Getting rabbits fixed

[Lionhead owner]

I have a 6 month old girl bun. I want her to have a friend. I tried another non related unspayed girl but it was handbags at dawn and they hated each other( I did the neutral territory etc etc…nothing). So we took her back to the bunny seller who is very thorough. There she met a boy that she really, really likes. He’s 3 months old and he likes her too and they played well together old but his first thought was hump her head… lol.
We decided to get him but keep them separate until we get them both fixed.
We took the girl to the vets today for a pre spay check up. She has a healthy heart, good weight etc etc but they did say maybe 1 or 2 rabbits a year die on the operating table due to latent heart issues. Yes there will be 2 trained staff in there but occasionally it happens. The boy fixing carries less risk because the amount of drugs needed to keep him asleep Is less.
What do please think please

 

[Preitler]

Well, there are so many good reasons to spay, especially for an indoor pet rabbit. Some of those are health reasons.
Yes, there is a risk with every surgery, and it partly depends on some circumstances like methods used and experience of the vet. Your vet did well to point that out.
On the other hand, even though those often cited numbers about cancer are blown out of proportion, the risk of health problems later on is way higher, and risks of surgeries go up with age too. Not to mention the possibility of a surprise pregnancy. I had a wild buck squeez through the fence and knock up one of my girls, 3 times his weight (not likely in the US), last year a neighbours pet buck escaped twice and broke into my fenced hutch area (I was lucky since the does were locked up in the hutches for the night), and I had an emergency spay done on 7yo Red after an accidential pregnancy and a stuck kit. At that age, and under this circumstances i think the vet was quite surprised that she made it.
My free roam house rabbits are my buck Pacino and his spayed Cuddlebun Dotty (second partner after late Herrn Hase). He is intact, and that has it's own issues, like spraying, and being a very naughty boy at some times of the year. For pet rabbits, I would get both fixed.

All my 6 rabbits are living in pairs, Ruth and Chantal (3 and 4yo), Red and Fury (8 and 10), Dotty and Pacino (4 and 2). For me just watching them interact is worth it.

Thread about when I got Dotty:
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threa...bond-with-intact-buck-what-to-consider.92855/
And a picture that shows why I did it:

 

[Blue eyes]

I think you'd be better off on not getting a second rabbit...at least not yet. Wait until after your girl is spayed and healed. Until then, there is no way to know whether any other rabbit will get along with your girl.

The young boy that seems to get along with her now may not get along with her after she's fixed or after he's fixed. There is simply no way to know. It would be a shame to keep him over these next weeks until you can get him fixed and then even pay for his neuter surgery only to find out they don't get along after all.

The better way to go about finding a bondmate for her is to wait until after she is fixed and healed. (She will return from the vet smelling like a different rabbit, so your boy may decide then that he doesn't like her either.) Once she's healed, she can then meet other, already-fixed rabbit, to pre-screen for potential compatibility. This is a better way to wind up with a compatible match.

 

[Plumpedbunny]

Here in the UK its become almost impossible to find a vet who will castrate a rabbit. Many wont do it or charge a lot of money. There used to be charities who would castrate bunnies for free or at a reduced cost if your on low income or on welfare benefits but these services have now stopped leaving private vets as the only option where many are not experienced with rabbits, rabbits are seen as hamsters/rodents by most and despite a vet being on the rabbit savvy list often are not rabbit savvy and will charge a hell of a lot of money with a high risk of the bunny not making it. Its put me right off and also has made me feel like giving up trying to get them fixed because there is nowhere who will do it. I could be paying upwards of a thousand and that is just crazy.

I have three bunnies that I rescued and I may have to find them all homes because of it and find some already fixed bunnies instead which sounds harsh and I don't like the idea of it because I intended to provide these bunnies a forever home with me. I would hate to have to give up my rabbits especially my my mini lop he has a wonderful personality and I don't think I would find another bunny like him. He has become aggressive and will bite but this is because he needs fixing and even with that issue he is still a good bunny with a funny but wonderful personality and I like the why he runs about and rolls on to his back and jumps up onto everything. He can still be petted but I just have to be careful not to get bitten.

 

[Blue eyes]

Here in the UK its become almost impossible to find a vet who will castrate a rabbit.

You might want to check out some vets shown at this link:
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/rabbit-vet-in-west-london.103454/

 

[Lionhead owner]

Plumped Bunny reply:
Thank you so so much for your thoughts and I really understand your concerns.
The pdsa do the odd week of free spays at set locations around U.K. (last one I saw was June 2022) and a website called turn 2 us have the name of a charity that do it for free too. We rang round all of the vets in the area and the price difference was massive, from £70 to £180 for a spay and £50 to £150 for a castration.
Blue Eyes reply:
Again thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it.
We re booked in for the girl lionhead next Monday and the boy rabbit still lives with the breeder and now we’ve paid her to take the boy rabbit with her next Wednesday when she gets another of her boys done.
Then we can wait 2 weeks later when they are both feeling a bit better we can play bonding. In neutral territory at the breeder’s house. If they hate the sight of each other then we will give up and keep our single bunny I think and at least we have distressed the boy rabbit as little as possible by not moving him with us, castrating him, the pushing him in with a rabbit AND a home he doesn’t know well. So thanks for those thoughts.
Preitler reply:
Huge thank you for your advice. I have now made sure that we have got an experienced vet. Apparently they have a vet and a qualified nurse in the room on the day and they have an emergency vet on standby too. I have just phoned and checked. They have also told me that they will check her teeth whilst she’s under anaesthetic as it’s a common problem and tricky to do whilst they are awake.
I do feel worried about the cancer issue but friends have told me that none of their rabbits have had womb cancer. I’m still nervous but I don’t want her to have babies ever.

Again guys massive thank you for your opinions. I am taking everything you all say on board and I’m making changes and considering all of your thoughts carefully. Really appreciate it.

 

[Plumpedbunny]

Thanks for the info its much appreciated I'll write that down about the PDSA that do the odd weeks. I am not currently registered with them and I will still need to submit my papers/proof of benefits online which isn't easy to do but I try to see what I can do. I've explored every vet in London I could find and hit dead ends each time. The only one left is Vets4Pets that would do it for less than 200 except my local Vets4Pets are not accepting new customers right now. There are also the vaccines as well. I can not get them vaccinated neither. I guess we are living in hard times now I'm beginning to accept the fact I might not ever get them done or even vaccinated so all I can do is hope for the best. I'm pretty much on my own with my rabbits and god forbid if they ever got sick. I should be ok with unvacinated bunnies. I will have to find the others a new home and just keep the male or re=home them all and start again with finding bunnies that have already been done. If I can;t re-home them then they will have to be taken to a shelter. Its really frustrating what happening because alls that going to come out of this is more rabbits will suffer and more in shelters. I'm at the point where I'm just giving up.

 

[Diane R]

Here in the UK its become almost impossible to find a vet who will castrate a rabbit. Many wont do it or charge a lot of money. There used to be charities who would castrate bunnies for free or at a reduced cost if your on low income or on welfare benefits but these services have now stopped leaving private vets as the only option where many are not experienced with rabbits, rabbits are seen as hamsters/rodents by most and despite a vet being on the rabbit savvy list often are not rabbit savvy and will charge a hell of a lot of money with a high risk of the bunny not making it. Its put me right off and also has made me feel like giving up trying to get them fixed because there is nowhere who will do it. I could be paying upwards of a thousand and that is just crazy.

I have three bunnies that I rescued and I may have to find them all homes because of it and find some already fixed bunnies instead which sounds harsh and I don't like the idea of it because I intended to provide these bunnies a forever home with me. I would hate to have to give up my rabbits especially my my mini lop he has a wonderful personality and I don't think I would find another bunny like him. He has become aggressive and will bite but this is because he needs fixing and even with that issue he is still a good bunny with a funny but wonderful personality and I like the why he runs about and rolls on to his back and jumps up onto everything. He can still be petted but I just have to be careful not to get bitten.

What? There are many good rabbit vets in the UK. See Rabbit Friendly Vet List The risk is extremely low, of the order of 0.1% if you go to a rabbit vet. The cost is not anywhere near £1,000.

 

[Blue eyes]

Then we can wait 2 weeks later when they are both feeling a bit better we can play bonding.

Best to wait a bit longer than just 2 weeks. The female should have about a month's rest before bonding attempts are made. Males can vary depending on how long it takes for their hormones to fully dissipate. For some it can take upwards of 6 weeks post neuter.

 

[Plumpedbunny]

What? There are many good rabbit vets in the UK. See Rabbit Friendly Vet List The risk is extremely low, of the order of 0.1% if you go to a rabbit vet. The cost is not anywhere near £1,000.

Have you been to a vet recently?

A lot of vets said they are high risk. Listed rabbit savvy vets I have been to say they are not experienced with rabbits or that there rabbit vet retired.

Spaying and neutering of a rabbit is between 250 to 300 pounds and that is only for the spaying and neutering which doesn't include the consultation fees and other fees. Once you add it all up its close to 1000

 

[Diane R]

Sorry, but this is really bad information. Of course I have been to vets recently. Do you live in London? Go to the Beaumont hospital in Camden. Several great rabbit vets there. And no, it's nowhere near £1,000.

 

[Plumpedbunny]

Sorry, but this is really bad information. Of course I have been to vets recently. Do you live in London? Go to the Beaumont hospital in Camden. Several great rabbit vets there. And no, it's nowhere near £1,000.

Before the pandemic vets were reasonably priced now everything has changed and prices are extremely high. I live in London and have already tried the Beaumont hospital in Royal College Street and they were very expensive. Consultation fee is 100 plus and they gave me an estimate of 250 to 300 pounds for a simple neutering but could be more or less they could not give me a fixed priced, they said it depended on the rabbits size plus the rabbit has to be checked over by a vet before any operations happen which is another cost on top of everything else so its not far off from 1000 once added up. We are not living in the days anymore where you could get a rabbit neutered for less than 100. Some vets would charge 40 pounds for a neuter and that was before the pandemic. The days of cheap vets have long gone. I have spent many weeks on the phone to vets and also going to vets in person around London trying to find reasonably priced vets without much luck. Vets4Pets were the only ones that offered a more fair price at 91 pound's for a rabbit neutering however Vets4Pets are not accepting new customers right now and there is about a two month waiting list at many of the vets I've been to see or spoken to on the phone. I appreciate you providing me with the details for that animal hospital but unfortunately that was one I had already asked.