So, my rabbit is a hermaphrodite

[Shannon]

My bun, who we thought was a male, went in for a neuter, I got a call from the vet saying she was a hermaphrodite, having both sets of sex organs. She was reluctant to perform any surgery due to the unusual nature of her parts. I was going to get a companion for her, but now I don’t know that that is in her best interests. Has anyone here had a bunny like this? Should I try to find her a non bunny companion? I did a quick search , but didn’t see anything quite like my question.

[Odette]

I don’t have experience with this, but I have a suggestion. True hermaphrodites are sterile, but they still have hormones that could affect bonding. Also, that doesn’t mean your bun is sterile. Bunnies go by different rules sometimes! You might ask for a hormone panel– if blood tests like that are available and safe. Your baby may have low hormones and may have a dominant hormone. That might make a bond still doable– I don’t know, but perhaps someone with experience with bonded pairs will know more. You could always get a future mate altered instead.

Second, ask your vet if there’s a lowered risk for uterine cancer. That’s the only reason I would still look to alter unless there are behavioral issues.

Last, I have a solo bunny who is happy as a single bunny. Solo bunnies often bond just fine with their people.

[jerseygirl]

How did the vet determine there were both sets of organs? An ultrasound?

@Odette, I didn’t know that about sterility. Interesting!

[LBJ10]

I don’t understand why they wouldn’t be able to remove what’s there, if necessary. They might be underdeveloped or one set may be more developed than the other. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be removed.

JG – Yes, they can be. Not always though.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1252732/?page=1 

[LBJ10]

Here’s another random thought. Could it be congenital adrenal hyperplasia? True hermaphrodites are rare, but CAH has been documented in rabbits.

[Odette]

JG, I didn’t know either. I asked my boyfriend. He teaches college biology. It is interesting!

LBJ, That makes sense re taking what is there. Though I would want a vet who is comfortable doing the surgery.

[lunavenus]

I study biology and I’ve read cases about animals being hermaphrodites even us humans can be born that way but usually our parents have the choice of what gender they want the docs to make us into…
A couple of vets I’ve talked to told me that they had cases where the animal is female on the outside but male in the inside and vice versa!!

About 3 or 4 months ago, when I got my two bunnies, I went to take them a few times to the vet because of regular check up and other emergency reasons and every time they would check their genders. 2 different vets, and the vet tech confirmed 3 or 4 times that they are indeed both females. Even the breeder I got them from said they are definitely female. HOWEVER, when I went to get one of my rabbit spayed, the doctor checked her gender before he operated on her and confirmed she’s female BUT when he did open her up…. she had no UTERUS and other female organs or even male parts for that matter… So she’s like no gender sort of haha. He dug and dug to look for it, but he couldn’t find any reproductive organs so he was baffled and checked her gender again after he closed her up…. He told me that it’s the first time he’s ever seen a bunny that’s missing reproductive organs but he’s heard some VERY RARE cases about it.

[Shannon]

I don’t believe an ultrasound was performed, I was not charged anything for the visit, not even for the drugs they administered. Bun has a vagina, a penis, but she said she could not determine testicles, and there seemed to be a lot going on, structure wise. This was my vets first time seeing this. I guess I will call her and see about setting up an ultrasound and hormone panel. I was literally shocked speechless by the news. I couldn’t have formulated a question to ask if my life depended on it!

[jerseygirl]

Had you seen testicles before you took him in for the neuter? Rabbits can pull them back up into the abdomen area so that can make things tricky! Your vet may or may not think an ultrasound worthwhile. Depends on what they can usually see with those. It may be a matter of just going ahead as if doing a female spay and see what is there.

[Juicy]

Hi Shannon,

Very interesting medical mystery you have here! Do you have a reputable university near you with a vet school? I’ve found that exotic vets are great for routine care, but not so great at keeping up on the latest research and not very high-tech. The latter part is not their fault; some of the high-tech stuff is simply out of reach for a small practice! When my bunny had a weird problem, I took her to Tufts Veterinary School since I lived near there. It was expensive, but I really wanted her to be cared for by the people who knew bunny CPR and the latest research on success rates, etc. If you’re lucky enough to live in a place that’s not Boston but has a good vet school with a strong research component, you’ll probably get quality care at a way more reasonable price. So try asking about that.

If you can’t afford more vet visits or if your local vet school is pricey, you might ask Dana Krempels about this one on AllExperts.com. It’s just such an interesting case; I feel like anyone interested in bunnies and biology would love to get in on this one. 

Good luck! 

  

[Lily]

So – I have a house bunny named pepper, who I have had for 7 years. My daughter had a friend who rescued a bunny but couldn’t keep it so we adopted him, just got him neutered and doing fine together in room divided by gate. About a month prior to this I noticed a sack like bulge from pepper and figured I would have it checked at her check up visit because otherwise was fine. Well, I saw other male ginitals so I believe this could be a similar case. I will be contacting the vet tomorrow who spayed her and just wanted to know any more info that may be out there. Thank you so much and wow, didn’t see this coming!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hi, Lily and Welcome to BB. We ask that members please not respond to old threads (this one is from a year ago) as it can cause confusion. You should start a new thread on this topic and that way, you will also get more attention to your question. I have no idea but I wish you luck!!!

[Author]

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