When a new rabbit arrives at the rescue, we rely heavily on the information their previous owner gives us. Sometimes people arrive prepared, with full vet history, vaccination certificates, feeding notes and familiar food to help the rabbit settle. Other times they simply try to hand the rabbit over and leave. In some cases, we get no history at all.
Helping a rabbit settle is our first priority. We need to work out what food they will eat safely and how to make them feel secure. Very quickly after that, one of the biggest questions we face is whether they are neutered.
With boys, it is usually obvious if they are still entire. With girls, it is rarely clear from a simple physical check. We normally try to contact the original owner and their vet to confirm whether a spay has been done and when. If we cannot get written confirmation from a vet, we have to assume the rabbit is not spayed.
You might think shaving the abdomen to look for a scar would give a clear answer. Sadly, it does not. A well healed spay on a young rabbit can leave a scar that is almost impossible to see years later. A visible scar could also be from a different operation. In most female rabbits a scar on the abdomen will have been a spay, but we cannot safely rely on that assumption.
People also suggest scans. An ultrasound can sometimes help, but it is not always conclusive. To get a good image, most rabbits need some level of sedation, which carries its own risks.
In our earlier years, if we had any doubt, we often booked the rabbit in for a spay on the assumption she was entire. Most of the time we were right and it meant we could move on with bonding and adoption with confidence. However, there were times when the vet opened up the rabbit and discovered she had already been spayed. That meant an unnecessary operation, extra cost for the rescue and, more importantly, avoidable risk for the rabbit.
The good news is that rabbit medicine is improving all the time. That is where Ivy comes in.
Ivy arrived with us as one of these uncertain cases. From our conversations with her previous owner, we felt reasonably confident that she had been spayed. However, some of her behaviour suggested she might still be entire. We never like to guess when it comes to welfare. Without written vet history to confirm the operation, we needed another option.
I was very reluctant to put Ivy through surgery if it was not needed. I had a vague memory that hormone testing might be able to tell us more. We spoke to one of our exotic vets, who knew of this type of test for dogs and cats but was not sure if it was available for rabbits. She contacted their lab partners to ask. Their usual lab did not offer it for rabbits, but she found another lab that did.
The test measures AMH, or Anti-Müllerian Hormone. This hormone is produced by ovarian tissue. If the AMH level is above a certain threshold, it suggests the rabbit still has ovaries. If the level is very low or undetectable, it suggests the ovaries have been removed and the rabbit is spayed.
We booked Ivy in for a blood sample. Four days later the results came back.
If the AMH level is below 0.07 ng/ml, it suggests the rabbit has been spayed. Ivy’s result was 0.03 ng/ml. That told us she no longer has ovarian tissue.
It was exactly the answer we needed. Ivy could now be cleared for bonding and adoption without the extra risk of a general anaesthetic for scans or exploratory surgery.
There is, however, a downside. The test is not cheap. Including the consultations, Ivy’s testing came to around £200. In her case, this was still cheaper than a full spay operation at many practices and it allowed us to avoid unnecessary surgery. If the result had shown that she was not spayed, we would then have had to pay for the neutering on top of the blood test.
For us, Ivy’s story is a reminder of two important things.
First, we will always do our best to make sure every rabbit in our care is neutered and safe to bond. Sometimes that now includes using newer options like AMH testing, when the situation justifies the cost and risk.
Second, good history from owners makes a huge difference. If you have rabbits, you can help rescues like ours by making sure they are neutered while in your care, keeping their records safe and passing on full vet history if you ever need to surrender them. It saves time, money and stress, and most importantly, it helps keep rabbits like Ivy saf
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