Hi everyone,

I have a pair that have been happily bonded for over 2 years now.  Both fixed for years and male/female paring.

Last Friday I had to take Violet to the emergency vet for a GI stasis episode and she was there almost 2 days. Unfortunately it was long enough for her partner, Bun Bun, to become a territorial little jerk and he was nipping and chasing her so she was very stressed. I separated them since she needed to recover and he would just not let her be.  She’s doing much better and is back to her normal self.

I have been trying to re-bond them. This time though there is a lot more nipping than there was the first time. They are grooming each other and able to be together for a bit with few issues but then they get to a point where they just start nipping and then it turns into him chasing her around and I worry about it escalating. It has only been about 5 sessions, about an hour each but I wanted to see if this was on the right track.  They do groom each other, and will eat together but they don’t seem to trust each other any more.

I’m thinking I need to keep them in a smaller space and just keep at it until I see better behavior, more grooming, less nipping, maybe a flop or 2. I’m just worried they won’t bond again,, they seem lonely and seem to look for each other but then they they don’t have any trust when they are togther.

Any and all advice is apricated, I just don’t want to mess this up. They were so happy before and I’m broken hearted they have lost each other.