food before surgery?

[Riley Newcombe]

my 6 month old bunny is getting neutered tomorrow morning at 8:30 and the vet said no food or water after 12 am. everything i’m reading says they should have food and water before surgery. should i still give him food and water or follow the vets instructions?

 

[Preitler]

I was told to feed her normally. I would call the vet that you read that rabbits should not be starved, no matter what, and, depending on his answer and experience with rabbits, considering to look for another if you feel uncomfortable.
There was the same question here recently where it turned out to be a misunderstanding because other staff gave out that information, since it's a standard thimg to do for many other animals. A call cleared that up.

Ah, 12am is midnight, right?

 

[Riley Newcombe]

okay. i’m going to continue feeding him and talk with the vet in the morning. yes 12 am is midnight, so it would be a 8.5 hr fast

 

[Preitler]

I don't know about neutering males, but with girls it's much longer because mine needed 8-10h to start eating again (that's quite normal), but that's a much more invasive proceedure than with boys. So depending on the side effects of the narcotics time could sum up.
I haven't heard of starving a rabbit in either case though, maybe others with experiences in neutering males can chime in.

 

[zuppa]

This is wrong information either your vet has no experience with rabbits or you were talking to a receptionist and they told you because this is requirement for dogs/cats. This is because rabbits can't vomit (common side effect of anaesthetics) so there's no risk of aspiration because of that. On the contrary, you should feed him right before surgery as Preitler said because he won't be able to eat a few hours after that and he needs his gut moving all the time. So if it was just receptionist maybe okay but if it was vet I would try another vet with more experience with rabbits.
List of rabbit-savvy vets here
Vet List | House Rabbit Society

 

[oreo1]

That is wrong information. I had a receptionist tell me not to feed my bunny before being spayed and I asked to speak to the vet and the vet said do NOT stop feeding your bunny before surgery. Rabbits cannot regurgitate so that no eating before surgery rule does not apply to them.

 

[Freedom]

Do not stop feeding them.
They should be fed right up to surgery. And food given as soon as they wake up.
Definitely different than other animals.

 

[Gelly]

I would not trust a vet that tells me to stop feeding my bun. I would maybe search for a new one? Every vet has their own methods when it comes to certain practices but this one is pretty indisputable.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Never take your bun to a regular vet. Take them to a vet that specializes in exotic pets. I’ve seen too many buns on this forum die because a regular vet treated the bun like a dog/ cat.

 

[zuppa]

Agree with that, I know a few cases when rabbits died during neutering from overdose of anaesthesia because vets mainly deal with dogs/cats and not sure how much was enough for rabbits. Unbelievable.

 

[Gelly]

Agree with that, I know a few cases when rabbits died during neutering from overdose of anaesthesia because vets mainly deal with dogs/cats and not sure how much was enough for rabbits. Unbelievable.

It boggles my mind that regular vets are not trained in working with the third most popular pet in the world. As much as I love my exotic vet, I hate paying astronomical bills.

 

[Hermelin]

Myself neutered my buck at a cat vet, but at least they was experienced with neutering bucks but not females.

Bunnies should always have food and make sure the travel cage have hay in it. So while the bunny waits to get operated he can eat hay.

At least at my cat vet, they asked for my bunnies regular hay and a bit of pellets. So they could feed him while he was staying there with things his stomach was used with. I saved money going to the cat vet and they also seemed to really care for my bunny. Because I later met one of the vet at another clinic and the vet remember my bunny and cuddled with him

I would never trust a vet that would give wrong information and not have critical care prepared for my bunny, which I could take with me home.