After care for spayed bunny

[Daniellejane29]

On September 8th I’m getting my bunbun spayed. I was doing research in preparations for the spay. What should I expect afterward? And what can I use so she won’t get at her stitches? I feel like a cone would scare her and not be beneficial for her. Does any one have other suggestions? Thank you!

[Deleted User]

You’ll need to make sure she’s confined to a smaller space, such as a cage, and that there is nothing she can jump up on. For about 4-5 days she needs to recover and she may not want to move much for the first two days (my bun didn’t, poor baby was obviously in pain).

Offer her water in a bowl and a bottle so that she can decide which she wants to use. My bun wasn’t really wanting to eat hay or drink so she ate a lot of lettuce for a few days, so keep lots of fresh veggies on hand to offer her. It’s important that she eats, but if she won’t eat hay then you can offer extra veggies for the short time period during recovery to jump start her appetite.

Cones are easy to get a hold of but the issue that raises is that they still need to eat their cecotropes. Some members have opted to make a thick “collar” type of thing out of old socks. My vet used surgical glue so there were no external sutures to worry about, so I don’t really have good suggestions for that one.

[Deleted User]

hmmm..I don’t have any idea but a vet is solution for your question.

[RC92]

Is your bun and indoor or outdoor bun?

When both our buns got fixed (male (Rolo) and female (Taffy), separate time periods) we kept them indoors for a couple of days prior to their surgery. This allowed them to become comfortable and happy with their new environment so that it wasn’t adding extra stress to them post-surgery. They didn’t go back outside for a least a week after surgery – as our summers are generally mild rather than hot, room temperature and outdoor temperature are fairly similar so it’s easier for them to adapt. 

Post-surgery we took out anything that could be jumped on. I suspect as the surgery is pretty invasive she will be in a fair degree of pain so probably won’t want to jump on anything anyway, however, it does eliminate that potential risk of splitting her cut upon jumping should she try it. All we had in our buns’ run during both of their recoveries was a few light blankets covering the whole floor area so they were comfortably warm, their food & water bottles / bowls, litter tray and a couple of items to chew on. We cleaned the litter tray fully on a daily basis, normally we spot check their litter areas in their hutch but it should eliminate the risk of infection.***

Our vet didn’t provide our Taffy with a cone – to be honest I didn’t even realise they existed for rabbits – however, Rolo was given one. If she is given a cone I would keep a strong eye on whether it stresses her too much. Rolo pulled his off within 30 seconds of us returning home and wouldn’t allow me to put it back on; in honesty, I think him having the cone on would have stressed him out more than it would have benefited him so would have only prolonged the healing process. I think not having a cone is fine as long as she isn’t pulling at her stitches; I believe the stitches are generally left on the inside and disintegrate – alternatively, they could use glue. 

Ultimately, pre-surgery and post-surgery should be used to keep your bun as happy and comfortable as possible, certainly post-surgery. Keep everything routine in regards to food leading up to and directly after surgery, remove hazards etc. Just ensure your bun is kept in a comfortably warm environment and that it is quiet after surgery. We put our buns’ runs in our room and closed the door completely. She is likely going to be doing a lot of laying around and teeth grinding from our own personal experience so it’s best to leave her be, just ensure she is eating and drinking regularly – this might be infrequent initially but as long as she is doing this within 24 hours (I believe this is the cut off time) she should be okay, if not, give the vet a call. We were given a syringe and a pellet based paste to try to feed Taffy if she didn’t eat; we didn’t find it particularly useful but it did add an extra layer of security to try and feed Taffy. We checked her cut every 4-6 hours, although daily may be suffice.

Good luck!

EDIT

***didn’t realise BunN also recommended not letting your bun jump on anything too, but I definitely second it! 

(On a side note, I would recommend asking your vet to check your buns teeth and nails too whilst you’re there – our vet did this for free as she was operating on both Taffy and Rolo anyway).

[Deleted User]

One of the things I did for my rabbits when they were both spayed and neutered was I stopped using the regular litter in the tray for the first 5 or so days. Instead I used puppy training pads to line the tray with instead and just replaced them very regularly. This helped to keep the wound clean as there was no litter touching them when they sat in the tray. It was also useful for monitoring how much they were urinating and pooping.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Make sure the vet sends her home with pain meds. Some vets don’t. And some bunnies really need them. It’s a pretty major surgery and bunny will be quite uncomfortable for at least a few days.

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