Bunny more moody/aggressive after spaying

[DezdemonaBun]

Hi all!
I have tried to look all over the Internet for the answer to my question about my bun to no avail. Hopefully someone here can help.

My Holland Lop, Dez, has always been sassy and rambunctious but not too troublesome until she was about a year and a half and I decided to get her spayed. She was spayed Dec. 11 2018, a day after her 2nd birthday. She healed well and seemed to return to normal activities at home and even started binkying again recently. It is now Feb. 23rd 2019 and we are visiting my parent’s house (which she’s been to several times pre and post surgery) when she bit my mom, HARD. It was very out of character for her and the first time she had really drawn blood like that. We were all watching a movie and she was laying on my chest as I pet her when my mom (who she should know) came up and pet her back, then pet her feet when she bit her. She is a little touchy about her feet but usually she just moves them and tucks them under if she doesn’t want me to pet them. It was very strange and disturbing to have her react so violently out of seemingly nowhere like that.

The spaying did do a lot of good: no more peeing on the couch, less pooping everywhere, no more digging/nesting, no humping, etc. She even seems less food aggressive. BUT she has displayed some aggression that I would expect to be gone. Occasionally at home she will seem to get annoyed with me and growl/gruff at me and sometimes even do what I call a “fake out lunge” (it’s kinda half done, and she’s not really looking to bite). But around other people she’s been a perfect angel so I don’t mind if she’s a little sassy with me. But now that she has bit my mom out of nowhere, I am worried to let her so comfortably around visitors and people for fear she might do the same to someone else. She is also less cuddly which is sad for me, but less concerning on the big scale of things.

It has been almost 11 weeks since Dez’s surgery and she is still acting oddly/not completely herself. She seems more normal in our home (as opposed to at my parent’s) but she was comfortable and happy anywhere before her surgery. Now she seems moody and temperamental at times. I love her a lot and we have our own agreements and bond but I don’t want others to be scared or have to be warned of her.

I am wondering if she just needs more time for the hormones to settle? Or if there is something I can do to curb some of the attitude and behavior issues that she didn’t have before? Is it because she was older when she was spayed (2yrs old)? Any info is a big help!

Thank you for any help you can give me! And if you need any more information or have any questions, I’m happy to answer in order to help my sweet baby!

-Aurora, Desdemona’s mom

[Doodler]

Hi there! I am glad you have seen some positive results but I know this behavior has to be frustrating and alarming.

I have read that it can take up to 6 months for hormones to settle after a spay. I am not sure how true it is and I am lucky that my doe was never hormonal so I have not had this same experience. It would be highly unusual for a doe to be more aggressive post spay than she was pre spay once their hormones regulate. If these are new behaviors I would lean towards the fact that she is just settling into her new body. It’s not unusual to see spikes of aggressive behavior and crankiness while this is happening. Of course a spay isn’t a magical fix where it will prevent all aggression, so you can still see some territorial behavior at any time. We can all be moody at times as well.

Now there is always a possibility that the behavior can have other causes, such as pain. The thing that stands out based on how you describe it is that it is happening when she is away from home. What I am wondering is if it is more to do with the spay process itself. She could be remembering an unpleasant vet visit and is now reacting when she is away from her comfort zone. If that is the case then it should improve with time as well. She would just need to realize that she’s not going to be spayed again. Good luck with your girl!

[DezdemonaBun]

Hi! Thank you so much for your reply, so very helpful! It’s oddly comforting to know that it can take up to 6 months for hormones to settle, at least then I know this is just something we have to work through during her recovery. The aggression at this level is definitely new so she must be still adjusting and I’m sure it wasn’t helpful to also be outside of her home/safe space. With time, hopefully she will know that I’m not going to put her through all that again. Thanks again for your response, really put my heart at ease with for little girl!

[Doodler]

My pleasure! Of course we can only speculate what is going on in their heads. The more I think about your mom’s bite the more I think it’s with mentioning another possibility. A bunny’s tolerance can change so I would be very careful with pushing her limits. Anyone who is spending time with her should know what she likes and doesn’t like. Since you mentioned she has been touchy with her feet I wouldn’t let anyone else touch them like that going forward. If she moved them away before she’s giving a sign that it’s crossing the line. I understand if you clip her nails yourself you’ll have to touch them and you can work to get her more accustomed to having them worked with but I would do that on a one on one basis.

My buck loves to have his feet scratched. I will scratch his cheeks and he’ll put his head by his feet and I’ll scratch both together. Maybe she’ll prefer a scratch instead of a pet.

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