Boarding After Spay?

[maylinagurl3]

Hi all, my bun is scheduled to have her spay appointment in about a month. I’ve heard of some vets offering to board the buns for one or two evenings afterward just to monitor their health—something that’s included in the cost of the spay. My vet offers a boarding option where they’d bring the bun home with them to watch, but it’s not included/would cost extra. They’ve assured me that generally, buns are ready to go home after the spay. I’m willing and able to pay the additional fee. But I wanted to know what would be best for my bun. On the one hand, I’m terrified that something will happen in the hours after I bring her home and that I won’t be able to help her (where a vet would). On the other hand, I can’t stop thinking about how stressed and frightened she might be afterward and wonder if she would feel more comfortable coming straight home. Thanks in advance!

 

[peanutdabunny]

It all depends on your bunnies personality, for my bunny peanut he hates to not be able to see me, I use to let him be in an xpen in my bathroom but all he would do is wait at the door and shake it, he likes to have his enclouser where he can see me, if your bunny is like this dont do the boarding.

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Your vet will likely make sure that she’s eating and pooping after she’s woken up from surgery. If they’re having trouble to get her to act normally, then they’ll likely keep her overnight where they can watch and monitor her properly! I’m not sure what your vets process is but it might be best to wait until the day of surgery (or even once she wakes up from surgery).
As @peanutdabunny said, it will depend on the rabbit! I know rabbits who didn’t take much to go back to normal after their spay, and others who had to stay overnight.

 

[JBun]

It'll depend on if you are able to monitor your bun that evening and night following the spay, and if you feel comfortable doing the after care. It's mostly making sure to keep your rabbit warm(they can get hypothermic following anesthesia, and a cold rabbit is less inclined to want to eat), making sure your rabbit doesn't mess with or chew at the incision site, and encourage your bun to start eating. Admittedly it can be a bit stressful until they get eating again, and making sure they don't try and chew at their incision. Basically you have to sleep next to their pen and check on them all night. I usually set up a small recovery pen next to the couch, for me to sleep and monitor them through the night.

The problem with leaving them at the vet office that night after surgery, is being in an unfamiliar place can overly stress some rabbits and affect their recovery. Especially if they aren't in an isolated room away from the cats and dogs, who will be very noisy and could be frightening to a rabbit. The stress can sometimes be enough to further complicate things and cause GI stasis to set in.

If possible, I would be inclined to bring bun home at least for that first night. Then if by the next day your bun still hasn't started eating and you have to start syringe feeds, those can be difficult to do if you don't have experience with it, so that would be the time to consider possibly boarding, maybe even just during the day so they can help get your bun eating and you could pick back up that night before they close. But if you go with boarding at the vet office overnight, only do it if they have someone there overnight to keep an eye on your bun and give syringe feeds through the night, otherwise there's really no point in keeping your rabbit in a stressful place with no overnight monitoring.

Best is to keep your bun at home if you can handle the care involved. Next best for overnight care, would be to pay the extra for the vet to take your bun home.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/opcare.html

 

[maylinagurl3]

Thank you all so much! Yes, I think I’ll try bringing her home after her spay. I think we’d both feel more comfortable having each other. Thank you again!