I have to begin this post by saying, normally, Pip is a joy to deal with during things like nail trims and other inspections and she will trance quite easily. Today was an exception.

We’d just gotten done trimming her talons. They’d gotten frighteningly long and I wasn’t about to have to make an appointment to drag her into the vet, I got my musher’s headlamp fixed and figured I could handle it. And so I did. Now I think back, perhaps the headlamp had something to do with it, it had cast a glow on the bed like she was in the exam room, so that might have had an effect on her, mentally.

I had hardly any trouble during the trim. She’d pull her paws in and tuck them under like she usually does, but for the most part, smooth sailing. No blood.

I noticed she was dropping fur, so I began grooming her. I must’ve taken off ten bunnies’ full. (Maybe she is grumpy because she’s shedding?)

So at the last moment before returning her to her habitat, I decided I would look at her bum, she’s been leaving some messy smears on her sleeping shelf because she’s had lettuce lately. So her cecals get kind of mushy, like Fiver’s.

I was just able to ascertain that she had a little bit of smudging that I could smell and probably wanted to wash off her, when, BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM! I got my wrists and backs of my hands raked by her newly snipped claws on her back feet as she kangaroo-kicked me rapidly about five times! I yelped and had to let her go, luckily my daughter was there and saw the whole thing and could grab her to keep her from falling from the bedside, but Pip ran to the center and thumped a few times. When my daughter tried to hold her, she nipped her…which she has never done to her before. Pip showed extreme agitation and I decided she’d had enough. I returned her to her habitat and she ran under her shelf for awhile. A treat brought her back out and onto her shelf, then she laid down, took a LOOONG yawn (that I was afraid at first was mouth breathing, she’d gotten so worked up, her temperature seemed warmer than the other bunnies to the touch) and then fixed me with the worst stink eye I’ve ever seen on her.

I’ve noticed latey she’s been making nests out of her hay. This plus her tantrum and a little recent fur pulling from the neck (which she does on occasion), I’m wondering…is it possible for a spayed bun to have a false pregnancy? Or was she just not into her spa day today?

I’ll add that, when I brought Mimzy out for his trim (after Pip’s), he did rather well and so I let him wander to Fiver’s pen. Normally they snuggle on either side of the bars and wait for pets, but Fiver attacked the cage door with his front feet (I DID still have the headlamp on and maybe when I swung my head around it flashed in his eyes as Mimzy advanced, and that may have startled him) but then he settled in and did his usual tooth purrs.

Oh, and like an idiot, I grabbed the wrong groom glove (I have one for each bunny, so that between washings the bunnies don’t get each others’ scent on them) so perhaps this one smelled like Fiver and that’s what Pip was mad at. She’s had little to no exposure to him. When he first came home she postured to show him that Mimzy was HER husbun. Come to think of it, I used the same one on Mimzy after that, so maybe Fiver caught her scent and that’s why he attacked the door.

Honestly, Pip’s such an easy going bun…I am not used to this kind of behavior by her. I’m hurt! (literally) Is it me who screwed up or could there be something off with her? I’m pretty sure Fiver’s attitude is explanable, he’s high-strung and I’m used to that. But Pip is my mainstay. If she’s got a bug up, I have to take a second look and be sure there’s no underlying cause.