bad bunny

[pherber12]

Roxy was spayed last Friday, the 24th. Seemingly unaffected by the pain and trauma, she started eating and acting like her old self as soon as she came home prompting me to start to wonder if she had really been spayed at all.

She also started grooming herself, and her stitches. She wasn't actively seeking them out, but if she came across them while grooming herself I would see her chewing and pulling at them. I distracted her every time she did this, but I can't watch her 24/7.

Yesterday, only 1 stitch was missing, but by this morning she had removed 2-3 -- thankfully the incision was still closed.

I called the vet and they said not to worry because they had also used glue at the incision site, though if she still played with the incision she would need a cone. What a bad little bunny. Well, I guess not so little because the vet said she weighed 9lbs, lol.

Anyway, so the vet recommends keeping her calm and quiet for 7 days but she is not too happy with cage rest right now. She's rattling the bars demanding to be let out, and tries to make a break for it whenever I have to open the door to feed or water her -- not very fun for a bunny who is used to spending 5+ hours out of her cage a day.

My question is this -- did you guys wait the full 7 days before allowing your bunnies a little freedom after their spays??

I had thought to let her out earlier than that but now that most of the stitches are gone, and she only has glue holding the incision closed I don't want her opening up the incision by jumping on furniture and running around like a crazy bunny....

 

[Flashy]

Is she on pain meds? If not, she might stop worrying the site if she has them because it must hurt.

I kept mine mostly restricted for 10 days I think, although after the first 5 I allowed them slightly more space, but not enough space to run properly.

Hopefully her wound would have healed sufficiently by now to prevent it reopening. It's not fun when they chew is it. Not fun at all. Could you fashion something to cover her wound? some people get creative with socks, or scarfs or baby vets and such.

 

[tonyshuman]

You could let her out to explore, but not to run or jump, as Flashy said.

I agree that maybe a dog t-shirt or soft e-collar would help. See this thread: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=37816&forum_id=16&msg=2

Pain meds of course would help. Also, if she's just bored, maybe she needs a new toy.

 

[pherber12]

She is on pain meds, so I don't think that's it. She's not chewing or licking at the incision site at all. It's only when she's grooming herself and she comes across the stitches that she chews on them.

I have some vet wrap I could wrap around her belly but I'd much prefer to let the incision site breathe. I have my laptop set up right beside her cage so I've been watching her since this morning and I haven't once had to distract her from her stitches, so hopefully she's over that and I won't have to wrap her up.

I am hoping that she will have healed enough by the weekend to let her out a little. I'm just afraid she'll jump too high and so some bizarre twisting binky and the incision will open up...

 

[pherber12]

Thanks for the link!! I did a search earlier on stitches but that thread didn't come up.

She probably is bored since she's used to having the run of the house, I have some little cardboard boxes I was keeping until she had recovered by maybe I'll put some treats in one of them and give it to her now...

tonyshuman wrote:

You could let her out to explore, but not to run or jump, as Flashy said.

I agree that maybe a dog t-shirt or soft e-collar would help. See this thread: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=37816&forum_id=16&msg=2

Pain meds of course would help. Also, if she's just bored, maybe she needs a new toy.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

How is Roxy doing? How are the stitches healing?

 

[pherber12]

Roxy is doing as well as a caged wild beast, lol. She is not impressed that she's been on cage rest since her spay.

She's only got 1 stitch left but the incision site looks really good. It stayed closed thanks to the glue they used and it's healing nicely.

I'm still wondering if I should add a couple days to the vet's recommended 7 days of cage rest because there are no stitches holding the skin together....

 

[Maureen Las]

Some vets just use glue.
I would give her a little more freedon but not let her run loose with a lot of jumping ;I would let her into a small room without objects to jump on if the site looks healed after 7 days.