Bonded pair + spaying = worried

[bunnybunbunb]

Ok, so my girls Mousse and Becca are bonded. They have been together about 2 months now and are such a lovely couple. Becca is over 2 years old and Mousse is 10 months old. I am getting them both spayed however I am waiting to do Becca. I thought since Mousse is the dominate and bigger if I did Becca first we might have problems. I would like to get Becca done ASAP due to possible cancer however I think Mousse should go first.

My worries are what if they do not stay bonded? Should I let them together as soon as Moussey is brought home or wait and riska fight? I have seperated them before for as little as 10 minutes and there has always boxing afterwards so I am worried.

I have called the closest vet that does rabbits, it is a hospital. There is only one vet on staff that has done rabbit spay and neuters. He said he does guinea pigs and ferrets often but a rabbit is a rarety. They work with rabbits alot but he said they have not ever had a "just because" spay be done, all where due to stuck kits, etc. I am waiting for them to call me back so I can ask the vet some questions, make sure he knows what he is doing as far as what to give her and how many he has done and lost.

 

[Flashy]

Could you maybe get them spayed at the same time and keep them together throughout the full process? They often recover quicker and better with their friend, and that should also help keep the bond together.

I did that with my Dopeys and they did really well.

I wonder if anyone on here can recommend you a good vet. It sounds like maybe your vet does not have as much knowledge/expereince as you might hope they would. You're definitely doing the right thing by checking their knowledge, good on you.

 

[bunnybunbunb]

Flashy wrote:

Could you maybe get them spayed at the same time and keep them together throughout the full process? They often recover quicker and better with their friend, and that should also help keep the bond together.

I did that with my Dopeys and they did really well.

I wonder if anyone on here can recommend you a good vet. It sounds like maybe your vet does not have as much knowledge/expereince as you might hope they would. You're definitely doing the right thing by checking their knowledge, good on you.

He called just as I started to type a reply. We talked for a while. He said he does maybe 1-2 spays a year and due to that he does not keep Sevoflurane however he uses Isoflurane so that is ok. He said he has had great luck with the Iso and does not feel safe using injection. He use to work with a rabbit savvy vet in Lexington, she is on the list on the site, Penny Royal I believe. I called her before and they wanted $300 roughly without laser. Just the other night he had to take an eye out of a bunny, said he does surgeries on rabbits often it seems and very few fatalities so that is nice to know. He is a very soft spoken person, I had to strain to hear him

He quoted me $125 for the whole shabang! He told me he woulddo laser free and give her Burpenorphine before we left without added cost, also. He also said he could do Metacan for home but I forgot to ask if that would be much extra.

With that price I can not do both Mousse and Becca at once but it is a doable price with my job :biggrin2lus I can still have my trip for my birthday in June!

Oh, and he said he could also call the rabbit vet and talk to her before the surgery if I wanted. He sounds wonderful

P.S. I am consistering having to scheduled for next thursday if weather permits, whatcha think?

 

[Sabine]

Having them both done together seems a good idea. I had one girl of a bonded pair done about two weeks ago. She was the dominant one and initially i couldn't let them back together because the younger one was attacking her friend. Only when the spayed girl felt better (about 5 days later) and started chasing the other one things got better and the status quo was reestablished. It took about a week but everything is back to normal now.

 

[Sabine]

Even though Becca isn't the dominant one there may not be a problem with her going first as she won't be challenging the status quo when she is feeling low (This was the problem in my case) and since she is 2 already it may make more sense to have her done first in case things change financially and it'll take longer to have the money for the second spay.


P.S. and once Mousse gets done Becca's hormones might have settled and she may not want to establish dominance when Mousse gets done.

Just basing that on my experience

 

[Snufflez]

I brought my two boys together to the vet.. I left one there and brought the other one home. He went with me to get the other one and i put them together right away. I know i did my dominant one first and the younger one started to hump him.. but my lil sister stopped him right away.. but zues never did anything to gizmo.

 

[Amy27]

I just wanted to ditto Sabine just because she is the dominant one doesn't mean there will be no problems. That is what has happened to me, twice. It is my shy low key bunny that tends to unbond and get aggressive. My dominant one was all happy to see the other bun until she started ripping out her hair. I would try to do them at the same time if you can.

 

[bunnybunbunb]

I decided to go ahead and get Becca done first. I decided that the cancer risk is more important for her being she is older. Now to just make her Dr. Adams will do her being she is older. He agreed to do Mousse because she was under a year, hopefully he will be going with it.

Mom asked if when he opened her up would he be able to tell right off if she has cancer, I told her I thought so. Then she asked what would have to be done if she did, I honestly am not sure. Would she need treatment? I expect so. What if he wants to put her to sleep?:nerves1:cry2

 

[Flashy]

If she is showing no signs of a problem, then they will probably just carry on with the spay. They may have to give her more special aftercare if she is debiliated by any uterine problems to give her the best shot.

I would think, however, that she would only get to a stage where she would need to be PTS if she was showing symptoms, because that would mean it was very advanced.

Remember though, that that is in your control because you have to sign a form to allow them to do that.

At 2 her risk is there, but it's not excessively high. Last year I had three 2 year olds spayed with no complications at all. I also had a much older girl spayed and she had no uterine problems at all.

It is far better to do what you are doing now and have them spayed as a preventative than wait and see if they show symptoms and act then, because it can easily be too late at that point because they could be riddled with cancer, or just too frail to survive such a massive op.

Is it your fear of her getting cancer that prevents you waiting and getting them both done at the same time?

How do you intend to handle the recovery side of it with only one of them being spayed?