What are the special considerations for anesthesia and surgery in rabbits?

Question

What are the special considerations for anesthesia and surgery in rabbits?

Answer 1

First of all, you definitely need to make sure that you find a veterinarian who is trained and has experience with rabbit surgery. Most vets aren't.

Rabbits are much more fragile than cats and dogs, so the amount of anesthesia used is critical. Too much, they might go into shock and too little means that the rabbit might not be fully unconscious.

Here is a list of protocol I found below! I hope this helps!

Answer 2

Really?  People pay for surgery on rabbits?

Anesthesia has to take into consideration body size, condition of subject, and type of anesthesia used.  Typically the smallest dose is used and applied during the procedure to keep the "patient" under.

Answer 3

Rabbits have to be given an injection of anaesthetic as opposed to an inhalant because they can hold their breath (I kid you not!). I suppose then you would have to be very careful of the rabbit waking up prematurely during the surgery - although I imagine they cannot hold their breath when unconscious so an inhalant could be used for the rest of the surgery to control consciousness.