Vet won’t spay

[Laura]

Hi,

My 3 foster babies will need to be fixed soon (they are about 10 weeks old).  The Humane Society asked me to call their vet to get it set up.  However the vet won’t spay, only neuter.  Since this has been discussed before, please point me in the direction of information that says why it is important for females  to be fixed and I will pass this on to the vet and Humane Society director. The momma needs to be spayed too, but once I adopt her from the shelter I will take her to my vet, he has already agreed to do it for me for 1/2 price.

Thanks,

Laura

PS I have the 3 babies separated now because they have been humping and spraying like crazy.

[Sarita]

Do you think the reason the vet won’t spay may be that he is not as confident to do a spay. It may not be a matter of anything other than he’s not experienced enough rather than he doesn’t believe it’s the right thing to do. I would ask why he won’t first.

[Monkeybun]

I find it strange that the humane society vet wont spay… you’d think they’d find an experienced vet to do that for them.

[Adalaide]

I agree. I certainly wouldn’t want a doctor who isn’t comfortable doing a surgery to operate on me and I would expect the same level of care from a vet. I agree with finding out why and if he just isn’t experienced enough to want to do it you’ll need to find someone else.

[KatnipCrzy]

I also suspect it is not that the vet feels it is not important but the actual surgery itself.  Bunny neuters are more complicted than cat neuters as there is additional procedures that are done to close the “canal” that can allow the testicle to tuck up in the abdomen.  And for both bunny neuters and spays I know that the tissue is more “friable”- delicate that doing a cat or dog procedure.  So it is a more complicated/delicate procedure.  My vet does bunny spays and neuters and I know they are definitely more nerve wracking, time consuming and mentally challenging than doing cats.  A vet balances doing a proper surgery, minimizing bleeding, and monitoring an exotic animal under anesthesia.

And the Humane Societys goal is to reduce pet overpopulation- if they neuter all the boy bunnies that goal is accomplished- even though it leaves the female bunnies health risks unaddressed- but with limited resources I can see why that would fall to the adopter to accomplish.  Humane Societies do not always have the more expensive drugs, anesthesia and equipement that regular vets do.

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Do you think the reason the vet won’t spay may be that he is not as confident to do a spay. It may not be a matter of anything other than he’s not experienced enough rather than he doesn’t believe it’s the right thing to do. I would ask why he won’t first.

Ditto 200% seroiusly-if the vet is not spaying because it’s more complicatd you don’t want to talk him into it. AND if the vet doesn’t know why it’s so important to spay-I woudnt’ want him spaying.

Here’s info on why since you asked, but like I said-maybe check with another vet.
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

[Beka27]

If the vet is not willing or knowledgeable enough to do the spays, this is a red flag! I’d definitely recommend that the Humane Society look for a new vet and take ALL rabbits to them, boys and girls.

Katnip had very good info. That explains why exotic vets are more expensive, and why bunny surgeries in general are more. In my area, there are low-cost spay/neuter clinics for cats and dogs, the cat neuters are only about $40! Prices go up from there, but I don’t think any procedure is over about $100-120. But when you look to get a bun altered, the price skyrockets.

[Laura]

This humane society is very small and does not have it’s own vet. I have to go to the vet they tell me to. I did not speak to the vet himself but an assistant, that said female spay is too complicated.

I don’t want to talk him into it. But I do have a vet that will do it and I would like the director to allow me to take the buns there.

I believe there is 1 female and 2 male bunnies. I don’t want this 1 female to go to a home where she will be used to reproduce for fur or meat, or have babies and end up like her mom, at the humane society with her babies.

[Laura]

Posted By Beka27 on 11/24/2009 03:46 AM
If the vet is not willing or knowledgeable enough to do the spays, this is a red flag! I’d definitely recommend that the Humane Society look for a new vet and take ALL rabbits to them, boys and girls.

Katnip had very good info. That explains why exotic vets are more expensive, and why bunny surgeries in general are more. In my area, there are low-cost spay/neuter clinics for cats and dogs, the cat neuters are only about $40! Prices go up from there, but I don’t think any procedure is over about $100-120. But when you look to get a bun altered, the price skyrockets.

 

I agree Beka, but I need to give the humane society good reasons as to why. I will use the info from the rabbit.org link.

[Monkeybun]

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/spay.shtml

There’s some good reasons why females should be spayed in that article there. A whopping 85% of females have uterine cancer by age 4 if unspayed!

[Laura]

Posted By Monkeybun on 11/24/2009 09:22 PM
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/spay.shtml

There’s some good reasons why females should be spayed in that article there. A whopping 85% of females have uterine cancer by age 4 if unspayed!

 

Perfect, just what I need! THANKS.

[luvmybunny]

I know what you are going through, Laura. My vet does not spay females, they asked why I wanted it done. I gave them numerous reasons, health, cancer, hormones and they said “Save my money,” but then I called another day to see and they said they would do it but it would be $300 a rabbit, I have 3 females I need spayed. I called my local humane society, they gave me a number that does not exist!! So I finally found someone about an hour away that will spay my rabbits for $120. Coco is first, then I am taking Bailey and Lilly when they are 6 months.

It’s soooo annoying that they gave me such a hard time. Now that they did that, I am taking my dog to a new vet who actually cares about my “fur kids” I couldn’t believe the receptionist told me to save my money!!

[Monkeybun]

wait wait wait… you told them CANCER and they said save your money??? Good god, get a new vet!! They obviously don’t care much about the animals if they say that!

[angelicvampyre]

My vet will not spay and when I got my girl he did the initial consult and sent me down to the rabbit vet, alot of vets out here (Australia) will not spay females, i did the ring around

[Sarita]

Well it sounds as if the vet just isn’t confident enough to do the spay not that he doesn’t want to. I’m sure he realizes the risks of not spaying and may not be advocating NOT doing it just that he cannot do it.

[Balefulregards]

The last vet I spoke to about spaying females ( And Coco is spayed, and it was 300 bucks) told me that female rabbits are ridiculously hard to spay. She told me she has seen spays go bad Fast – apparently the tissues can be so delicate and thin that it is easy to mess it up. The word she used was “Dissolve in front of me.”

That may be the fear for some non-experienced vets. I am guessing that it takes a special “hand” to be able to do it well and safely. I can’t imagine that vet would want to risk killing an animal because they don’t know what they are doing.

[RabbitPam]

Laura,
If you need help locating experienced vets in your area try the HouseRabbit Society’s website, http://www.rabbit.org, for their list of recommended exotic vets.
You can call a few and ask their prices to see what your options are. Who knows, maybe one of them would be interested in volunteering their services to the Humane Society for spays.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Whew Baeful, what you said about spaying females being very hard and risky made me very worried! I’m gland I already got fern spayed, my vet was very knowledgeable too.

[Laura]

Posted By RabbitPam on 11/25/2009 04:18 PM
Laura,
If you need help locating experienced vets in your area try the HouseRabbit Society’s website, http://www.rabbit.org, for their list of recommended exotic vets.
You can call a few and ask their prices to see what your options are. Who knows, maybe one of them would be interested in volunteering their services to the Humane Society for spays.

 

I have in the past for my buns, they are all too far from me.

[Beka27]

Any surgery is risky. Even something more simple like a neuter can potentially cause problems, usually during recovery. It’s very, very important that the vet is comfortable doing it and confident in their abilities. HRS suggests asking the vet how many they do in a year and what their success rate is. The benefits do outweigh the risks. Cancer is a very real possibility and the surgery for that is more risky and more expensive.

[Balefulregards]

Oh, I agree 100% on the importance of spaying – for so many reasons. I was only repeating what the vet had said because I do think that it may be a reason some who are not experienced may shy away from rabbit spays if they aren’t an exotics specialist.

[Author]

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