Bunny keeps having false pregnancies!

[Kirsty]

My sisters bun bun is nearly a year and a half old, for the last couple of months every month she’s having false pregnancies, everyone worse than the previous it’s horrible to see her pulling all her fur out because she’s making her skin red raw and shes being a nightmare she’s usually loves a cuddle and gets handled and has exercise and has 24/7 access to her run, but currently she’s not wanting to leave her hutch. I have experienced with pregnant bunnies because my bunny has been pregnant before but this is a complete mystery and new to me, any advice would be great, thank you!

[Wick & Fable]

I’m sorry to hear about your sister’s rabbit’s stresses, and I’m glad you’re posting out of concern for her.

Intact (unspayed) female rabbits will go through false pregnancies. The most effective way to alleviate this would be to have her spayed, so she no longer experiences those hormonal-driven instincts. It can be frustrating and stressful for the rabbit, as you mention she’s making her skin raw from nesting. I have a male rabbit, so I’m unsure if spaying is a guaranteed stop, but it most definitely will reduce hormonal behaviors.

I’m not experienced with a rabbit having it multiple times, ramping up in frequency and intensity, but it sounds like your sister’s rabbit would benefit a lot from being spayed. Is this something she has considered? It is important for female rabbits, as ~80% of them will develop uterine cancer by 4 years old.

Looking at it from a different perspective, could they not all be false pregnancies, and she may be pulling out her fur due to stress? This can occur in rabbits. If her “run” is small and she’s only getting 1-2 hours in it every day, with the other 22 hours being in a cage, that can be a very stressful life for a rabbit.

Any additional information you could provide would be very helpful.

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.

[Bam]

This is not very uncommon in unspayed does. It’s stressful for the rabbit -its body “thinks” it’s being pregnant for real and so goes through all the preparations for motherhood. Tgen there are no babies, hormone levels drop -and then the whole thing can start over again. Rabbits don’t have heat cycles like dogs do -they are induced ovulators. This means they can ovulate whenever.

The only good remedy is to have the rabbit spayed. This is also likely to prolong the rabbits life, because excess sex hormones can cause cellular changes to the uterine lining (endometrium). These vhanges can cause a number of problems and eventually lead to cancer. Uterine cancer is very common in intact does.

[sarahthegemini]

She needs spaying and not to be rude, but 1 to 2 hours out of cage time is completely inadequate. Being caged for 22 to 23 hours per day is cruel

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Kirsty on 6/19/2018 7:03 AM

My sisters bun bun is nearly a year and a half old, for the last couple of months every month she’s having false pregnancies, everyone worse than the previous it’s horrible to see her pulling all her fur out because she’s making her skin red raw and shes being a nightmare she’s usually loves a cuddle and gets handled and has exercise 1-2 hours everyday in her run, but currently she’s not wanting to leave her hutch. I have experienced with pregnant bunnies because my bunny has been pregnant before but this is a complete mystery and new to me, any advice would be great, thank you!

Is she in contact with another rabbit? A neutered boy or another female?

Another rabbit mounting her can trigger false pregnancies. Rabbits can also get these more frequently when there is already some changes occuring to uterine tissue. So I agree with advice already given, a spay is in her best interest. 

[Kirsty]

Sorry, what I meant to say was she’s only been going in her run 1-2 hours a day, she has full access to it 24/7, weather permitting of course!

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