Spaying your Rabbit

 Please bring your rabbit on

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At Oak Tree Veterinary Centre, Andrew Armitage MRCVS, one of our veterinary surgeons, has a special interest in the care of rabbits and other small mammals and has undertaken further study and training to allow him to offer information, advice and treatment to keep your rabbit in tip top order.

Speying is an ovariohysterectomy. That is the removal of the ovaries and womb. It is a one off irreversible procedure. It is carried out through an incision made on her undersurface through the skin, fat and muscle layers of her belly.

Reasons for spaying are:

1) To prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Sexual maturity can be as early as 16 weeks so if you find yourself with an un-neutered female and an un-neutered male please phone us as soon as you realise.

2) To prevent false pregnancies. Rabbits are reflex ovulators. Even rough handling (struggling when being caught) can cause an egg to be released. This will initiate release of hormones that will make her think she is pregnant and go through some of the physical changes associated with pregnancy (most noticeably pulling out her fur and making a nest).

3) To help with certain undesirable behaviour problems.

4) To prevent or remove disease. Adenocarcinoma of the womb (cancer) occurs in unneutered female rabbits from 2 years of age. Different studies have suggested an incidence of between 50 and 80 % in rabbits over 4 years of age. The disease is usually quite advanced before any signs are noticed, therefore surgery at that stage has a guarded prognosis.

These are the reasons and advantages but what about the risks. The operative management of rabbits is very different to that of the cat or dog and there is no doubt that they are simply not as tough as our feline and canine patients. At Oak Tree we have developed an extensive rabbit orientated programme for rabbits to minimise the risks which are;

General anaesthetic

Your rabbit will be given a general anaesthetic to carry out the operation. A general anaesthetic carries a higher risk in rabbits compared to cats and dogs as they are prey animals and respond to stress differently. The physical and psychological effects of stress results in a higher risk of death during and after surgery and an increased risk that they will suffer from reduced gut motility post operatively.

To reduce your rabbits stress level we admit rabbits the day before their operation. This allows them time to get used to the environment and smells before the anaesthetic. The next day they appear more relaxed. We provide this service free of charge but we do ask that you bring in your rabbit's normal food, treats and a favourite toy with it’s familiar smell, so they relax, eat and we don’?t change their diet and risk upsetting their gut. Great care is taken within the practice to reduce stress on the day but that individual's experience and character is something we cannot control therefore the risk can never be zero.

The age and health status of your rabbit will also have an affect on the risk of anaesthesia and sometimes we have no choice but to operate on an unwell rabbit to make them better.

Remember to make arrangement for an outdoor rabbit to stay indoors at least for the first night at home.

The surgery itself carries a risk.

Although speying is a routine procedure, it is not risk free. For example:

Bleeding during and after the operation by dislodging one of the internal sutures.

Herniation of fat, gut etc. from the body cavity by being too active after surgery and dislodging one of the internal sutures.

Infection pre surgery, during surgery or after surgery.

Chewing out the skin sutures

Please note that there is a charge for a second operation or for treatment needed to fix the damage or infection where an animal has chewed out the sutures

Surgical experience and nursing on the day will eliminate some of the risk but the rest is up to you. You will need to confine the rabbit to prevent excessive activity and provide clean bedding to prevent contamination of the wound. You will need to monitor the rabbit closely for undue attention to the wound. This involves regularly turning the rabbit up and checking the area for bleeding, swelling, damaged stitches and informing us as soon as it is noted.

This problem has a number of contributing factors some or all of which may be present on the day:

Pain. Your rabbit will be under a general anaesthetic and monitored throughout the surgery to ensure she is unaware of what is happening to her. She will have been given two different types of painkiller on the day of her operation, a morphine-type painkiller and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller. She will also have oral anti-inflammatory painkiller to go home with.

An empty gut. Your rabbit is left with food right up until an hour before her anaesthetic and it is returned to her as soon as possible. If your rabbit has not eaten overnight she will be syringe fed

that morning and all rabbits are syringe fed post operatively.

General anaesthesia which is unavoidable as we can not spey rabbits without an anaesthetic.

Any pre-existing disease. Your rabbit will undergo a physical examination before her anaesthetic but please let us know if there has been any history of illness.

Your rabbit will go home with a gut motility drug to be taken for a minimum of five days post operatively in addition to her painkiller. We hope that the effect will be to prevent the gut from slowing down. Preventing the problem is better for the rabbit, more successful and less costly than trying it get it started again. If you note a reduction in faecal output (size or number) or your rabbit stops eating please phone the surgery.

So, now you have read all this and decided that your rabbit is be speyed next you need to:

1) Call into or phone the surgery.

2) Set the date of the surgery or make an appointment to see a vet to discuss the speying of your rabbit

3) Be prepared to drop off your rabbit the afternoon/evening before with her food, treats and a toy.

4) Sign a consent form and leave a contact telephone number.

5) Prepare an indoor area for her first night at home.

6) Be ready to collect her between 4-6.30pm. At this time you will be given a written post op sheet and an appointment reiterating the care required and the arrangements for emergency care in the unlikely event it is necessary.

7) Be prepared to make a postoperative appointment to see the vet. Stitches are normally removed at 10days.

Finally

We know that even the most minor operation may cause you considerable anxiety. We shall keep you involved all the way and we assure you that we shall give your pet individual and caring attention.

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