Fixing a rabbit means the removing of gonads, which are organs that the rabbit needs in order to reproduce. Spaying is the surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus of a doe. Neutering, or, castration, is the surgical removal of a buck's testes. These procedures are done under general anesthesia by veterinarians. Spaying/neutering does have its benefits in specific scenarios. With dogs, for example, spaying reduces the risk of pyometria, a relatively common uterine disease. With horses, gelding colts tends to improve their temperaments. With rabbits, however, there are a few more things to weigh up before deciding what route is right for you.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I'd like to state that for shelters and rescues, sterilization is absolutely the best option. It's worth having that extra assurance that rescue animals are not bred (accidentally or on purpose) by their future owners. With that being said, unless there is a medical necessity, I personally prefer to keep rabbits intact in most cases. I'd also like to preface this by stating that at the end of the day, you should do what works best for you and your pet.
The thing to consider first and foremost is that rabbits are much more sensitive to anesthesia than dogs or cats. Mortality rates for spay/neuter surgeries and post-op are somewhere around 5% for healthy animals, and higher for those with preexisting conditions. Rabbits also go into GI stasis relatively often after major surgeries, which means round-the-clock nursing back to health.
The main concerns with intact animals in various other species are: preventing accidental breedings, preventing health issues, and preventing temperament issues. I'd like to go into a little detail on each of these factors and why they may or may not apply to rabbits.
Rabbits living as indoor pets don't typically have the opportunity to escape and roam the neighborhood like a dog or cat, meaning you would have to own another rabbit of the opposite sex for there to be any risk of accidental mating. If you own multiple rabbits, make sure to house them separately and ensure that children in the house do not get the rabbits out unattended. Management of intact rabbits is not as hard as a dog or cat, but of course, it's important to be proactive and cautious. If you plan on bonding your rabbit to another, you would need to spay/neuter them. With that being said, given how territorial rabbits are, it's generally best to house them individually.
The next thing to consider is the health of the rabbit. Having raised rabbits for 17 years, I have owned a number of both intact and spayed/neutered rabbits. I have had intact rabbits that had a bunch of litters, and some that never even had one. I wish I could say there was a correlation with improved health one way or another, but there really wasn't. I've spent a good number of hours looking through academic research on a relationship between health and sterilization, and have really struggled to find anything specific to rabbits with statistical significance. The oft-cited 80% of does that get uterine cancer is from a study from the 1900s with a backyard-bred colony of rabbits - no other research to my knowledge have even been in the ballpark of 80%. Interestingly, the 80% also included rabbits that died of other causes and were later necropsied. Anecdotally, out of all the rabbits I've ever raised, I have only ever had one case of uterine cancer (the doe was spayed and lived several more years).
The last concern is potential temperament problems. Having had both spayed, neutered, and intact bucks and does, I have noticed no correlation between spaying/neutering and improved behavior. I've been bitten and sprayed by both intact and altered rabbits alike. I've also had both intact and altered rabbits that were/are absolute sweethearts. I personally am somewhat averse to putting an animal through major elective surgery for the sole reason of changing its temperament. The less glamorous side of owning an animal is accepting the fact that their temperament might not always be perfect. If I had a remote control for my animals, I'd use it on my Britannia Petites, for sure. :)
A final thing to consider is potential adverse effects sterilization may have on health. Issues with growth plates, body condition, urinary incontinence, and decreased likelihood of reaching exceptional longevity are well-documented in spayed dogs. Unfortunately, there is very little academic research on long-term health consequences related to sterilization of rabbits and the subsequent impact on the endocrine system. My general philosophy with animals is 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' As such, I tend to be on the more cautious side about elective surgeries with potential adverse effects on health.
At the end of the day, do what works best for you and your rabbit. As with anything, do your homework, talk to your breeder and your vet, and make sure whatever decision you make is an informed one.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I'd like to state that for shelters and rescues, sterilization is absolutely the best option. It's worth having that extra assurance that rescue animals are not bred (accidentally or on purpose) by their future owners. With that being said, unless there is a medical necessity, I personally prefer to keep rabbits intact in most cases. I'd also like to preface this by stating that at the end of the day, you should do what works best for you and your pet.
The thing to consider first and foremost is that rabbits are much more sensitive to anesthesia than dogs or cats. Mortality rates for spay/neuter surgeries and post-op are somewhere around 5% for healthy animals, and higher for those with preexisting conditions. Rabbits also go into GI stasis relatively often after major surgeries, which means round-the-clock nursing back to health.
The main concerns with intact animals in various other species are: preventing accidental breedings, preventing health issues, and preventing temperament issues. I'd like to go into a little detail on each of these factors and why they may or may not apply to rabbits.
Rabbits living as indoor pets don't typically have the opportunity to escape and roam the neighborhood like a dog or cat, meaning you would have to own another rabbit of the opposite sex for there to be any risk of accidental mating. If you own multiple rabbits, make sure to house them separately and ensure that children in the house do not get the rabbits out unattended. Management of intact rabbits is not as hard as a dog or cat, but of course, it's important to be proactive and cautious. If you plan on bonding your rabbit to another, you would need to spay/neuter them. With that being said, given how territorial rabbits are, it's generally best to house them individually.
The next thing to consider is the health of the rabbit. Having raised rabbits for 17 years, I have owned a number of both intact and spayed/neutered rabbits. I have had intact rabbits that had a bunch of litters, and some that never even had one. I wish I could say there was a correlation with improved health one way or another, but there really wasn't. I've spent a good number of hours looking through academic research on a relationship between health and sterilization, and have really struggled to find anything specific to rabbits with statistical significance. The oft-cited 80% of does that get uterine cancer is from a study from the 1900s with a backyard-bred colony of rabbits - no other research to my knowledge have even been in the ballpark of 80%. Interestingly, the 80% also included rabbits that died of other causes and were later necropsied. Anecdotally, out of all the rabbits I've ever raised, I have only ever had one case of uterine cancer (the doe was spayed and lived several more years).
The last concern is potential temperament problems. Having had both spayed, neutered, and intact bucks and does, I have noticed no correlation between spaying/neutering and improved behavior. I've been bitten and sprayed by both intact and altered rabbits alike. I've also had both intact and altered rabbits that were/are absolute sweethearts. I personally am somewhat averse to putting an animal through major elective surgery for the sole reason of changing its temperament. The less glamorous side of owning an animal is accepting the fact that their temperament might not always be perfect. If I had a remote control for my animals, I'd use it on my Britannia Petites, for sure. :)
A final thing to consider is potential adverse effects sterilization may have on health. Issues with growth plates, body condition, urinary incontinence, and decreased likelihood of reaching exceptional longevity are well-documented in spayed dogs. Unfortunately, there is very little academic research on long-term health consequences related to sterilization of rabbits and the subsequent impact on the endocrine system. My general philosophy with animals is 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' As such, I tend to be on the more cautious side about elective surgeries with potential adverse effects on health.
At the end of the day, do what works best for you and your rabbit. As with anything, do your homework, talk to your breeder and your vet, and make sure whatever decision you make is an informed one.