Behavior after spaying

[HollyLoppy]

Hi everyone! This will be my very first post in this forum.

My fairly new lop (and also very first rabbit), Holly, has gone to the vet today so that she can get spayed tomorrow morning. I already miss her so much, I got up a few times to cry a bit because she’s always the light of the day when I get home from a stressful day of work or if I just need a playmate to come home to. Being away from her for a little while is going to suck big time.

Anyway, Holly has never been the bun to really exhibit bad behavior at all with me unless of course I invade her personal space (litter, food and water bowl). Other than that, she’s an angel, always willing to play and licks me whenever I give her a few hours of rubbing on the cheeks. She chases me when I run to the other side of the bedroom too so that’s pretty cute.

Have any of you had any experiences with changes in personality as far as being nicer or just being calmer after spaying routine? I’m curious because I’m quite excited to see her when she gets out and I hope that nothing changes with play time, and the lunging lessens when I try to change her litter and food and water.

Thanks!

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi,

I hope Holly’s spay goes well Her personality shouldn’t change, but territorial and aggressive behaviours should lessen. Litter training should also get better! Invading her personal space might not be changed – can you make sure that she always sees and hears you first? Sometimes a hand swooping into their hutch can be scary, as they can’t see all of you. That said, my little boy bunny has literally in the last day started to get really aggressive about his hutch, and he’s due to be neutered next week, so hormones likely are also playing a part.

After spays, bad behaviour often actually increases at first, as they are experiencing a weird surge in hormones. This can last up to six months, but normally only around a month, so don’t be shocked if she seems to get worse before it gets better.

I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to also give you a few tips for when you get her back first!

1. Make sure the vet gives you painkillers! Pain killers are really important to getting a rabbit back on their feet after a spay
2. Make sure you have lots of her favourite foods in to tempt her to eat. Rabbits are often reluctant to eat after surgery, but it’s so important to get them eating,
3. Make sure her hutch is super clean and has soft things for her to lie on (fleeces are good, but my girl rabbit hates fleeces with a passion, so it depends on the bunny!)
4. Make sure there’s nothing too high in her hutch, you don’t want her to injure herself in the first few days running around and jumping too energetically!
5. Make sure she stays warm enough – you can check by feeling her ears. You might want to give her a hot water bottle (as long as she won’t chew it) that she can choose to be near, but can also move away from.

[HollyLoppy]

Hey there!

Thank you so much for your response! I haven’t heard anything as of yet from the vet but I have a feeling that she’ll be alright. I can’t wait to take her home! But while I’m on vacation with my boyfriend, she’ll be at the vet for about a week or so because boarding was optional so we figured it would be alright to leave her to recover there so that she could get the proper treatment she needs. So when you say territorial behavior, do you mean that she won’t be spraying or leaving droppings in random places anymore? Only reason why I ask is because I do want to let her free roam but I’ve had a few instances where I would let her go on my bed and she would still make a mess and I would have to not let her go on the bed so often anymore. She has free access as long as I’m in the room and she doesn’t jump onto the bed.

I hope it only lasts for a month, she’s generally such a sweetheart so I hope her behavior doesn’t completely warp out on me.

Oh wow, this is actually some great things to know, thank you!

1. How would you give the pain killers to the rabbit? Are you allowed to mix it with her pellets somehow or do you have to syringe feed?
2. Would I also have to syrgine feed her normal food? I recieved a critical care packet by Ox Bow from my emergency vet from when she had GI stasis so can I use that if she refuses to eat?
3. For some reason, she doesn’t like going in her open hutch anymore; she used to jump in it to sleep in all the time but I’ve only seen her do this every once in a while. She loves fleece so I’m thinking of buying her another fleece blanket that she can cuddle up with because her fleece bed that’s separated from her hutch is something that she flops next to all the time and licks…I think she thinks that it’s her companion.
4. No problems with her getting things out of her reach, she has everything within her reach at all times!
5. Are her ears supposed to be very warm when she’s the right temperature? Should she have cold water if she wants to drink though or should it be room temperature?

Sorry for all of the questions, first time being a bunny mommy. I appreciate all the feedback, thank you again!

[HollyLoppy]

Hey there!

Thank you so much for your response! I haven’t heard anything as of yet from the vet but I have a feeling that she’ll be alright. I can’t wait to take her home! But while I’m on vacation with my boyfriend, she’ll be at the vet for about a week or so because boarding was optional so we figured it would be alright to leave her to recover there so that she could get the proper treatment she needs. So when you say territorial behavior, do you mean that she won’t be spraying or leaving droppings in random places anymore? Only reason why I ask is because I do want to let her free roam but I’ve had a few instances where I would let her go on my bed and she would still make a mess and I would have to not let her go on the bed so often anymore. She has free access as long as I’m in the room and she doesn’t jump onto the bed.

I hope it only lasts for a month, she’s generally such a sweetheart so I hope her behavior doesn’t completely warp out on me.

Oh wow, this is actually some great things to know, thank you!

1. How would you give the pain killers to the rabbit? Are you allowed to mix it with her pellets somehow or do you have to syringe feed?
2. Would I also have to syrgine feed her normal food? I recieved a critical care packet by Ox Bow from my emergency vet from when she had GI stasis so can I use that if she refuses to eat?
3. For some reason, she doesn’t like going in her open hutch anymore; she used to jump in it to sleep in all the time but I’ve only seen her do this every once in a while. She loves fleece so I’m thinking of buying her another fleece blanket that she can cuddle up with because her fleece bed that’s separated from her hutch is something that she flops next to all the time and licks…I think she thinks that it’s her companion.
4. No problems with her getting things out of her reach, she has everything within her reach at all times!
5. Are her ears supposed to be very warm when she’s the right temperature? Should she have cold water if she wants to drink though or should it be room temperature?

Sorry for all of the questions, first time being a bunny mommy. I appreciate all the feedback, thank you again!

[Luna]

Hi! The pain meds (Metacam) Luna had when she was spayed was a liquid and given via syringe. To entice your bun to eat, you can offer her favorite leafy greens, and if you dip them in water beforehand it will help keep her hydrated too. Yes, critical care is a good alternative if she refuses to eat when she comes home. Water is ok to give cold or at room temperature.

Buns use their ears to regulate their body temperature, so the ears should feel warm. When their ears feel cool, then their body temperature might be too low, which can cause them to go into shock. But buns can also overheat (more a concern associated with hot weather). So, as S&L pointed out, it is important that she be able to move away from the hot water bottle or fleece blanket.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want! Even those of us who have had buns for years still ask questions, so don’t be shy .

[Sirius&Luna]

If she’s boarding at the vet for the week after her spay, hopefully you’ll get a fully recovered bunny back, and you won’t need to worry about any of those things! Pain killers are usually
liquid and syringe fed, and my bunnies don’t mind the taste, so tend to just lap it out of the syringe pretty easily. Metacam or Loxicom are the painkiller usually used for rabbits.

Again, you shouldn’t have to syringe feed a week after the spay, but critical care would be what you would use

Her ears should be not noticeably warm, but not noticeably cold – you can tell when a bunny has cold ears, as it’s noticeable to the touch.

Hopefully territorial pooping and peeing will stop, BUT lots of bunnies have an obsession with peeing on beds, regardless of spaying/neutering. We think its because beds smell strongly of humans, and because they’re soft… So unfortunately, bed peeing may not be totally solved.

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