Surgery complications!!

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gentle giants

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I got Cocoa neutered yesterday morning. This morning, I took his sisters in to be done. After I came back from dropping them off, I thought I better check on his sutures again to make sure he hadn't pulled them out or anything. And he has a huge purple-black swelling on one side, and his little genitals are also incredibly swollen and purple-black colored! I have had a lot of bunny neuters done and never seen anything like this.

His neuter was wierd in another way though too. When the vet sedated him and flipped him over, they had to shave him to even be able to find his testicles because they were so small. They appeared to be dropped and everything, but the vet said it looked almost like he had already been neutered, which I know for a fact he wasn't.

I am taking him back to the vet this afternoon when I pick the girls up after surgery so they can take a look and see what this is, but I can't get there until late this afternoon when my husband gets home. Could this just be something like a broken blood vessel in there, or should I be finding some way to get him there NOW?

:nerves1
 
That doesn't sound very good, does it?

*bump*

Hope someone replies you soon! Good luck.
 
Umm....I would be asking the vet why there are sutures. That just adds to the bruising that goes along with the surgery. We have never had sutures with a neuter....I've done a horse and we left the scrotum open. Our boyshave internal sutures(if needed) with a final close with Vet Bond. It's most likely just something secondary to the procedure but I agree with you that a follow up with the vet is in order. And something to consider, and it is rare but we have seen it with very small tesitcles, is another single or even a pair still in the abdomen. Saw this at a former rescue in which a doe kept getting pregnant but she was with a neutered male. He had a third testicle that was still up there....most odd. I think the term is Cryptorchidism. And one of my rescue's volunteers, an exotic vet, has seen a rising number of cases of this recently including one of my wildlife rehabber's domestic rabbits. Wishing for the best here.

Randy
 
I'm so sorry, I hope everything goes well. Do they give any pain meds for bunnies undergoing such a thing? I just hope he's not in pain.
 
Rabbits can be good at "sucking them up" when they are scared or being palpated. The bruising/swelling isn't super common, but not unheard of. Make sure you monitor the bunnies gum color until you get a follow up appointment.
 
I would take him back to the vet now, as you said. It sounds like blood is pooling in the tissues or a really serious bruise. I'm not surprised they couldn't see them when he turned them over as many hide their testicles when scared. This may have made his surgery more difficult and possibly damaging to the tissue.

In any case, you need to make sure it's not something bad. To me it sounds like a thromboembolism, which is a blod clot that has blocked off an area. It could be something else, like bleeding into the tissue that can't get back out due to the damage to blood vessels from the surgery.

edit: in the meantime, icing can help with swelling. We iced Benjamin after his neuter for 10 min at a time 2x a day, with ice packs in a towel. Also, metacam would help with the swelling and inflammation, if he's on that.
 
Ok, jsut got back from the vet. He said it looked like a blood clot to him, and to cold compress it to bring the swelling down. He said if his behavior changes or the swelling gets worse, to call right away.
 
Ok, be careful, because if the blood clot comes loose it can cause issues. I don't know if a blood thinner (like aspirin) would be good in this case--do you have an opinion, Randy? I guess the vet would have mentioned giving aspirin if it was a good idea, but I don't know.
 
It is found on the drug dosage calculator: http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

I just don't usually recommend it for pain because for most rabbits pain is from stomach or after surgery. Aspirin can be hard on the stomach and usually after surgery we want lots of clotting, so we don't recommend it often. In this guy's case, we may want less clotting, but I'm not sure.

Here's some other info I found on it: http://www.druginfonet.com/index.php?pageID=faq/new/DISEASE_FAQ/Blood_Clots.htm (see "In Need of a Natural Blood Clot Medication")
It's also used to prevent clotting in rabbits in some lab studies of thrombosis.
 
If it's ok to do, I'd give a lower dose than recommended on the drug dosage calculator, as the anti-clotting effects are seen at lower doses than the analgesic effects. Maybe even half. It would just be to prevent any serious clots from breaking off and going somewhere important. The recent loss of Buffy and another recent loss of a hind-leg immobilized rabbit due to blood clots makes me worry, plus breaking up a clot in that area might speed healing. If we can't get Pam or Randy's opinion on this, you could call and ask the vet.
 
Aspirin are a huge no-no with rabbits. Aspirin and that acidic GI don't mix well....risk of gastric ulcers. But aspirin is a blood thinner. Not something I would do post op...or with any issue that might include bleeding either internally or externally. Better to let the body absorb the clot on it's on. I think pain meds would be indicated just due to the surgery (maybe a combo of Metacam and Tramadol)....but I am not big on a compromised coagulation post-op. While I still have some questions....in dealing with the suspected clot....I would to with the vet's suggested course of treatment.

Randy
 
Yes, he and the girls (his sisters) are all on Metacam post surgery. I have done the cold compress on him, I can't tell if it's helped any yet or not. I had to stop because he was starting to get stressed out and I was afraid that that would do more harm than good if he started struggling.
 
Ok, good to know that Randy, especially for the future! I hope the cold and metacam will start to help with the swelling.
 
I've used aspirin for rabbits, but as Randy said, it's a blood thinner, so should never be used post-op.

Polyorchidism is the term that refers to more thantwo testicles. Monochidism and cryptorchidismrefer to one or both retained testicles.

Pam
 
I've used Asa too when I had nothing else but not after a surgery .
I think our confusion is that is in the rabbit references dose calculator which makes us assume it is ok. I think it is also listed in other places.
 

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