Spaying

Love your rabbit
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Bigwig67

Bigwig67

Member
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
24
Reaction score
1
My 2 1/2 year old mini lop is being spayed on Friday and she is beautiful. Unfortunately, she is very aggressive and growls and lunges at me. She can be a real softie but a few seconds later she will turn on me and give me a bite. I know this is a big operation for a doe and am nervous. Hoping for her to be calmer, contented and more affectionate. She is a real beauty as you can see.
 
I can't seem to upload the image. Flopsy is beside the Easter egg in my member page.
 
Vet told me to put hay into her carrier so she will be nibbling right up until the moment they put her under the knife (so to speak) Please say a prayer that Flopsy will be fine. As she is a girl I am nervous about such a big procedure. Thanks. Will update on Friday 18th July.
 
I would update but I don't think anyone has read my post or is interested.

Anyone online?

No.
 
Bigwig, did Flopsy's surgery go smoothly? I hope she's been ok post-op :) :bunnydance:
 
Didn't see this until now - if you'd like, you're welcome to make a new thread to talk about Flopsy's spay and recovery, since this thread is originally from 2008.

:)
 
Thank you for your interest. I felt a bit foolish saying I'd update and no one seemed to be reading my posts at all. I came to the spay page and got comfort from reading about all the experiences which people are having.

It took me a long time to pluck up the courage and ask for my bun to go for surgery. I was worried because she is a female and there are big risks.
Flopsy was wonderful. She woke up quickly from the sedation and that was a huge relief.
She is eating hay, apple and carrot, drinking water and looking for a lot of cuddles and was so sweet. Today ( day 2) she is a little bit grumpy and resting. She left plenty of droppings. Her stitches are dissolvable but she is licking her bald patch on her tummy and washing herself frequently. I found her sleeping soundly earlier. I am hoping she will get better each day but she is a bit bored and annoyed at not being allowed out to run outside. How long should I keep her inside her bedroom?
 
Thank you for the suggestion. Sorry for my rudeness but I was afraid I was talking to myself!
I try and get a few photos of Flopsy while she is recovering.
 
Is there anything I can do to stop her grumpiness? She is lunging at me when I put food in to her hutch. Her tummy is making gurgling noises but she is nibbling hay and there are many droppings in litter box.
 
Regarding the grumpiness... give it a few days. She's probably sore and uncomfortable, and might just want to rest. What kind of pain relief did she get? Does she appear to be in pain (loudly grinding teeth, hunched over?)?

It's great that she's eating so well! My lop Clementine was spayed recently; she only nibbled on hay for the first few days, which was worrying.

I'm sure Flopsy will perk up in the next few days. :) I kept Clemmie in a smaller cage for around 5-6 days, and let her out for a very short play/stretch session from the 2nd day onwards (she really wanted to play with my buck, Felix).
 
Her appetite is a great sign. Her mood is probably due to discomfort from the surgery and hormones which will still take a while post-op to fully subside. As pani said, keep her in a smaller area for almost a week (or more, if she is normally a free roam bun or resides in a very large cage/area typically) and let her out for periods of time, just be careful she isn't doing anything too physical like lots of binkies or jumping up onto things :)
 
I'm glad your bun made it through her spay and is recovering well. It can be quite the worry. Keep an eye on the gurgling stomach and droppings. Probably best to hold back on sugary starchy treats now that she is eating. Sugar will just continue to unbalance her digestive bacteria. Hay is really the best thing to help restore this balance, and leafy veg if you feed them and she is used to them.

Keep an eye on the licking and incision. As long as she isn't trying to chew at it then it'll be fine.

Spaying can help some with the grumpiness and aggression if it is due to hormones. It's hard to know how much until the hormones fade. Girl buns just tend to be more moody, spayed or not. The spay does mellow this, but sometimes the behavior doesn't go away completely. If so, then you will need to work with your bun. Females are often territorial when it comes to their cages. Sometimes increasing their space can improve this, sometimes not. You can try a few other things like treat training when you feed. Give a little treat before you fill the food dish. Or sometimes scattering the food on the floor will help distract your bun. She'll also be extra grumpy right now because of the pain and discomfort from the surgery, so just give her some time.

As the original thread is quite old, I've created a new thread and am moving the current conversation to it. New posts can tend to get lost and overlooked in old threads like this, so it's best to just create your own thread when you have questions or info to share, and just include a link to a particular thread if you feel it is important to the conversation.
 
Thank you all for all the good advice.

She eats a bit of spinach and I'll encourage her to eat more hay and keep the carrots away from her.
She was a grumpy bunny before the spay. She is a bit of a character. The vets had to sedate her inside the carrier before attempting surgery. She lost her temper with them. She has attacked a rabbit, guinea pig,a dog and three cats in the past and is well known for her ability to keep cats and dogs away from the garden. She chases pigeons and birds out of her territory and tried to kill a frog. Fortunately, he escaped from her clutches.

She seems to clean herself and the sore patch is checked but not pulled at so I hope she doesn't try to pull it. I'll keep an eye on that. I don't know what pain relief she was given.
 
Last edited:
How is Clementine doing? Hope she is eating the hay again. What breed of rabbit is she? I love her name. She sounds like a darling!
 
Did they not give you any pain meds to give her at home? You should have been given, at the least, metacam suspension to give daily for several days post spay. If you weren't it's no wonder she is grumpy.

She sounds like quite the spitfire :p
 
Should I go back to the vet? I didn't get any pain med. The vet did give it to her because she said she had given her pain relief. I will find out tomorrow.
 
Usually the pain med they give them there, only lasts for a day at most. If they are open today, I would call and mention that your rabbit seems to be uncomfortable still and that you would like to pick up some meloxicam for her. If they aren't open today, since she is eating alright you should be fine to contact them tomorrow if needed. If she still seems uncomfortable and extra grumpy tomorrow, give them a call and ask about picking some up for her. Usually it is a suspension syrup that is syringed(no needle) into their mouth once or twice a day. If she is seeming better and more her usual self tomorrow, then you are probably fine and won't need the pain meds.
 
JBun said:
Usually the pain med they give them there, only lasts for a day at most. If they are open today, I would call and mention that your rabbit seems to be uncomfortable still and that you would like to pick up some meloxicam for her. If they aren't open today, since she is eating alright you should be fine to contact them tomorrow if needed. If she still seems uncomfortable and extra grumpy tomorrow, give them a call and ask about picking some up for her. Usually it is a suspension syrup that is syringed(no needle) into their mouth once or twice a day. If she is seeming better and more her usual self tomorrow, then you are probably fine and won't need the pain meds.
Click to expand...

:mrsthumper:I will sleep better tonight after reading this post! Thank you very much for all your help. :rabbithop
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top