Binki is an 8 month old rabbit who was recently rescued from a school. He had a bad dental abscess and no one at the school was able to give him the care he needed. Binki's new owner is doing a great job of looking after him and his abscess is almost completely healed. Now that Binki is feeling better, his owner brought him in to be desexed.

Desexing of rabbits is very important. It helps to prevent unwanted litters. Rabbits are very good at breeding! It also protects the rabbit from certain diseases and helps to control unwanted behaviour such as aggression, urine marking and psuedopregnancy (in females).

Binki's owner presented him for admission on the morning of his surgery. Unlike cats and dogs, rabbits should not be fasted prior to surgery. They need access to food all of the time so fasting them can be dangerous. Binki was made comfortable in the hospital with some hay and water, and a soft bed. Nurses Kara and Nicole assisted Dr Bree during the surgery. They monitored Binki's vital signs and anaesthetic depth while the Dr Bree performed the surgery. Both of Binki's testicles were removed and the skin closed with glue. We use a skin glue for rabbits as they have very thin and delicate skin which can be irritated by sutures. Rabbits are also likely to chew at sutures and it is difficult for them to wear Elizabethan collars or cones.

Once Binki's surgery was completed and he was awake, our nurses began to syringe feed him a formula called 'Critical Care'. This is a special food for herbivores and can be mixed into a paste. It is important for rabbits to start eating again as soon as they can after surgery. Their intestinal tracts need to keep moving and they need a constant supply of fibre to help them with this. Binki's owner continued feeding him the formula once she took him home. For the first 24 hours after his surgery, Binki was a little out of sorts and was not too interested in food. It wasn't long after that he perked up and was acting like his normal, happy self. Binki is now hopping around happily at home with his two other rabbit friends.

If you have any questions about desexing rabbits or general rabbit care, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Other related articles:

• Rabbit care
• Bunny basics
• Feeding your rabbit
• Housing your rabbit