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Spaying/neutering your rabbit

Spayed and neutered rabbits are healthy and live longer than intact rabbits. They make better companions because they are calmer, more loving and have more dependable litter-box habits. They are less prone to destructive and obnoxious behaviors (chewing, digging, spraying, biting, mounting, humping).

Altered rabbits don’t contribute to the problem of overpopulation. Millions of discarded and unwanted pets are killed annually in American animal shelters. Unwanted rabbits are often dumped outdoors where they fall prey to disease, starvation, prey animals, traffic and the elements. Rabbits you sell or give to a pet store can be resold as snake food if they don’t find a home or can be injured or killed by an inexperienced, too-young child.

Unspayed female rabbits have a very high risk of uterine and mammary cancers. Experienced vets commonly see uterine changes and tumors in unspayed females as young as eighteen months.

Spaying/neutering will NOT make your companion animal “fat and lazy.” Lack of exercise, wrong foods and boredom will do that. Spaying and neutering surgery has become a safe procedure when performed by experienced rabbit veterinarians.

Rabbits are social animals. Spayed and neutered bunnies can safely be housed together. (See HRS article: “Should I Get a Second Rabbit?”)

All rabbits adopted from Long Island Rabbit Rescue Group have been spayed or neutered.