Getting my bunnies fixed?

[CaptainSwab]

Growing up, the only animals I ever had were birds. This past summer, I adopted 2 baby bunnies. Needless to say, I know nothing about animal fixing. I have read posts on here about needing to get your animals fixed. They are both females. What are the benifits to getting them fixed? At what age do I need to do this? Will it be expensive?

[rabid_child]

Something about living longer I believe, reduced risk of cervical cancer.... My memory is telling me that its rabbits who all get cervical cancer if they aren't spayed, but I really don't remember if its rabbits or another small animal. I'm new to small animals right now.. but learning as fast as i can.. :P

Do it between 6-8 months, its about $250 around here.

[kpickell]

Read: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

$250 is very high. I would say under $70. Ask you area shelters, they should know the cheapest place to have it done. The page also have a lot of questions you shoud ask the vet to make sure they're competent.

[TreeManEarthSteward]

You might per chance get some bunny fixing tips of some kind from Avalons thread here:


>> (on the following date)..
08-20-03, 05:32 AM Companion Animals
My bunny is getting 'fixed' tomorrow! :(

http://veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=9302

[rabid_child]

Read:
$250 is very high. I would say under $70.

I work in an affluent suburb of NYC. Everythings very high :)

[VealPrincess]

i got my female rabbit spayed about 8 months ago. does are very prone to cervical, uterine and ovarian cancers. i've read that almost all unspayed does die of these sorts of cancers.

spaying your doe should also decrease aggression as well as eliminate false pregnancies (which, believe me, are not fun to go through!)

i adopted girlbunny as a companion for my newly neutered boybunny. they went through the usual bonding issues, and finally got used to one another and were fine together. this harmony lasted a few months, until girlbunny started acting extremely aggressive - not only with me but also with boybunny. she then began a false pregnancy, which consisted of her gathering anything that she could find (like newspaper) and stockpiling it in her litter box. she was frantic day and night and would keep me up during the nights by shaking her cage door until i would let her out. she then pulled out a substantial amount of her fur and lined her litter box. it was a beautiful nest, but she wasn't pregnant! she would then try and attack boybunny, as if saying "why are there no babies! i'm obviously fine, what is wrong with YOU?!".... it got to the point where i couldn't let them out together because she would just run after him until he was in a panic.

this went on for a little while longer until we all couldn't take it anymore and i had saved up the $260 it took to spay her. she hasn't been aggressive once since her spay (and it had gotten to the point where i couldn't even reach into her cage to put hay in without fear of being attacked!) and of course there are the added health benefits as well. with two females, i can see that you may run into territory issues if they are not spayed.

spays for rabbits are usually more expensive than spays for dogs and cats since rabbits are harder to keep alive under anesthetic. i would recommend finding someone who has experience taking care of rabbits.

good luck.... :)

[CaptainSwab]

Thanks for the advice guys. :)

Vealprincess, are you saying that your bunny became more friendly after she was sprayed? One of my bunnies is scared ****less of us it seems. She'll cower in the corner when I try to take their litter box out or give them food.

[VealPrincess]

yeah, i'd say she is more friendly.

she was already between a year and two years of age when i adopted her, and i don't think her previous home was a very good one. she is still very leery of humans, although now she will ask to be petted on the face if i get down on the floor and put my hand out along the ground. she doesn't struggle when i'm holding her to trim her nails now, either.

i'm not sure if her becoming more at ease with me has mostly to do with the spay or mostly to do with the fact that she has gotten used to being treated properly by humans. but i do know that she has calmed down a lot since her spay - she doesn't jump at me, try to bite or "growl" at me anymore and she now lives in the same cage as boybunny and they get along well.

i know that some bunnies enjoy being held, but neither of my bunnies like it. i've had boybunny since he was born and he was handled a lot when he was young to try and get him used to me and he still doesn't like to be picked up. you might try lying right down on the ground and stretching your hand into her cage with a treat and allowing her to come to you. i find that if i'm lying on the ground, my bunnies are both willing to come over to me.

[CaptainSwab]

Hmmm. Well, neither of my bunnies ever try to growl or bite us, so thats good. Sometimes slowly streaching my hand out seems to help. Bunnies are fun animals. :)

[househunnies]

Haven't been here in a while, but I can never pass up a bunny issue! :) I'm glad to hear you are going to get your bunnies "fixed"! Luckily both of mine came already altered! It is a health issue, esp. for your girl bunny! It does also help with some behavioral issues. Supposedly it prolongs life as well.
Great place to check out info on this is the house rabbit society at www.rabbit.org
They can also help you find a knowledgable rabbit vet as well, this is very important esp. if your going to put your bunnies under anestisia( yeah that isn't spelt right).

Best of luck to you and your lucky bunnies! :)

[schu]

make sure that you go to a reputable vet, im not saying you wouldn't but just to let you know, if they tell you that the rabbit shouldn't eat before the surgery be wary because rabbits shouldnt ever be fasted..I wouldn't trust a vet that said something like this..

[zoebird]

the same web page that has the info about spaying (above) also has a list of good vets who treat rabbits specifically and how to find a vet if there isn't one listed for your area (types of questions to ask and what sorts of answers to look for, etc).

the biggest expense with having a rabbit spayed/neutered isn't the procedure. With many animals (dogs and cats specifically) their systems are different and can take the anestheia more easily than a rabbit cat. Rabbits have more sensitive systems, so "putting them under" is more complex. Often, they can't "stay under" for as long as other animals, so any procedure is more difficult. Because vets will often call in a specialist to handle the anesthesia for a rabbit, the procedure is often more expensive.

When October J was neutered, it cost us nearly $200. we were having a growth removed from his chest (it was a fibroid) and his neutering at the same time so that we wouldn't have to "put him under" twice--which is dangerous for rabbits, particularly as they get older. I think the procedure cost $180 and then the other $20 was for misc. costs of keeping him before and after (for observation), and the follow up visit to check on his stitches (on his chest from the fibroid).

All in all, he did quite well. They did keep him an extra day because of his age to make sure he was fully recovered. (he was basicly neutered late because it took me so long to convince ryan to do it).

If i had a female, i would certainly spay her, because the health risks of not doing so out weigh any benefits of not doing so.

Be well and happy!