 8 hours to be on the safe side. I had 2 neuters and 2 spays done, none had complications.

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                                                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A bunny abortion