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Artemiana

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Jan 26, 2011
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Hello everyone! I'm a big fan of this forum and all the wonderful information that gets shared here. I was waiting to introduce myself until I had a picture of my bunny Luna, but we had our first vet visit yesterday and I'm unsure about the doctor.

Luna is a 3-month old Netherland Dwarf doe and she's been happy and healthy the whole four weeks I've had her so far. The vet visit was just a general check-up to make sure she's doing well and to discuss spay options in the near future. The vet came highly recommended as a specialist in small animals and rabbits, which is why I chose her. However, when I mentioned spaying she said "I hate to spay rabbits because rabbits die." Yikes! She went on to discuss how fragile rabbits as prey animalscan be and that to ensure the rabbits she spays don't die she puts them under deep anasthesia to keep them from waking up during surgery and having a heart attack. She also said that in her practice she has only lost one rabbit during a spay operation out of the many she has performed.

I don't really want a doctor operating on my rabbit that has such a negative (if realistic I guess) mindset about mortalitiy rates, and I'm not sure that the emphasis on deep anasthesia was a good sign either. There's a rabbit-onlyspay and neuter clinic in the area that I'm considering instead. Both the clinic and the vet are condoned by thelocal House Rabbit Society. Should I go with the vet or the clinic for Luna's spay? Would one be any safer than the other?
 
I think its good to have a realistic view on spaying. As far as the deep anesthesia i am not sure that sounds safe? But i haven't experienced a rabbit spay only a neuter. Spaying for a rabbit can be really dangerous because they need to be under for a longer amount of time as juxtaposed to castration. I personally would wait to spay her at an older age(like at maturation) just to be sure she could handle it. Of course i may be wrong here but i had a customers rabbit die on the table during her spay and they also had only had one rabbit ever die in their years of practice. She was quite young and i think thats what got her (only about 4months old). I would probably find out more about the spay and neuter clinic such as their mortality rate.

But it is just something to be aware and cautious of.
 
Thank you for your reply. You're right that a vet should be realistic about the dangers of any procedure. I was just taken aback by how bluntly the vet made her statement. I was curious to see if that kind of comment would raise a red flag for anyone else, but I understand that I may be making too big a deal out of this.
 
Welcome to the RO. Probably best to get a 2nd or even 3rd opinion on the matter from other vets. Or just go to a different one.
 
Welcome! :) Yes, surgery can be dangerous for bunnies, but it can be for anyone else as well! I would get a few opinions from a few vets. I would ask about how many females have the spayed, or how frequently they spay, as well as their success rates. A good vet who is confident in their abilities with rabbits will be open and honest with you instead of trying to push you away.

I went with a rather expensive vet for my rabbit's neuter this past week. I called around and asked alot of a questions. This vet was willing to talk to me personally on the phone. He owns 3 rabbits himself and specializes in rabbits. He explained that on males he uses a closed surgical method which has less of a chance of infection. females are more difficult merely because they have a more open surgery that exposes them to more, as well as needing to be put under abit longer. He, and another vet in the office, neuter/spay, a half a dozen or more rabbits a week. When I went in, General Bismark made 4 bunny friends who were going in for a neuter as well! In the last 13 years he has only had two males pass away while under his care for a neuter, and about a dozen females.

I felt very good about this vet, even if he charged double the price. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and worked with my very difficult work schedule.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, and alot of them! Go somewhere that not only is confident and proud in their handling of rabbits, but a place that also makes you feel comfortable putting your fluffy friend in their hands.
 
I also choose a vet with rabbit experience. My vet wanted to spay my Flemish right away. He was nervous about her getting to large. She was right at5.5 months when we had the surgery. He said that the little rabbits seem to bounce back quicker than thelarger rabbits from his experience. He had justneuteredhis ownFlemish who was the same age and he reacteddifferently than mine. She actually was under longer than he wanted because she wasn't wasn't as mature as his usual clients and he had to make a larger incision which made things last longer. She was very sick for several days because she just refused to eat. I had to take her back for a follow up to get an appetite stimulator. Once she started eating which was not until 3 days later she was back to her usually self in about a week or little longer. I was so worried about her. Her brother was neutered by another vet and he bounce back quickly but he refused to eat for 1.5 days. I wish you the best of luck.
 
Let me welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

Rabbits don't handle anesthiavery well and that makes some vets nervous. I think the vet was being very honest with you. But like others have said, it never hurts to call around.

Many bunny's recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

I have listed some links I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How To Bond With Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

I am glad you have joined rabbits online and I look forward to seeing you around.

 
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