Need advice or maybe just reassurance! Pyometra/Spay

Our bunny Brie, a mini rex, about 3-3 1/2 years old, was not spayed when she was younger. We got her originally for a FFA project, before we really knew anything about rabbits. Her purpose was for us to breed her, but she never became pregnant after being bred a few times with our other mini rex. She has been relatively healthy, but overweight for most of her life with us. We tried everything to help her lose the weight, and even more recently switched her food and cut way back on her treats (which she was not happy about), but she couldn't lose the weight. And, we couldn't get her spayed without getting the weight off. Fast forward to this week, and she was going in and out of stasis....so we took her to the vet. The vet did the exam and some tests and said that she had a mass, that was likely uterine cancer. She told us that Brie was possibly not losing weight because of the growth of the mass in her stomach. She said it would be a very high risk surgery because of her size, and also she anticipated that cancer would be spread on the inside. So, the next day, we took her to the vet, said our goodbyes (because we thought it would be the last time we would see her), and we waited for the phone call. Instead, I ended up calling them and finding out that not only did she make it through the surgery, but she didn't have signs of cancer outside her uterus. It's unknown if she had cancer cells in her uterus, and we will have to wait for the histopath results to come back. She said that Brie had something called a Pyometra. Here's the link to Medirabbit about it: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Bacterial_diseases/Endo_en.htm

She stayed (for her very first time) away from home last night, at the vet's office. She came home today, and she is taking Sulfa Trimeth for the infection and Metacam for the pain. We had to remove her litter box from her cage because she can't jump for the next 10-14 days due to her incision. She has dissolvable stitches. Here's the issue - we have found her several times, just urinating where she is laying or in the close vicinity of where she lays - no where near the potty box area we set up in her cage. I'm not sure if she is confused, or still kind of in a daze from the Metacam, or if she is just sort of having accidents......should I be worried??? She also has been trying to lick her self occasionally. This is the first spay we have dealt with from start to finish....the other female bun we got as a foster that we adopted and she is very young and energetic, and was about three days out from the spay when she came home with us. I just want to know if we should expect our Brie to just be kind of lethargic, low appetite (eats a lot of greens, and some pellets and hay, but less than she did before), and of course the peeing thing. I know she has to feel awful not just because of the spay but also because of the infection. So, please reassure me, or give me information so I don't worry so much!!! Our vet said we won't be out of the woods until she is fully recovered, but we are so thankful that Brie is still with us!!!! :rabbithop:inlove:

For now, it's to be expected that she's not back to normal. Even a regular spay on a healthy doe takes a toll on the rabbit, it's a very invasive surgery (especially in your doe's case, as they had to remove both the uterus and the ovaries, which means the vet had to do a big incision - when you spay young does, before any problem occurs, they generally only remove the ovaries). Your doe is in pain, scared and confused, and the meds are making her a bit woozy. Being weird, not wanting be touched or to eat a lot on the first day back at home sounds normal to me. Aki came back home on the evening of her spay and she disappeared under my bed until the next day. It took her a few days to get back to normal for her everyday life, and she avoided me and didn't want to be touched for a few weeks.
The fact that Brie eats greens and even a bit of hay sounds quite promising, to me. Cut the pellets if you have to, to encourage her to eat more fibers.
Nonetheless, considering your doe was sick before the surgery and that the risks are higher than normal, I would really monitor her closely. For now, I would give her a tons of wet vegetables, hay and herbs to continue to encourage her to eat fibers and to hydrate her guts. If she is showing signs of pain tomorrow, that she makes small poops or doesn't eat her hay, I would give the vet a call. He might be able to tell you if she needs a stronger pain killer (sometimes, an injection works better and might help when the rabbit is suffering a lot), or at least to give you some reassurance. Right now, I don't think there is anything really worrying in what you're describing. I hope Brie gets better soon!

Aki said:

For now, it's to be expected that she's not back to normal. Even a regular spay on a healthy doe takes a toll on the rabbit, it's a very invasive surgery (especially in your doe's case, as they had to remove both the uterus and the ovaries, which means the vet had to do a big incision - when you spay young does, before any problem occurs, they generally only remove the ovaries). Your doe is in pain, scared and confused, and the meds are making her a bit woozy. Being weird, not wanting be touched or to eat a lot on the first day back at home sounds normal to me. Aki came back home on the evening of her spay and she disappeared under my bed until the next day. It took her a few days to get back to normal for her everyday life, and she avoided me and didn't want to be touched for a few weeks.
The fact that Brie eats greens and even a bit of hay sounds quite promising, to me. Cut the pellets if you have to, to encourage her to eat more fibers.
Nonetheless, considering your doe was sick before the surgery and that the risks are higher than normal, I would really monitor her closely. For now, I would give her a tons of wet vegetables, hay and herbs to continue to encourage her to eat fibers and to hydrate her guts. If she is showing signs of pain tomorrow, that she makes small poops or doesn't eat her hay, I would give the vet a call. He might be able to tell you if she needs a stronger pain killer (sometimes, an injection works better and might help when the rabbit is suffering a lot), or at least to give you some reassurance. Right now, I don't think there is anything really worrying in what you're describing. I hope Brie gets better soon!

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Thanks so much! We called our very rabbit savvy vet, and she thought it might be the Sulfa Trimeth antibiotic causing some issues. So, she had us stop it, and she switched to penicillin injections, and that did the trick! She is now eating, pooping, and even peeing more normally (95% in her litter area). Today she is much better! And, she is now no longer refusing to take her pain meds, so we didn't have the struggle we have been having with her (which was probably painful for her!). She is even coming over to us for head rubs again. I know we aren't out of the woods, because we don't know what the pathology report will reveal, but I'm glad to see her acting a bit more like herself.

Yup, antibiotics are difficult for bun's to handle because it messes with their delicate cecum and digestive tracts, and certain types can have better results in some cases. I'm so glad you called the vet and were able to clear it up!
Before I adopted my first bunny years ago, I did research on spaying and neutering and was shocked to find out that a high percentage of doe's end up dying of some form of reproductive cancer. Even though spaying is a more difficult surgery, it really is important to go through with it. Fortunately, I've only had male bunnies, and the second one I adopted was already neutered by the shelter.