Rabbit fasting before surgery?

Question
Hello Dana, one of our rabbits is being desexed and the assistant at the vets told us not to feed her anything before the operation, but I thought that bunnies needed to have food in their stomachs to keep it all moving along, and the not eating before operations was an issue associated with the possible regurgitating during anasthesia ?
should we still feed her..?

Answer
Dear Luke,

The receptionist may not have been informed by the vet that rabbits should absolutely *not* be fasted before surgery, and was giving the instructions she usually gives for dogs or cats.  Please ask to speak directly to the vet about this.

If the vet says to fast the bunny, then I would be very cautious, and wonder about how experienced with rabbits this vet is.  If you're not sure, then you may wish to find another vet here for a second opinion:

www.rabbit.org/vets

But if this is an experienced rabbit vet, then I'll bet s/he will direct you not to fast your bunny before the spay/neuter.

Hope this helps.

Dana