Too tiny to be spayed?

[Sabine]

My youngest bunny, Asha, is driving Lint insane at the moment. She is mounting her back, front and middle constantly. She is only a titch and Lint puts up with it most of the time but it can't be great for her.
As Asha is about 7-8 months but weighs only 850 gr I was going to wait till Summer before i had her spayed. She is still like a baby. I know it's the breed (Nethie)but is there anything to be said against spaying tiny buns? I am a bit nervous

 

[Leaf]

I honestly don't know.

One of my vets actually does not spay females. I don't promote leaving them intact, thats just how that vet is because she is uncomfortable working with does herself.

As for neutering the males, she does like to see either weight or maturity on them before she does the surgery.

I have to say she's awesome overall though... at $30 a neuter with absolutely no problems thus far, I'm pleased with her.

My other rabbit vet does both does and bucks, but she is quite a bit more costly in her fees overall.

I try to use my vets according to their strengths and weaknesses in certian aspects. In this case, I'd have to say money is a factor for me.

 

[JadeIcing]

Um what would thar be in pounds? Teresa was just under 2lbs when spayed.

 

[Sabine]

I think it's about 1.5 lb

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

JadeIcing wrote:

Um what would thar be in pounds? Teresa was just under 2lbs when spayed.

I believe that the weight is about 2 pounds. It may be a bit under or over.

You should ask your vet about what weight they are comfortable spaying at. I know that some shelters in the USA wait until an animal (usually dog or cat) it 2 pounds before it is spayed or neutered, these are usually young animals (about 8-12 weeks old).
If there are a few vets that spay rabbits in your area, call them to ask as well. It may mean you have to travel a bit or it may cost a bit more, but it could be worth it for you.

 

[Sabine]

My vet has so far successfully spayed four and neutered two of my rabbits. Asha is the only one intact but she may be fully mature and not get much bigger.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Storm came in at 1 pound 4 ounces during his nurter. So I dont know if it verys for does but he was under 2 pounds.

He did great to. He will never top two pounds. Unless i let him get fat

 

[Haley]

Its more about the age and health of the rabbit than their size. Lucy was under 2 lbs when I had her spayed and she did just fine. I actually read something somewhere about how its easier to spay smaller bunnies than larger ones because they have less fat to get around in surgery.

If your vet is experienced, I would talk with her about it to see if she thinks shes ready.

 

[ra7751]

Weight has nothing to do with it.....overall health does. The concern with most vets doing small rabbits is sedation. I have sedated baby rabbits as small as 45g with no problems. At 850g, that is just under two pounds (1000g or 1kg=2.205 pounds). If there are any indications of a health issue, a blood panel can answer that question.

Randy

 

[naturestee]

My vet willspay any rabbit over 1 lb, other animals too. At 7-8 months she's probablyfull grown or close to it anddefinitely mature enough to have fullydeveloped organs. At, say, 3 months apparently the surgery is a bit harder because the uterus and ovaries aren't as fully formed and are harder to work with.

Most dwarf buns should be easy to spay because they are built to be wide. I was worried about Dora because she's built so thin, her abdomen is smaller than a ferret's. She was too small for a laser incision but other than that everything was fine. Spaying a Nethie should be pretty routine. It's routine at the shelter where I volunteer.

Even teeny tiny animals canbe sedated for surgery, that's not a danger as long as the vet is familiar with the species.Gottatreathamsters and such somehow. Or baby wildlife, like in Randy's example.

 

[tonyshuman]

Yep, although smaller animals (like hammies) are typically put under anesthesia by way of gas, rather than the safer injections that some vets use. As long as the vet is comfortable doing it, it should be fine.

 

[snap]

Leaf wrote:

I have to say she's awesome overall though... at $30 a neuter with absolutely no problems thus far, I'm pleased with her.

Lucky! My mother wouldn't tell me how much Harper's was, and so I couldn't try and find it cheaper somewhere else. It ended up being $240 for everything! It was insane! And now she won't fix my other two, because she thinks all spays/neuters are expensive.

It shouldn't be too much of a problem. Harper was around 2 lbs when he was spayed. He's perfectly fine.

You can wait a little, to make you feel better if you want, but it won't make much of a difference.

 

[Sabine]

I will ring my vet and discuss it with her on monday. Although she is very skilled with rabbits I am not sure how familiar she is with individual breeds. Small size Netherland dwarfs are rather uncommon here. The ones being sold in shops seem to be the ones laking the dwarfing gene.
My fear is that she thinks we are handing her a baby bunny to spay, but I am sure i can clarify that as she is usually very open. Thanks to everyone posting for putting my mind at rest.