How to prepare for a safe bunny surgery?

[HenryBunny]

Ok, so long story short I had a little bunny picked out from her litter because she was one of the only “boys” available. However when I picked her up the breeder sexed her once more and found out she was a girl! Henry is doing great in her new home, but I can’t stop thinking about her inevitable big girl surgery once she matures. I wanted a boy bunny specifically so that they would have a better chance at recovery post-op, which is kind of a stupid reason, but I have heard a lot of horror stories of girl bunnies not surviving, and I would feel terrible knowing I put my bunny through a traumatic experience that she didn’t ask for just for her to pass away.

So, that said, what are some ways that I can make surgery and recovery the easiest on my little Henry? I am looking at vets in my area that do rabbit spays commonly, but it is hard to judge because any exotic vet can say that they can do the surgery, but I don’t know how to tell if they are actually rabbit savvy.

I don’t want to make this post too long, but Henry is going to be living with me at college and so will be meeting a lot of new people and going to a lot of new places. I am even thinking of getting her registered as a therapy bunny to visit the hospital. That being said, are there any vaccines or treatments she should receive to protect her from anything she might come in contact with?

Sorry to make such a long post, and thank you for reading everything if you got this far!

[Sirius&Luna]

While in the past, spaying rabbits used to be very dangerous, as vets have got more experienced, it’s got much safer. You’ll find many people on here who have had their bunnies spayed successfully. My female rabbit was spayed over a year ago, and had a relatively easy recovery, although it did take her a little while to start eating by herself.

If you let us know where you’re based, we can help you with finding a suitable list of rabbit savvy vets. Otherwise, you can ask them how often they perform the surgery and what their success rate is. You can also ask if they fast a rabbit before surgery – the correct answer is no, rabbits should never be fasted.

So, spaying in general (copied from another post and including Wick’s advice!):

– Make sure she eats before and right up to the surgery
– Make sure you’re sent home with painkillers for her after the surgery
– Stock up on her favourite veg and treats. Lots of bunnies don’t want to eat after spays, but the quicker they start eating the better. They must eat within 8 hours of the spay, so make sure you have critical care in case she doesn’t voluntarily eat
– Give her the option of soft blankets to lie on
– Clean the hutch and litter trays extra regularly so the wound doesn’t get infected
– Watch out that she isn’t biting or playing with the wound
– Rearrange her free-roam area to be more limited, and take out or modify obstacles so she is not tempted to do a lot of jumping or climbing. This can tear/strain the incision site, delaying healing and potentially injuring it. Even if she feels like she is OK to jump and run, her incision site may think otherwise.
– Do what you can to encourage hay eating. The sooner she begins eating hay again, the better. Each rabbit has its own recovery time, but if swapping through fresh hay more frequently seems to do the trick, do that for a couple days.

As for taking her to lots of places – I think you need to think carefully about her temperament and whether that’s something she’s suited to. My female rabbit would likely become ill with stress if I regularly took her out. She hates travelling and becomes very stressed very quickly. My little lionhead however doesn’t get stressed by anything, so he wouldn’t mind it. Make sure you consider whether she’s suited to being a social bunny. In the UK and some parts of Europe and Australia, rabbits need vaccinations, but in the US they don’t. You can ask your vet about what is required in your country.

[HenryBunny]

Hi, sorry for the lack of response on my part, I am new here and didn’t know how to check for replies to my post. Thank you for such helpful advice! Knowing there is a rabbit savvy community online that I can talk to if Henry has post-surgery complications is really helping me to focus on the positives of spaying and not the risks. 

I live in southeast Michigan, or about a 2 hour drive south from Detroit. No shelters in my county or general area perform rabbit spays because 99% of animals in their care are cats and dogs. I emailed all of the small animal clinics and hospitals within a 45 minute drive of my house and one offered spays for about 130$ (including pain meds). This is a great price considering everyone else in my area priced their spays at 200$ and up. The vet we take all of our small animals to had theirs priced at 250$, which seems very steep to me, although I don’t know what a typical rabbit spay bill looks like. 

Anyways, Henry aced her wellness checkup so I am feeling a lot better about having her go through the procedure. The vet I am thinking of taking Henry to for her spay we have never been to before, but they said over email that rabbit spays are normal for them and that they have a strong success rate. 

[Bunny House]

Hi, I know costs are high for bunnies but you don’t want to take her to a vet that is cheap because you often pay for what you get, but of course some vets are way too expensive just because they can charge that amount so make sure you do your research and ask what type of meds they use for surgery and what pain meds they send home with you.

Do you have a vet school near you you could take her to for surgery? I know I lived in Dayton Ohio and would take my bun to med vet in Columbus but I don’t know how far that is from you.

You can also ask the vet that is doing the surgery if they are licensed as a exotic vet or regular vet as that will show they have better knowledge to handle bunnies and also make sure the techs( they are the ones who give the anesthesia meds to the animals) know how to put a bunny under because you can’t use the same protocols for bunnies as you can for dogs and cats.

And of course, if you have a feeling in your gut it’s wrong to take her to a certain vet, follow it, I know I have often and it’s been good that I did. You can always ask us more questions!

[HenryBunny]

Thank you Bunny House! Yes, I will be asking this vet some questions when we visit because my other bunnies need a wellness checkup. I would say the closest veterinary school to us would be in Michigan State, which is an hour and a half away. Columbus Ohio would be a three hour trip. We really live in the middle of nowhere which makes finding some things(like a reputable exotic vet) fairly difficult.
I will be going to college in Ohio so maybe there will be more options down there? The college I am attending is 40 minutes west of Cleveland. My only problem would be scheduling Henry’s spay around classes, where if her spay was done at a vet clinic close to home then I could do it on break and have a few days to be with her and make sure she is recovering fine.
Is 250$ a typical price point for rabbit spays? I will pay it if I know Henry is in the right hands, but it just seemed a tad bit steep to me. What sort of medications should the vet be giving Henry for this procedure? Is there a website that goes into better detail about this sort of stuff? Thank you!

[Bunny House]

No problem! Now vet school hospitals may not be better than a regular exotic vet( the vet school down here isn’t the best). Have you tried calling Michigan state vet school to see if they have a vet hospital that regular people take their pets to?

Most vets will have you drop off before or right when they open in the morning and you can Always ask for a early drop off but I don’t take mine the day before as they don’t eat at the vet and isn’t good for the bun. I grew up in Dayton and I know there aren’t too many licensed exotic vets but I did find one but I forget where. I Searched “exotic vets in Cleveland Ohio “and i got really good results, so see what you find and call them, and you can ask general questions and see how you feel about the vet. And I get wanting to do it close to home during breaks but you need to find the best exotic vet you can that you trust and have her spay done there ( wether at home or at school)as they should be able to get her done with little to no complications and of course the best medicines used on her. With all my experience-I pay more than I should for services because I trust the vet when I could easily go to a vet that is way cheaper but I don’t have trust in them, especially with all the surgeries they have had the past year. Is there a vet school up there? I know Ohio state has a vet school but that’s farther south.

And yes, $250 is the going rate and sometimes it includes meds and sometimes it doesn’t. Bunny vet costs are very high ? so usually they should send home 5-7 days worth of meloxicam for pain, they might give her a buprenex shot that lasts a couple of days which kills the pain but I prefer meloxicam as it won’t slow down the gi tract that will already be slowed down. You will need critical care and a couple of large, medium and small Syringes Incase you need to force feed if she doesn’t eat within 8 hours of coming home( can buy critical care on amazon or at the vet).

I’m not sure if this website has information on it but it pretty sure House rabbit society has info on it, but you can also ask us on here as many go through it all the time.

I hope this helps and ask me more questions if I need to clarify something.

[HenryBunny]

Ok thank you! Looks like I still have some research to do, luckily I still have a few months before Henry is old enough to be spayed.

[Bunny House]

No problem!

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