bonding after a spay

[babybunsmum]

how long is recommended to wait after a spay before starting a bonding process?  i know my vet will tell me how long the surgery recovery is, but i’m thinking it may be wise to wait longer for hormones to level off.  now that i’ve said that i realize it will probably vary from bun to bun… but does anyone have a range guess-timate?  or perhaps behavioral signs to watch for?

pinky gets spayed next thursday   and i’m not too sure what behaviours of hers are hormone based to be honest.  other than trying to mount baby bun when they had those 2 chance meetings of course.  she was nipping & digging for attention but has eased off that considerably now (i EEEKed every time & i think she got the picture that it wasn’t cool). 

[osprey]

Conventional wisdom is that a bunny takes about a month to have their hormone level drop to their post spay levels.  I would say a minimum of a week is required for the spay scar to heal sufficiently for the bunny to be allowed to be around other animals.  After the scar is nicely healed and Pinky is eating normally and is off meds, then I think you could try very short, very supervised sessions.  You just have to make sure that she is not going to get super territorial and attack the other bunny.

 

[Sarita]

Well some of my spayed rabbits still nip and dig so those behaviors are not always hormonal or even age related since my rabbits are all over 5 years old.

I do agree that probably at least a month though would be a good idea.

I got Cupcake spayed about 3 weeks ago and luckily she’s perfect – no bad habits before or after other than running like lightening and not allowing me to catch her.

[babybunsmum]

lol.  running like lightening.  cute.  not for you when you’re trying to catch her, i know, but cute.

i think i’ll aim for starting a month after then, since it’s a rule of thumb.  i’m going to have to do a lot of reading & learning about what is okay / not okay behaviour on bunny dates… like mounting to establish dominance, circling and so on.  i’m pretty sure that both my bun buns are going to try to be dominant unless the spay works some magic on pinky.  altho both buns do groom the dog, so…?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

BBM you and I should start a thread like Markus’s since we are both attempting bonding of our new big beautiful bunnies!! Whatdayasay?

Markus can we copy you, pretty please?

[babybunsmum]

i was thinking of that!  if markus doesn’t object to us being copycats … then i’m in!  won’t be a lot of action from me for another month but i am doing some pre-bonding stuff.  it’ll give me an excuse to post pics & vids of my furbabies!  and i’d love to read about how rupert is doing with kokanee & kahlua

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Cool I’ll start it up, how bout ” The bonding adventures of Pinky and Rupert” ?

[babybunsmum]

sounds good to me

[apanda]

oo can I join in too since the new bun from craigslist will be dropped off next saturday?

[MarkBun]

You have my blessings. It would be nice to have a couple of others up there so people don’t see the saga with Maryann and Dono and say “Wholy crap! I’m not going to try that!”

Oh, and my buns are still doing fine. Maryann nips from time to time (usually when Dono gets to the food bowl before her) but I have to believe she is happier when I see her plop down next to Dono.

[babybunsmum]

i’m sure the dono dynamic is a really good thing for her over all health even if he needs to be schooled every now & again.  how is dono settling in now?  do you see a little more personality out oh him since he can be more relaxed & has a girlfriend?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

apand of course you can join our bonding thread…Is your new bunny with you now? Pics please!!!

[apanda]

nope still waiting. she is coming this saturday I can’t wait!

here is what she looks like:

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

aWWWW look at her mouth sooo cute!! Shes adorable! YOu must be on the edge of your seat!!

[MarkBun]

I haven’t had a lot of time to experience Dono really. all of my time is spent cleaning up their enclosure as apparently Maryann has taken to digging the litter tray out onto the floor and Dono shreds every toy I put in there. By the time I’m done cleaning, I’m either too tired to let them stay out longer or they’re too frightened by all the cleaning.

[Gravehearted]

oo my, she is cuteness personified or umm bunnified

[babybunsmum]

apanda… she’s very very sweet   you must be really excited!

markusdark… yeah 2 buns is a lot of work.  especially when one of them is litterbox tossing!  oi.  my quality time with the buns would be limited to when i’m cleaning their areas if it weren’t for me working from home.  technically i’m not ‘spending time with them’ while i work, but since i talk to them out loud & get up occasionally to reprimand them, they don’t notice i’m working

[Author]

Messages