When you are thinking about getting your rabbit desexed, you should always book with a rabbit-savvy veterinarian like our team at The Rabbit Doctors.

We perform a full pre-desexing consultation before booking your rabbit in to be desexed. During this consultation, we discuss your rabbit’s history, including diet and housing, to make sure they are healthy for surgery. We assess every patient individually and will discuss any risks with you. There is also plenty of time during this consultation for our rabbit-savvy vet to answer any questions, queries or concerns you have about your rabbit, rabbit care and getting them desexed. Surgery and anaesthesia for all animals and people hold some risks. This is something we discuss based on your individual rabbit.

At The Rabbit Doctors, our highly trained team of rabbit veterinarians has refined this procedure and minimised many of the common risks associated with rabbit desexing.

An experienced and qualified team supports all our surgeries. Your rabbit-savvy veterinarian will perform the surgery, administer anaesthetic and assess each patient. Your surgery nurse will monitor the anaesthetic and vitals for your rabbit closely during their desexing surgery. After their surgery has finished, the surgery team hands over to our dedicated postoperative recovery nurse. Both during and after your rabbit’s surgery, our team closely monitors your rabbit's vitals to make sure their desexing journey is as smooth as possible. Our expert monitoring and dedicated team, combined with our thorough pre-desexing consultation, reduce any risks as much as possible.

Fun fact! On average, The Rabbit Doctors desexes over 200 rabbits each year! That's roughly 5 rabbit desexings a week!

There are many benefits of desexing rabbits. Desexing reduces hormone-driven behaviours such as spraying, aggression, and mounting. Depending on your rabbit's age and individual personality, these behaviours may reduce significantly or disappear altogether. This also allows rabbits to have a better chance of bonding and living together safely. Rabbits can attack each other and this is more likely to happen when undesexed animals live together.

Desexing also means your rabbits do not have any unwanted litters and reduces pressure on an already overwhelmed shelter and rescue system. There are already many rabbits across Victoria looking for loving homes, so preventing accidental breeding is an important part of responsible rabbit ownership.

Desexing a female rabbit removes the risk of developing life-threatening uterine diseases including cancer. These conditions affect up to 80% of undesexed female rabbits over 2 years of age.

Whilst reproductive-related cancers are less common in male rabbits than in females, desexing removes the risk of testicular disease and testicular tumours.

A pre-desexing check is essential and an important part of your rabbit's desexing journey.

A pre-desexing health check allows our qualified and experienced veterinary team to ensure your rabbit is healthy and suitable for surgery. We assess your rabbit's weight, heart, lungs, teeth, and overall body condition to make sure they are fit for anaesthesia and surgery. We also take into account their history and diet.

This significantly reduces the risks associated with rabbit desexing.

Our team will also check your rabbit's faeces for parasites. Young rabbits are commonly infected with a parasitic condition called coccidiosis. These parasites attach to your rabbit's body and cause weakness without obvious symptoms. Rabbits infected with coccidia can have a higher anaesthetic risk, making screening an important part of the pre-desexing process.

No, your rabbit does not need to have a litter before being desexed. This is a very common misconception and one that can create additional challenges for both owners and rabbits. There are no health benefits for your rabbit from making them have a litter before being desexed.

There are already many rabbits across Victoria looking for homes, so creating more rabbits before desexing is not recommended.

In Australia, both "desexing" and "neutering" generally refer to the surgical removal of the reproductive organs.

In males, this involves the removal of the testicles. In females, this involves the removal of the ovaries and uterus.

In the United States, "neutering" is commonly used to refer specifically to males, while "spaying" refers to females. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, the term "desexing" is rarely used.

There is no specific age cut-off for rabbit desexing. We recommend desexing in their first year of life, but we will assess your rabbit individually and advise whether desexing is an appropriate option for them.

At The Rabbit Doctors, we always perform a pre-desexing health check to ensure your rabbit is healthy enough for surgery before proceeding and talk you through any risks or concerns.

Rabbits reach sexual maturity when they reach approximately 75% of their adult body weight, which means smaller breeds become fertile earlier than larger breeds.

For females, sexual maturity generally occurs at:

• 4–5 months of age in smaller breeds
• 5–8 months of age in larger breeds

Ideally, female rabbits should be desexed after 5 months of age.

In males, the testicles typically descend into the scrotum at around 10–12 weeks of age. Male rabbits can generally be desexed once both testicles have descended.

No.

Do not fast your rabbit before surgery.

Your rabbit should always have access to fresh hay and clean drinking water before their procedure.

Unlike cats and dogs, rabbits have a fermenting digestive system that relies on a constant intake of food to function properly. Rabbits also cannot vomit, which means the risks associated with food in the stomach during anaesthesia are very different to those seen in cats, dogs and humans.

Rabbit desexing is typically a day procedure, and your rabbit will be ready to go home on the afternoon of their surgery.

When you collect your rabbit, our veterinary team will provide detailed instructions regarding post-operative care, pain relief, and any additional requirements specific to your rabbit.

Your rabbit may be a little quiet on the evening following surgery as the anaesthetic medications continue to wear off, but most rabbits are back to their normal selves by the following morning.

In most cases, rabbits are fully healed within 7–14 days following surgery. Recovery times vary between individuals and depend on how well each rabbit heals.

All rabbit desexing procedures at The Rabbit Doctors include a post-operative health check approximately 7 days after surgery. During this appointment, one of our qualified veterinary nurses will assess your rabbit's healing progress.

There are no stitches that need to be removed after surgery.

In most cases, yes.

Rabbit bonds can be fragile and may be disrupted by separation. Even having the smell of the clinic or any unknown area can contribute to breaking their bond. For this reason, we often recommend bringing in your rabbit's bonded companion on the day of surgery. This helps maintain the bond and can reduce stress for both rabbits.

The main exception is when an undesexed female is housed with a newly desexed male. Male rabbits can remain fertile for approximately 4–6 weeks following surgery and may still be capable of impregnating a female during this time.

Some rabbits may experience changes in their bond as hormone levels settle after desexing. If this occurs, rebonding or using appropriate bonding techniques may help strengthen the relationship again.

No.

You should not need to clean your rabbit's surgical wound after desexing. Rabbits will groom themselves and keep their wound clean.

Rabbits are often referred to as "super healers" because they generally heal more quickly than cats, dogs, and humans.

You should monitor the surgical site daily to ensure it is healing normally. At discharge, one of our qualified veterinary nurses will explain what to look for and how to monitor your rabbit's recovery at home.

Desexing can significantly improve hormone-driven behaviours such as spraying, aggression, and humping.

However, there are other factors that influence whether these behaviours disappear completely.

When rabbits are desexed at a younger age, before these behaviours become established habits, they are more likely to stop entirely. When rabbits are desexed later in life, these behaviours may be more ingrained and therefore more likely to persist to some degree.

This does not mean desexing an older rabbit will not improve these behaviours. Rather, the extent of improvement often depends on the individual rabbit and their personality.

Every rabbit is different, but most rabbits are back to their usual selves within 24 hours after surgery.

Some rabbits may be more sensitive to anaesthetic medications and take a little longer to return to their normal behaviour.

Following surgery, our team will add you to The Rabbit Doctors' clinical communication platform, Multichat. This allows you to contact our team with any non-emergency questions or concerns during your rabbit's recovery.

Yes.

Temporarily modifying your rabbit's housing is an important part of recovery after surgery.

Limiting movement by creating a smaller space for a short period after surgery helps support healing and reduces the risk of damaging the surgical site.

If your rabbit normally lives outdoors, we recommend setting up a suitable indoor enclosure during the recovery period so they can be monitored closely and kept comfortable.

No.

Rabbits do not require a cone or other form of body restraint following rabbit desexing surgery.

With appropriate pain relief and post-operative care, the likelihood of a rabbit chewing or interfering with their surgical site is low.

In rare cases, a rabbit may require additional protection if they become excessively focused on the wound. However, no body restraint should ever be used without first consulting one of our veterinary team members.

Our experienced rabbit veterinarians provide rabbit desexing, rabbit vaccinations, rabbit health checks, rabbit diagnostic imaging, and rabbit surgery from our clinic in Coburg North, Melbourne, Victoria. If you would like to discuss whether your rabbit is ready for desexing, contact our team today.

Every rabbit desexing journey is a little different. For an up-to-date cost and to book your rabbit in for a pre-desexing consultation with a rabbit-savvy vet, please contact our Coburg North, Melbourne team on 03 9416 3100.