# Would spaying stop this?



## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

To be honest, I think it's just part of some rabbits' personalities- my two are still destructive after being neutered. 

However, spaying could make it less of an issue, as well as having huge health benefits. Does are basically breeding machines- that's what they're good at- by not having her spayed, she's going to be very frustrated as she's still got those maternal hormones, which may be causing this destruction. 

Plus, most unspayed females develop uterine cancer by the age of 5- if you spay her, and it doesn't reduce the destruction, you at least know that she's going to be happier and healthier for it


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2012)

Tbh that sounds like a rabbit, some can be destructive. 
However getting her spayed is the best thing you can do for her, it eradicates the 85% chance of uterine cancer for a start


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

i agree with the previous two replies, it sounds like she is just doing what a rabbit does. If you leave stuff out within her reach that she can chew then i am afraid it is fair game for her. You could try giving her a box filled with hay to play in, or a digging box, but you SHOULD get her spayed for health reasons as detailed above


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## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

Lopside said:


> i agree with the previous two replies, it sounds like she is just doing what a rabbit does. If you leave stuff out within her reach that she can chew then i am afraid it is fair game for her. You could try giving her a box filled with hay to play in, or a digging box, but you SHOULD get her spayed for health reasons as detailed above


Yes, I forgot to mention about giving them stuff to play with.

I like to make my two digging boxes like this (inside, I put in shredded paper and a few little treats):









They love them! Here's one from last week- it took them 5 days to get it like this  :lol:









Chill and Chew mats always go down well, too. This is a brand new one, next to one that was around 10 days old:









And of course, cardboard tubes and chew balls: 

















Try and give her plenty of alternatives, and places where she's allowed to dig and destroy things, she'll soon learn


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

And what if she got uterine cancer?? Wouldn't that be a big thing for her to deal with? I had my mini lop operated on twice about a month apart recently. An emergency facial repair and a spay. They use gas now which they say is out of the system within 48 hours, cos I had the same concern. I also have a fab vet who know exactly how to care for rabbits so stress was kept to a minimum. Have you discussed your concerns with a vet?


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> Thanks for replies She's got toys to play with - she just ignores them preferring to wreck and chew all my stuff!
> 
> The reason she's not been spayed yet is because when I had planned to take her at 4-5 months old, she developed a serious problem with her eye resulting in having to remove it. As she has already been under anastetic once for that, I am really really worried about putting her under again. My bother had a bun who had to have surgery was fine first time, had to take him back a few weeks after for more and he died unable to deal with being knocked out again. As she is very friendly and not 'nasty', and gets on well with Buff I have left her be as I think she has been through enough as it is.


Myself and others have had rabbits go under GA many, many times without a problem, what will you do if she gets cancer that you could have avoided? If it was me I'd never forgive myself


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Guest (Jun 16, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> I know she needs it, but I'm really afraid of having it done. She's only just turned 1 so I was trying to leave as big a gap between the surgeries as possible, as I think that's what happened to my brother's rabbit, he panicked at the thought of being knocked out again cos he died as soon as the vet tried to anaestatise him I'm sure if we had left a much longer gap between the ops, he would have forgotten about it and been ok.


Sorry but utter rubbish, there was something going on with your brothers rabbit, or a rubbish vet.
The longer you leave it the bigger the risk for uterine cancer (one of my 2 year olds had to have tumours removed during her spay) and the harder it will hit her.

I know of people that have their rabbits go under every 4 weeks for a dental that cope fine.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Guest (Jun 16, 2012)

Well IMO the risk of uterine cancer is far too great not to spay, she has coped with a GA before so she should be fine. Your bothers rabbit obviously had problems.

Do what's best for your rabbit, she will have a much happier life without those hormones running through her body.


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

Any anaesthetic is a risk. But nowadays the risk is tiny. By your reasoning just taking a rabbit to the vet for a vaccination could cause a heart attack, how does the rabbit know it's going in for a GA or a routine vaccination? It doesn't. If you are concerned then get her used to being in her carrier and handled on a table. My Clara had a dental and GA every eight weeks for her short life, eventually renal failure killed her, not the dental op. Your Brothers rabbit probably had something else going on. Have you talked to your vet about your fears. If they are so good with small animals then I am sure they wouldn't mind discussing this with you.


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

Seriously! You wont take your rabbit to the vet on the rare chance it might get stressed. what about the high percentages of cancer a.nd her suffering through that as i could guarentee she would be more stressed with the cancer and the vet trips that would need. 

i dont like taking my rats to the vets. sometimes i put it off incase they grt better but they dont and im judt prolonging their suffering and the best option is taking them to the vets fpr whatever they need.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Guest (Jun 17, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> I am not afraid of taking my rabbit to the vet incase she stresses out. I am afraid of her having anastetic for intrusive surgery. I am not going off what I've read on the web to cause my fears, I am going off fact. My brothers rabbit DIED being anestetised for surgery, straightforward surgery at that. He was put on the table and as soon as the vet started the procedure he went into shock and died in seconds, so quick the vet couldn't save him. He was absolutely fine right up to being knocked out which tells me that's what caused it. So yes, after witnessing that, I am indeed worried about taking my perfectly healthy rabbit for an op and not getting her back. I would think most people would be.


Your brothers rabbit wasn't perfectly healthy, if he was he wouldn't have been going in for a dental


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Guest (Jun 17, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> He was going in to sort out 2 front teeth, nothing major. And he was a lot more healthy than when he came out


My point is you don't know that, the teeth could have just been the start of his problems, without a necropsy it is all speculation.

I have had 5 does spayed (varying ages from 5 months up to 2 and a half years old) over the last 3 years, one of which had to have tumours due to uterine cancer starting and all 5 have come through without a single problem.

Things have changed, GA is much safer, yes it still holds risks, but those risks are now minimal with the right vet and after care.

All you are doing now is risking a very painful death if she falls into the 85% category


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

By the sounds of it you have made your mind up. Had your brothers rabbit ever had a ga before? I have had eight GAs done on my rabbits in the past six months, and before that probably eight with one for dentals and a couple more for neutering and not one problem. So your brother seems to be in the minority. The risk she will die from uterine cancer is higher than the risk she will die from a GA. but obviously that doesn't sink in with you. What's to say your brothers rabbit hadn't got underlying septicaemia from dental probs? Or EC infection that hadn't manifested in symptoms? Or a weak heart? Or renal failure. Rabbts are wonderful at hiding pain and illness by nature of them being a prey species.


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

Anyhow what the heck is this thread all about if you were never going to consider another general anaesthetic??!:blink:


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Guest (Jun 17, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> Yes my brothers rabbit had had a GA a couple weeks previously, *which is why I think it was the shock of going through it again what killed him*. He was obviously healthier when he went in - he was dead when he came out, he couldn't be any unhealthier really:blink:.
> 
> The point of the thread was to ask whether spaying would stop my bun's super destructive behavior. I never said I wouldn't spay her either, just that I have concerns about it.


As I said before you have no way of knowing that, sorry but I find it extremely hard to believe, there would have been another problem that didn't help and without a necrospy you will never know.

If hundreds upon hundreds of rabbits can cope with several GA's throughout their life without issues then it is safe to say your brothers was a rare case


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

How old are your rabbits? Are they bonded?


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> Okay so say my brother was unlucky, what if I go ahead and I'm unlucky too? My other bun would of lost her friend for nothing. As it is I've 2 happy healthy rabbits. What if I end up with 1 lonely unhappy one?


Ok put it this way, you decide to leave her because of the very small risk she might not react to the GA well and she develops uterine cancer, you would then have the agonising decision to either put her through a spay (by which time she will be very poorly so a GA will be very high risk) or end her suffering, you would still end up with a single rabbit 

No matter which way you think it you will find risk, what you need to do is weigh all of those risks up and decide which risk is safer. Either the small risk the spay goes wrong or huge 85% risk of her developing uterine cancer


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

At the end of the day it's your rabbit so the decision lies with you. And the responsibility. You are well informed of all the facts, with the Internet there's no excuse not to know the risks involved on either score.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

I'm having my dog neutered this week. I'd go mad if anything were to go wrong. It's his first GA. But I know it's in his best interests to do it.


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