Spaying a pregnant rabbit

[squidpop]

I accidentally left the cage door open, and one of my bucks may have gotten to a female I don't want to breed with. I already had an appointment to get her spayed but its for 10 days later. Would it be dangerous to spay her if she is 10 days pregnant? Should I cancel the appointment.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I used to work in veterinary hospitals, and spaying pregnant animals always cost more. The reason is that the blood flow to the uterus increases during pregnancy, so the surgeon has to be mindful of the extra vascular activity and has to tie off more veins to minimize blood loss.

Therefore, surgery at this time has a higher risk factor- personally, I would let the rabbit have her litter and spay her once she is done nursing them.

FYI- vets also charge more to spay nursing animals because of the increased blood flow to the mammary glands and their engorgement with milk.

 

[akane]

For a rabbit I'd probably let them give birth. They are so small and sensitive to surgery anyway. It would be extra challenging and extra risky. They also have fairly uncomplicated pregnancies with few birthing problems that result in the doe dying. Not that it doesn't happen, I did have one prolapse both horns of the uterus her first litter, but much much lower odds in rabbits than many other animals. Now for something like a dog or cat accident I'd spay to terminate pregnancy. Less tiny precision work, better tolerant of anesthesia, more can be done if something goes wrong, and going through pregnancy and birth with them is a lot more effort, cost (usually xrays are taken), and risk.

 

[squidpop]

Ok, good thing I asked. I don't want to do it if it might cause problems. Thanks.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I used to work in veterinary hospitals, and spaying pregnant animals always cost more. The reason is that the blood flow to the uterus increases during pregnancy, so the surgeon has to be mindful of the extra vascular activity and has to tie off more veins to minimize blood loss.

Therefore, surgery at this time has a higher risk factor- personally, I would let the rabbit have her litter and spay her once she is done nursing them.

FYI- vets also charge more to spay nursing animals because of the increased blood flow to the mammary glands and their engorgement with milk.

I agree with what was said in above post, and might add -- I have see a lot more complications, and deaths after spaying pregnant/ nursing animals.