Spaying (age)

[Bucktooth]

Hi guys, I need your advice. I have two buns that I need to have spayed. Currently they are 14 weeks and 15 weeks old. When should I do this? My vet will do it any time, and has a lot of experience in spaying buns and we've even spayed rats. I'm going to be the anesthetist so I will be in charge of that. I'm just freaking out because they're my own rabbits...should I wait until they are 5-6 months old, or just do it now so I can bond them sooner? What do you think? These are my first pet rabbits, you all know more than me

 

[SouthernNetherlandDwarf]

I would wait until they're at least three to six months old

 

[Bucktooth]

They're 4.5 months old right now

 

[Bucktooth]

Oops I meant 3.5 Lol I don't know how to edit! So we're close then

 

[Blue eyes]

Usually males are neutered around 4 months of age (or after plums have dropped). Females are usually spayed around 5-6 months of age. The male will need from 4-8 weeks post surgery to allow hormones to dissipate. Not until both have healed and have had allotted time for hormones to dissipate should the bonding begin.

 

[Bucktooth]

I have two does I will make sure to wait awhile after their surgeries to account for hormones.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I try to wait as long as possible. Younger rabbits tend to be more unstable or sensitive to anesthesia. I got my French lop at 8mos and didn't neuter him until about 9. If I had a younger rabbit i would have waited until 6 at the least. Just my opinion. I hate seeing rabbits pass after procedures as I've had it happen to friends of mine

 

[Watermelons]

Totally safe to do it at 3.5 months of age.
Just got my newest girl done 2 weeks ago. She was about 3months old when done. Not a single issue. as long as the vet is compitent and comfortable, get it done before bad behaviour starts arising. But you will definitely have to wait a bit after the procedure for lingering hormones to leave them.
If something were to go wrong it wouldnt be because of their age.

 

[Aki]

For a female, it is generally advised to wait until she is about fully grown-up as it is a pretty invasive surgery. Around 7 months for a netherland dwarf. But it can be done earlier. Most vets won't want to do it before 5 months, but it also depends on the size of your rabbits. The matter of the age is actually important for small rabbits, as some 5 month old nethies are really tiny which can put them more at risk anesthesia wise. I've had a hard time finding a vet to operate my 4 month old male holland lop but I insisted because he was unbearable (spraying urine like mad in my flat, waking me up every hour during the night, all that good stuff...). The vet caved because my rabbit was already around 1kg300 which is a decent size.

To answer the concern of death during surgery, it is reported that about 0.2 to 0.5% of rabbits die during the surgery. It isn't linked to the rabbit's age, but to underlying conditions (generally heart problems or allergy to the anesthesic) which would have killed the rabbit 3 months later anyway.

 

[Ainsleys_mommy]

I will do males as early as 4 months, but I like to wait until 6 months for females as it is more invasive and they have to be under for longer.

 

[bright_eyes]

The bonding process will take time and patience regardless of age, so I'd wait on the spaying just a little bit longer unless you have a very good and experienced rabbit/exotics veterinarian who is advising you to do it sooner (vets advice should always be taken over internet advice lol).

It might be better to spend an extra month bonding the bunnies rather than lose one to the procedure (they are such delicate animals).

 

[Blue eyes]

(vets advice should always be taken over internet advice lol).

I have to respectfully disagree concerning vet advice. Many on this forum are far more bunny-knowledgeable than most vets. It is the rare vet that truly knows rabbits well. I (as well as many others) have lost a rabbit to a vet who simply didn't know better. And that was not because of surgery but just from prescribing the wrong antibiotic. This happened in my early days of keeping rabbits and taught me a valuable lesson.

 

[bright_eyes]

I have to respectfully disagree concerning vet advice. Many on this forum are far more bunny-knowledgeable than most vets. It is the rare vet that truly knows rabbits well. I (as well as many others) have lost a rabbit to a vet who simply didn't know better. And that was not because of surgery but just from prescribing the wrong antibiotic. This happened in my early days of keeping rabbits and taught me a valuable lesson.

I suppose I just assume that if one has a rabbit, a rabbit savvy vet is involved. I probably would not keep a bunny if I didn't have access to a knowledgeable vet who was capable of caring for her medical needs and giving good advice. But I understand not everyone is so lucky!​

 

[Bucktooth]

I'm a RVT and I don't know much about rabbits, yes we did learn how to handle them and what meds they can't have and yes I can monitor them under anesthesia and am 100% confident with my pre-meds and induction agents etc....it's just the day to day care and behaviour that I had no experience with until August when a client walked in and gave me a litter of 2 day old rabbits to hand raise!

My vet is rabbit saavy. She spays rats and let me tell you, that's a lot harder than a rabbit. We also do pigs and guinea pigs, cats, dogs, ferrets and see birds and reptiles. I trust her 100% and she will spay my bunnies whenever I ask her too, the age doesn't matter to her. Because these are my own rabbits, it's much more nerve wracking for me personally, since I'm the actual anesthetist!!! I guess I was just looking for your own experiences and what you suggest. I'm not so much interested in hearing about vets that just won't do it before 5-6 months because of their own comfort, more so for scientific reasons or because of something that happened to you personally.

Thanks so much for all of your replies I appreciate them all.

 

[Blue eyes]

I suppose I just assume that if one has a rabbit, a rabbit savvy vet is involved. I probably would not keep a bunny if I didn't have access to a knowledgeable vet who was capable of caring for her medical needs and giving good advice. But I understand not everyone is so lucky!
​

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The trick is that almost every vet "says" they know rabbits, whether they are very experienced with them or not. So the average pet owner with a new rabbit simply asks potential vets if they treat rabbits - the vet says 'yes' and the new owner assumes they have found a rabbit savvy vet. It is rarely so apparent.

This isn't any judgement on you, Breezy. Just a lot of other people read these posts who may not have the background of knowing what is a truly rabbit savvy vet, as opposed to a vet that just says they treat rabbits. I've occasionally seen other posters state "but my vet said...." and it was totally bad or wrong advice. So just trying to caution against people taking a vet's word as always correct.

Pardon the bunny trail, Bucktooth.