hi dana

Question
hello dana! it's me once again. things have been going well with fluffie. i took her to the vet yesterday and had her spayed. well, here's what i am observing that's having me a little nervous and sad. i took her home, and immediately, the first thing she did was hop under my bed and pretty much refuses to come out from under. she haven't ate anything as far as i know. her lack of appetite even includes her favorite yogourt chip treat. that has me very alarmed. as far as the stitching from the spay, she's doing fine, not licking or trying to chew it. i actually bought a collar thing (those cone/satellite thingies) and the doctor put it on her. well, i wasn't paying attention for a sec and somehow she got it off herself.  i am thinking since she's not picking at her stitching, it should be fine, right?

anyhow, my biggest concern is generally her behavior. seems like after the spaying process, i got myself a different bunnie back. she doesn't even respond to my calls anymore. also, she has seemingly lost her habit of using the litter box. is all of this normal? lastly, another thing i observe is that she's really... lifeless? last night, she was sitting down and had her head down... made me really sad looking at her like that. if all of this is normal, please tell me. i am so worried for my baby flufferz and do tell me if there's anything i can do to make things easier for her.

thank you!

sincerely,
simon

Answer
Dear Simon,

If she was spayed only yesterday, then it's understandable that she's feeling a bit miserable.  It's a much more major operation than a neuter, as the abdomen is actually opened.  It hurts.  Did she get analgesics for the pain?  If not, please make sure you ask the vet about that.

Now that a day has passed, is she starting to perk up at all?  Please see:

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

for proper post-operative care.  If she's listless, she needs to go back to the vet.  That's not normal.  But it is normal for her to be a bit miserable for a day or two, since she's just undergone major surgery.

Keep her warm and quiet, offer favorite *herbal* treats (a bunny feeling a bit sick will usually refuse fruit, crackers, etc. and seems to instinctively know that fresh vegetables and timothy hay are best).

We never use an E-collar on a rabbit, as it's too stressful.  Just try to gently check her sutures to be sure she's not messing with them.  Check for any sign of seepage or bleeding, which are *definitely* not normal.  I hope the vet you took her to was very experienced with rabbit spays, because those who do mostly dogs and cats really are not familiar enough with rabbit anatomy to do a relatively painless spay.  How big is the scar?  If it's larger than about 2-3 inches, then I would wonder why.

I hope this helps. Please write back if you have any more questions.  But don't hesitate to take her to the vet *immediately* if she's still not acting a little bit better.  It's critical to keep her body temperature up, and make sure she starts eating ASAP.  Please also see:

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

Good luck, and please let me know how she's doing.

Dana