Bonding older bunny

[Slave to a dwarf lop]

Hello fellow bunny people,

Its my first time posting on one of these forums but I am in the process of making an important decision regarding my bunny and would be appreciative of any advice.

I have a 5.5 year old, female dwarf lop and I’m thinking about getting her a companion.

Some background:

She is not neutered nor vaccinated (as she’s always been a house rabbit)
She been with me since she was 3 months old and has never had a bunny companion (I know this sounds irresponsible but the situation at the time meant I wasn’t able get another rabbit). However, recently the situation has changed and I was wondering if I should introduce another bunny into the family.

My issues:

1. In order to bond with a partner she would have to be neutered. If this is what needs to be done I am perfectly willing to do it however, some articles that I have come across online suggest that neutering an older rabbit could be an issue. Does anyone have any experience with this?
(side note to this: I live in a very rural area with no exotic vets anywhere close and a very limited choice of vets to go to so a specialist vet would not be an option)

 

2. Given that she is an older lady and lived alone most of her life would she react well to a partner or is bonding more difficult in older bunnies? Obviously my ideal situation would be to find a neutered male that is around the same age as I think this would be the best chance, I just wonder whether she would even get along with a partner or if she would prefer to be alone?

Overall, what I want is what’s beat for her so if anyone has any experience or advice with a similar situation I would really appreciate it.

I would also just like to add at the end of this very long post (sorry), that she is free roaming (except for at night because she can be destructive if not watched) and has plenty of human cuddles and affection. She is very bonded to me and doesn’t seem unfulfilled or depressed in any way, I just want to be able to offer her the best life.

Thank you in advance for any advice

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome 🙂

Regardless of your decision to bond, spaying (the term for castrating a female) is important in female rabbits, as they have very high rates of reproductive cancers (about 75% by age 6). She is not too old to be spayed, as long as your vet if experienced with spays. So you will need to call around and find a good vet, and you might need to be prepared to drive a bit.

Regarding bonding, I think most rabbits are happier with a companion. Not all, but it does seem to be very enriching for most rabbits. So I think if you are open to it, that would be wonderful for her. Breed, age, and size do not really matter. It is more about the rabbit’s personalities. It’s ideal to try some dates before committing, but most pairings do eventually work if the bonding process is done properly (a small percentage of bunnies just do NOT like each other though).

In my mind, 5.5 is more middle aged. Almost a senior, but by no means geriatric. She could live to be as old as 12 if she gets spayed. So that’s many more years that could be made even better with a friend.  I actually just supervised a bunny date at the shelter between two bunny ladies that were 5 and 6, and it went very well. 🙂 As a testament to spaying, the 6 year old came into the shelter unspayed. When they did the surgery, they found she had cancer all throughout her uterus, but they think they were able to remove it all and she has been doing great.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bu20055]

My girl, Esther, also had uterine cancer before being spayed. It was quite bad and she likely wouldn’t have lasted long if she hadn’t been spayed when she was 🙁 . She’s around 6 years old. Her surgery went very well and she had no problems after.

I recently started fostering another rabbit in hopes of bonding him with Esther, and we’ve been making progress. She was quite aggressive towards him at first, but with small times of exposure through the pen every day (I have opaque barriers up most of the time because she is nippy) they have already been making good progress. I do think this aggression isn’t due to age, but more so due to her being slightly fearful of him and territorial.

[Slave to a dwarf lop]

Firstly, thank you for the advice, it’s much appreciated.

In regards to getting her spayed I was planning on doing this regardless as I am aware of the risk of cancer. I had planned on doing it at the start of this year but haven’t been able to due to Covid (where I live has only just come out of a second lockdown and during this time vets have only been doing emergency appointments) Also, there really aren’t any exotic vets anywhere near and I pretty much have a choice of two vets unless I travel for hours which I think would be stressful for her

As far as bonding, my main worry is that she can be quite territorial but this comes and goes – it tends to get especially bad after a trip to the vets so I  wonder if after the spay she would Be unwilling to share her space for a while.

 

I was thinking of taking her to a shelter to do a meeting and see who she gets along with but this has been difficult due to Covid and Honestly, I just don’t really know where to start with that process.

[DanaNM]

Gotcha! The spaying/neutering situation has been really hard with covid. So many members have been saying they’ve had to wait really long times!

It’s true that females can be a bit more territorial, but it’s hard to gauge how rabbits will be with other rabbits in neutral space. I think inquiring with the shelter about some dates after she’s spayed is a good next step. That will give you a sense as to how she is towards other rabbits outside of her home turf.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Slave to a dwarf lop]

Thank you, I will get on it 😃

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