Bond before or after spay?

[Karla]

Karl is going on a nice little date in 2 weeks time. IF everything goes well, she will move in with us in early August. She is not spayed, and so I don’t know how to go on with the possible bonding.

Should I send her straight to the vet the minute she arrives to have her spayed, so the bonding can begin properly from the start? Or should I get to know her first and let her and Karl bond a bit, before we spay her.

I have read that people warn others against unspayed bonded pairs because they won’t necessarily get along after the spaying. So does this means that if the date goes well, and I have her spayed, she and Karl may not get along at all afterwards and I have to return her to her family?

Karl is neutered, by the way.

(PS. to those who read my last thread about a very frustrating and naughty rabbit, I am happy to tell you that he is sweet as ever now. He even likes to be pet now )

 

[Beka27]

Please be careful if you do let them out together since she is not spayed. Unaltered rabbits can be very aggressive, especially females, so chances are they will fight if put in the same area. Has Karl been, or will he have been, neutered for at least 4 weeks? It is still possible for a male to impregnate a female up to a month afterwards.

Are you planning to get her(and keep her) regardless of how they react to each other? If so, I would suggest you bring her home without introducing them at all, spay her, heal her for 1-2 months, and then begin introductions in a neutral area. It may be more difficult since they are not able to bunny-date first, but if you try hard and have patience, most pairs can bond in time.

[Karla]

Oh, so I should expect the bunny date to be a bad one? I have a feeling then that this was a bad idea…I don’t have room for two bunnies that cannot get along in the long term. And my boyfriend would be a real pain if he had to live with two cages in the bedroom permanently. The family who has the female bunny have said that they want her back if we don’t want her after all or it doesn’t work out, but they have no intention of spaying her, and well, I would feel stupid to spend $400 on a rabbit that is only for borrow for a few weeks.

Oh no, oh no. I really thought this was such a great idea. The family also has a wild male rabbit, and they have told me that she was very friendly towards him. And that she is no biter. I really hope she is a mellow female rabbit

But do you think that if the date – against all odds – goes well, then after the spaying she may have changed personality, and then they won’t like each other?? I am just thinking that in this case, it would be better not to spay her?

 

[Beka27]

She has to be spayed. It’s the responsible thing to do. The risk of cancer is too high otherwise. They should be able to bond after she is spayed, but it may take some time… the shortest would be a couple weeks, the longest about 3-4 months. They would need two separate cages during that time.

Have you looked into adopting from a rabbit rescue? This way you could bunny date him with females that have already been spayed (AND… you wouldn’t have to pay for the spaying yourself, only the adoption fee.) That would be ideal. Even if you had to travel a bit further from your home (2 or 3 hours away) it would be worth it to save yourself 400 bucks on spaying!

[Karla]

No such thing as bunny dates where I live – I guess because the shelters don’t want diseases and because rabbits are not considered much more than an animal to keep in a hutch in the garden. And besides the shelters don’t spay the rabbits as that cost too much. Which is all a real shame.

So I have been looking at private lists for rabbits needing a new home, where I found this 3 yr old female rabbit, and the family was willing to let them date first. But seeing a date with an unspayed rabbit apparently is pointless, I have decided to take her anyway, and see what happens. I can manage 3-4 months of bonding. Not exactly the same, but Karl loves cats, so I would expect him to be friendly towards a new bunny…but I might get smarter

I can’t believe it should be so complicated to want to do something good and give my rabbit some company…

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