Content
- Why is it necessary to neuter a rabbit?
- male rabbit
- female rabbit
- Care before castration
- Why do you need a stimulant?
- Pay attention to...
- Care after castration
- Homemade trick to encourage them to eat
- final advice
Many people who decide to share their life with a rabbit imagine that they behave very differently from other pets such as cats and dogs. But they are soon surprised to see this little furry being marking territory or biting as they pass by.
To avoid this type of situation, at PeritoAnimal we will tell you about rabbit castration, its benefits, some advice and the care it requires. For the convenience and health of your rabbit, neutering is something you should consider necessary.
Why is it necessary to neuter a rabbit?
male rabbit
- Upon reaching sexual maturity, it begins to manifest dominance and territory marking. This means that he can become aggressive (mounting the owners' legs, biting, hitting the ground over and over with his hind legs and making characteristic sounds), urinating in every corner of the house and being more nervous than usual for them.
- At 6 months of age, we usually see some sign of having reached "puberty", and it is advisable to perform the surgery as soon as possible. After surgery, the hormones still take a few weeks to disappear from the blood, so it may continue to act this way for a little longer. The ideal age to perform castration is between 6 and 8 months.
- rabbits are very stress sensitive. It is common to see fainting after intense exercise or exertion. For example, many breeding males disappear within seconds of mating. Having our rabbit on constant alert, waiting for a moment to breed or fighting for territory does not benefit its stressful nature at all.
female rabbit
- Female rabbits suffer (like bitches and cats) from the inevitable uterine infections. Their reproductive cycle is more like that of cats, with induced ovulation, and equally complicated. Beyond the breast tumors, ovarian cysts that cause permanent heat and lead to uterine infections.
- They can urinate all over the house when they are in heat, leaving their trail in case an interested male turns up.
- An advisable age to neuter a female is between 6 and 8 months of age. They start their reproductive function earlier, but their light weight and other characteristics make it advisable to wait until half a year of life.
Care before castration
It is possible that before surgery the veterinarian asks your rabbit to take an intestinal motility stimulant. In other situations, it is injected into the intervention, but this will depend on the professional's preferences.
Why do you need a stimulant?
THE anesthesia in all species slows down gastrointestinal transit, but due to the peculiarity of the large intestine of rabbits, one should pay extra attention to its proper functioning.
A only two hours fast. It's a small animal, so we can't leave it without eating any longer, besides, without food intake there is no intestinal transit. Therefore, you must have access to water and food up to two hours before the intervention. Remember that your diet is based on hay.
Pay attention to...
If you notice sneezing, presence of secretions in the eyes or any other change that doesn't seem too relevant, but yes unusual, must communicate or take the animal to the clinic. Many rabbit diseases that are "controlled", or in what is called subclinical under normal conditions, can be aggravated by stressful situations.
Consult with the specialist for any details that you consider relevant.
Care after castration
After the intervention, it is essential that the rabbit returns to eat as soon as possible. While you are recovering, it will be wise to offer you fibrous food (hay) and water, and if after a few hours you reject any food, you will have to force him to eat something with a syringe. sometimes the baby fruit jars they are useful when there is no chance of giving something else.
Homemade trick to encourage them to eat
An alternative is to add three tablespoons of water to a handful of hay, a few strips of green peppers, and a small piece of unpeeled apple, and mash until the mixture is juiced. This liquid contains plenty of fiber and nutrients, and often the rabbit only needs a little stimulation to whet its appetite and start eating on its own. Giving it in small doses usually works for them to start eating. Some extra advice is:
- It is recommended that they remain in a quiet and safe place, for example in your transport box for a few hours. When recovering from anesthesia they can become clumsy and can get injured because they do not control their movements once awake, remember that there is still remnants of sedatives in the body.
- We must avoid excess light and noise in recovery and avoid air currents that cool the place. The loss of temperature is something that is very controlled during the surgery, and even when they are already awake, one must continue to monitor the hours after.
- In the following hours, we must prove that there is formation of urine, hard and soft stools. We often don't see rabbits ingesting their soft stools, but it's important to control them for two days after surgery.
- Sometimes the veterinarian may recommend a probiotic. It favors the rapid restoration of intestinal flora and correct motility. It is usually pleasant to take for them and it may be recommended to continue taking it for another 4 or 5 days after the procedure.
- Rabbits, like their fellow herbivores horses, do not tolerate pain well, so your vet will prescribe you a pain reliever for a few days after surgery. It is usually administered orally, it is complicated to mix a medicine with the hay.
final advice
- don't forget that males will continue to be fertile for a few days, and hormones will be high for a few weeks. Therefore, they will continue to manifest this territorial behavior and sometimes a little aggressive for a few more days. If you live with females, we must separate them until they relax and can no longer fertilize any female.
- Female rabbits that show signs of heat at the time of surgery (for example, if they have cysts and are in heat continuously) may continue to attract males a few days after the operation.
- The substrate on which you have both males and females is important, the pressed paper pellets perhaps they are best to avoid clinging to the incision in the scrotum (pocket where the testicles are), in the case of males, or in the abdomen of females. You should never choose to use cat litter, and it is not advisable to use strips of newsprint.
- He must review the appearance of the incision every day. and talk to the veterinarian about any changes you find: bruises, swelling, reddening, hot or painful areas...
Once the rabbit finds itself back in its environment, its recovery will be much faster as it leaves the stressful but crucial experience of neutering behind. These tips about rabbit castration, your care and some advice can complement the indications that your veterinarian will give you.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.