6 month old getting spayed today...any advice for after care?

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SpicyTaco

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Hi all,

My Briar is at the vet right now getting spayed. I am hoping to pick her up in the next 3 or 4 hours. Any advice on how I can help her recover or make her more comfortable when she gets home? How long are they typically uncomfortable after this procedure?

Thanks in advance!
 
Make sure you get some pain medication from the vet to use for the first few days. Here in the States they typically use Metacam. When I had my boy bunnies neutered I had to ask for it because it was optional, but I would think that since a spay is more invasive they would automatically give you something. My girl bunny was already spayed when I got her so I don't have any first hand experience with that.

She may not want to eat right away, but you should try to encourage her anyway with the things she usually eats and likes. Hand feed her if you have to. They will probably tell you this, but you should keep her in her cage and not let her run around for several days.
 
Make sure you get some pain medication from the vet to use for the first few days. Here in the States they typically use Metacam. When I had my boy bunnies neutered I had to ask for it because it was optional, but I would think that since a spay is more invasive they would automatically give you something. My girl bunny was already spayed when I got her so I don't have any first hand experience with that.

She may not want to eat right away, but you should try to encourage her anyway with the things she usually eats and likes. Hand feed her if you have to. They will probably tell you this, but you should keep her in her cage and not let her run around for several days.

I second what Bville said. GET PAIN MEDS. I did not and think I paid the price with my girls attitude toward me. My big girl Brooke was active within 2 hours of being fixed and wanted to play and I was trying to keep her calm. Lady was in pain and just laid around and did not want to eat. I had to hand feed her parsley and dried food. I kept her in her cage and tried to keep her in a quiet area to rest and get away from the chihuahua's I have.
Try to get them water also after wards that is the vet told me but your vet may tell you something different but number one PAIN MEDS..

Vanessa
 
My girls almost got sent home without metacam as well - I put my foot down and didn't leave the vet until I had it... which I was extremely thankful for later! I could tell it helped them a lot after their pain shots (which last for 24h after the surgery) wore off; also, the leftovers are a great thing to keep in your first aid kit!

I'm long overdue to get away from the computer so I don't have time to type up a thorough post-spay run-down for you... you may find it helpful to skim these two threads from when I had Nala and Gaz spayed, though. They cover a lot of common questions and address the most common post-spay (minor) issues :).

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=76236&forum_id=1 - announcement that it was spay-day followed by a discussion
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=76266&forum_id=16 - I started a new topic in the infirmary for some quick answers to post-op questions... initially, how to safely get them out of their carrier when my common sense took a break (forgot that since it's a NIC carrier, I could just cut the side open) and then I hi-jacked my own thread when I realized they weren't really eating and that Nala was licking her incision a ton
 
Often the hardest thing is getting them to eat afterwards. I had the most success with their leafy veggies. That would usually be the first thing my buns would eat. And if you have questions or feel concerned about anything, don't feel reluctant about phoning your vet up. That's what they're there for. And of course you can also post here with any questions.
 
I know this isn't my thread but I'm on my phone and can't figure out how to make a new one so I hope no one minds. My mother told me I could get my bunny a friend if I could come up with the money to get her fixed. I have recently walked enough dogs and shoveled enough driveways to get her fixed so now the question is afterwards, how long until my bun is ready to begin bonding with a new bunny? Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread.
 
I know this isn't my thread but I'm on my phone and can't figure out how to make a new one so I hope no one minds. My mother told me I could get my bunny a friend if I could come up with the money to get her fixed. I have recently walked enough dogs and shoveled enough driveways to get her fixed so now the question is afterwards, how long until my bun is ready to begin bonding with a new bunny? Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread.

:threadhijacked:

Wait a couple of months for her hormones to die down before you introduce her to any new potential friends. I'd suggest doing bunny dating at a shelter or rescue. Buns can be very particular about who they like and don't like.
 
:threadhijacked:



Wait a couple of months for her hormones to die down before you introduce her to any new potential friends. I'd suggest doing bunny dating at a shelter or rescue. Buns can be very particular about who they like and don't like.


Thank you very much! I've only had my bun for a few months so in still new at this
 
For a female, it takes up to a month after a spay for her hormones to be completely gone (it's 6-8 weeks for males). You could potentially start doing bunny-dates at shelters to find a suitable match as soon as about two weeks after the spay; however, if she's still hormonal then that could cause her to not get along with a bunny who she might actually have liked once the hormones were completely out of her system. In other words, finding a companion that she gets along with will be easier if you wait a full month just to be safe.
 
For a female, it takes up to a month after a spay for her hormones to be completely gone (it's 6-8 weeks for males). You could potentially start doing bunny-dates at shelters to find a suitable match as soon as about two weeks after the spay; however, if she's still hormonal then that could cause her to not get along with a bunny who she might actually have liked once the hormones were completely out of her system. In other words, finding a companion that she gets along with will be easier if you wait a full month just to be safe.


How can I tell if my bunny is hormonal? I don't really have any experience with other bunnies to compare her with. Thanks for the numbers, I was going to wait until summer to be sure but I might be able to start the play dates before then which is exiting. Again sorry for all the questions 😅
 
If she was displaying obvious hormonal behavior prior to her spay, then you'd know when those behaviors faded... if she wasn't, you generally can't know for sure, heh.
 
Thanks very much, everyone. Briar is home and is doing wonderfully! She actually started eating at the vet earlier this evening before I even picked her up. :-D Such an awesome girl! The vet tech said she always brings a salad on days when they have a bunny spaying, so she offered Briar some of her leafy greens and some apple and she happily munched away. Now that she's home I've given her some more greens and she dug right in, so I'm very encouraged by that. Otherwise she's groggy and moving slow, but seems fine. :)
 
Wonderful! Still keep a close eye on her eating, though - I was told my girls were eating at the vet (I had packed them a lunch of bunny salad, hay, pellets and a couple raisins for each), but they honestly weren't eating all that much and they were groggy/ignoring their food that night. I ended up syringe-feeding them a bit of Critical Care (they sure woke up to fight me about that - word to the wise, "anise" flavor is for guinea pigs; get the apple-banana for rabbits!). When I called the next morning, I was told the after-effects of the anesthesia can cause nausea for up to 24-36 hours and to let them eat whatever they wanted, just for the day (like a kid getting ice cream when they have a sore throat), so they got spoiled with some extra banana slices and apple-blueberry baby food :p.

Leafy greens are usually the first thing they start eating again; pellets are typically the last... so be generous with the veggies and don't stress if she's ignoring her pellets for the first day or two :).
 

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