Rabbit Surgery

Ruby The Rabbit

It happens almost overnight – your cute, well-mannered little rabbit reaches puberty. Suddenly, your baby has become a sort of unmanageable. And has seemingly forgotten why you’ve provided a litterbox.

Below is a picture of little Ruby (the chocolate bunny) – madly hormonal and frantically nest building (a 24 hour exhausting marathon) in the first picture. Our Vet Kathrin saw Ruby for her spay surgery last week.

Spaying or neutering your rabbit offers many benefits. A fixed rabbit is able to live a longer, healthier life as the risk of cancer is greatly reduced. Unofficial statistics indicate that between 50% to 80% of all unspayed females will be affected by uterine cancer by the age of 5 years. Uterine cancer is the main cause of death in intact female rabbits! Spaying removes the uterus and prevents this health risk. And in most cases a desexed rabbit becomes calmer and easier to manage, yet they don’t lose their charmingly adorable nature. They are also easier to litter train and have less of an urge to spray. Also, spayed or neutered bunnies are often easier to bond because of their calmer demeanor. And of course, you will not end up with a litter of baby buns….

So, when is the best time to spay or neuter your rabbit?

When mal rabbits are between 3 and 5 months old, they are old enough to be neutered. Female rabbits are generally old enough to be spayed between 4 and 6 months. Desexing surgeries are done on an outpatient basis. Surgery can be as safe on rabbits as on any animal if the vet and clinic staffs are experienced with safe rabbit anesthesia and surgery techniques. At Ellerslie Vet Clinic & Cattery we use for example supraglottic airway devices for inhalation anesthesia to make anesthesia as safe and atraumatic as possible.

Ruby is back home and is enjoying a great time with her owners … and … Binky – her flat mate, who had to cope with Ruby’s temperamental ways in the past, too.