Hi everyone,

My little girl, Daisy is a year old and she was spayed about two weeks ago. Two days ago, I acquired a little boy of only 8 weeks old, (I have named him Barnaby.) It was not my plan to bond her with a baby boy, and not really so soon after the op, but Barnaby needed a home and I have both the space and the time to love him.

I am not sure if it is ok to try and bond them at such an early stage in his life. I have put their hutches side by side and allowed Daisy to sniff at him when she is out and about in the daytime. He is very curious of her but she keeps trying to nip him through the bars of his home, and dig at the wood of his hutch to get at him (he is securely shut away during these meets, but accessible through the wire of his hutch doors) so I have only allowed their meetings to happen under supervision and for short periods of time. I really do not think that “dating” is a good idea at the moment, as Barnaby is so keen to love Daisy but Daisy appears to be very wary of him and just wants to fight. Since he is so small, I worry that she would seriously harm him if able to attack at close range.

Should I hold off trying to bond them and keep them totally apart until his is old enough to be neutered? Or should I continue to gently introduce them? Or do you think I should go full steam ahead and start with the traditional bonding process??

Any advice would be gratefully recieved. I have read reams and reams of information on this subject, but I want to ensure I do this right. They are both here for forever now, and i don’t want to ruin the possibility for a happy future together by doing something wrong!