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how soon after birthing can a female be spayed?

22 10:45:31

Question
QUESTION: How soon after giving birth can I have my bunny spayed?  Yesterday she gave birth to four babies - I had a NEUTERING appointment for her scheduled on Aug 23rd.......  I guess i should postpone it since she will still be nursing.....
Please advise...

ANSWER: Dear Jody,

If she is nowhere near a male bunny, then I agree with you and would not have her spayed for about 10 weeks. The babies will be weaned by 8 weeks of age (no sooner!), and that will give her two weeks to fully recover.

If a male has come in contact with her since the birth, she could well be pregnant again, since the male will get her within minutes, and BOOM.  :(  If this is the case, please consult the vet about having her spayed now, so that she doesn't give birth again in 30 days, jeopardizing not only her health, but that of her babies.

Spaying should not affect her milk production, but if it does, I have information on how to feed baby rabbits in an emergency:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

I hope you won't need that.  And I hope there's no male rabbit in the picture, which will make things a LOT simpler.

I hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: One follow-up question;  There IS a male rabbit in the picture.  they were supposed to be TWO males, and I have an appointment to get them neutered on Aug 23rd.  I plan to follow through with neutering the male on Aug 23rd.  My question: is that TOO SOON to have the female spayed?  Is it better for her health to wait the 10 weeks until she is fully recovered from birthing & nursing?  I will keep the two apart for now.  Up until two days ago - they were living together ( as males, so I thought)
Thanks,
Jody

Answer
Dear Jody,

ARGH!  Never trust a pet store to sex rabbits correctly!  :(

If the two rabbits were together for even an hour after the birth, then there is a very good chance the female is pregnant again.  This means you have two choices:

1.  Allow her to have the second litter, which means she will not be finished nursing the first, putting both litters at risk

2.  Have her spayed now, before she is too far along in the pregnancy to be spayed.  Waiting until August 23 will be far too late and risky for her to be spayed, as she will be nearly ready to give birth.

So unless you are able to have her spayed in the next day or two, then I guess option #1 is going to be the default.  

We can hope that the male didn't impregnate her again, but it's good to be prepared for the possibility that she'll deliver again in about a month.

Hope this will help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

Hope that helps!

Dana