Is my 8-9 year old bunny too old for surgery?

[Veroluvsbuns]

Hey there, first time posting… I need help! I’ve had my rabbit Ella for 3 years now and we just found out that she is around 8 or 9 years old. We brought her to the vet, probably her first time ever going, because she has chronic symptoms of Pasteurella, for which she is positive and is now taking antibiotics. We know that she has had a litter of bunnies before and that she is not fixed. The vet said her uterus felt enlarged and suggested that we have it removed. She said that her age doesn’t matter but I feel otherwise… She is a free roam, super happy and active bun and lives a great life other than constant sneezing. Knowing that rabbits don’t usually live past the age of 10-12, I feel like getting her operated would cause her lots of stress, and that she might not withstand it considering her age, having a higher risk. Also, knowing the risk of uterine cancer is very high, would you assume she already has it and that it possibly already metastisized? Is there any way of knowing? And do you think it would be neglectful of me to not get her operated?

thank you!

 

[FuzzyBunny ph]

Try to get some blood work done first (cbc and blood chem) this way, you can see if she's physically fit to go through the surgery

Is your vet an experienced rabbit savvy vet and has spayed/neutered a lot of rabbits in the past? if so, she'll be fine

I saw a post before, the bunny was about 8 or 9 years old, solo bun, vet said she's starting to get cancer. They had to do an emergency spay to prevent it from spreading. The bunny is now 11 years old =)

 

[JBun]

Age can make it somewhat more of a risk due to the organs not functioning as well, but if you have blood work done to ensure good kidney and liver function and a good rabbit vet doing the surgery, that will all help minimize the risks. You could see if the vet could do conscious xrays or an ultrasound to see if that helps give a better idea of what might be going on with the uterus. But otherwise you just have to weigh the risk of the possibility of uterine cancer developing vs the risk of surgery.