Rabbit Care - Spaying or Neutering your Rabbit

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Aileen Kara Hudspeth
VP of Programs for Friends of Rabbits, Friends of Rabbits
www.friendsofrabbits.org  
703-400-7220

About me:

I first got introduced to rabbits as pets when a dear friend and fellow pet devotee Kris Ratliff helped me adopt my first rabbit, Mokona.  She herself was going through vet school, and was a vet assistant at a local pet hospital in MD.  Her experiences, and my own from there on out helped me perfect the basic forms of rabbit massage shown in a video here on Monkeysee. 

With a music therapy background, I knew that therapeutic goals are accomplished in many ways, some that might not always be viewed as successful as others.  I believed that rabbit massage as therapy, and a connection between a rabbit and it's owner would not only increase happiness, but work on health related goals at the same time.  This strive to achieve has been shown over the years with hands on demonstrations with my own rabbits, and with countless others.  I believe the stronger connection between the pet (be it dog, cat or rabbit), the better the quality of life, and the closer connection between pet and owner.

I started my work with Friends of Rabbits back in 2000 and have assisted in numerous spa days, educational events, fundraisers and overall activities. 

About the group:

Friends of Rabbits is an independent rabbit rescue and welfare group based in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia. Our goal is to rescue homeless and abandoned domestic rabbits and to promote the adoption and welfare of domestic rabbits through education and example. Domestic rabbits have been created through human intervention, and are dependent on us for survival. It is therefore our responsibility to care for them.

Friends of Rabbits believes that all rabbits are valuable as individuals, regardless of physical attributes, personality or health.

Friends of Rabbits does not condone the exploitation of rabbits for profit or medical research.

Friends of Rabbits is not licensed to rehabilitate wildlife. All wildlife rescue cases will be referred to licensed rehabilitators.

Friends of Rabbits believes all domestic rabbits should live indoors with humans.

We believe all domestic rabbits should be neutered or spayed, except in case of other overriding medical concerns, and they should receive the same level of veterinary care as other companion animals.

Friends of Rabbits believes all rabbits deserve a quality life, including toys, exercise, mental stimulation and social interaction with humans and other animals. These are as essential to ensuring a healthy life as food, water and shelter.

Although our goal is to ensure all rabbits in our care are spayed or neutered, live indoors and receive appropriate medical attention, we also support sanctuaries that shelter abandoned, abused and unadoptable rabbits that may not always be able to meet these standards. Friends of Rabbits also recognizes other legitimate rabbit rescue groups, humane societies and animal shelters. Friends of Rabbits respects the privacy of its members and does not share its membership list with any other organizations.

 

Rabbit Care - Spaying or Neutering your Rabbit

This video shows rabbit care and how to have your rabbit spayed or neutered. Discussed is the benefits of having your pet spayed or neutered. We tackle some facts and fiction about rabbits, and re-enforce the evidence that it pays to neuter/spay as the gains outweigh any negatives with doing such.

This series: 61,877 views

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Transcripts

Aileen Kara Hudspeth: Hi, my name is Aileen Kara Hudspeth with Friends of Rabbits. I am here talking about how to care for your rabbit. Now we are going to discuss the importance of spay and neutering. With me today, I have Jenny, she will be my example rabbit. We are going to talk about some of the basic misconceptions on rabbits and in regards to sex identification. Females normally look like males up until three months when their testicles will descend. So at beginning you may truly believe that you actually have two females and in fact, you actually have one female and one male. Female's gestational period is 28 days. Unfortunately, as soon as they give birth these birth litters can be anywhere from five to ten babies at a time. They can actually get pregnant can actually get pregnant on the same day that they give birth. So it is very important that once you get your rabbit, just spay or neuter immediately unless it is already been done by the people that you have acquired your rabbit from. I also want to explain that there are benefits besides health benefits, health benefits being that females can later on life can be prone to uterine or ovarian cancer if they are not spayed. Males can have danger of injuring their testicles if they are not neutered and also, in the sense of what your rabbit's relationship going to be later on, rabbits have less chance of digging and chewing, you will see lessened of those abilities. Obviously, rabbits will still continue to dig and chew, but the severity will lessen. You will also find that they will have less of a chance, both males and females of spraying or mounting their mates or their bonded partners and also in general, it is very good to do this, do spaying and neutering because it make for better relationships later on with your rabbits whether they have a single life or a life with another partner or a group of rabbits. That is the importance of spaying and neutering your rabbit. Our next clip will be on the importance of social needs for your rabbit.

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