Can a vet visit break a bond?

[Leah & Lil' Lions]

Hello!

This situation has totally caught me off guard so I’d love any and all advice on the topic.

Here’s my rabbit info:

Simba: neutered lionhead male, 3 years old.

Zoe: spayed female lionhead-mix, around 3 years old.

We spent months carefully bonding Simba and Zoe, and it worked … they’ve been non-stop cuddle partners for the last few months.

Zoe stopped eating over the weekend – We noticed right away and rushed her to the emergency vet. She’s ok now, but spent two nights away from home being treated for GI stasis/gas buildup in her system.

We just brought her home today and Simba is being totally aggressive like they’ve never even met. Zoe seems confused and sad by it – I’m keeping her in a separate (but visible) space for now.

I read posts on some other websites that mentioned rabbits picking up scents at the vet and that bonded pairs should be brought to the vet together … but there’s no way I was going to have that option the first night. I live in a very populated area of Southwest Florida, yet the closest 24-hour “exotic” vet is *3 hours* away in Tampa (blows my mind – don’t get me started) so I brought Zoe to a regular emergency vet to at least X-Ray her and monitor her until the exotic vet clinic opened the next morning. The regular emergency vet would never let me bring Simba along – they wouldn’t even let me hang out in the waiting room overnight.

So what am I supposed to do? It breaks my heart that Zoe went through all of that and now her best friend wants nothing to do with her … but if I could go back in time I would handle the emergency the exact same way. It was either bring Zoe to the ER alone, or cross my fingers that she would make it another 15 hours at home so I could bring them to the exotic vet together – It’s not even a question in my mind.

Any chance they just need a day to re-settle? Or will we have to start bonding all over again?

Thanks for your help!

Leah

[Bunny House]

A vet visit can absolutely break bonds.thats why you should bring the pair the vet, even an ER. An ER, they would understand and allow them to be together. I’ve done it dozens of times. They would keep my pair in separate cages when one of mine was deathly ill , as long as they had a spare cage for her. That is very odd they wouldn’t let you stay or even have him. I don’t get why they would push you guys out… but give them a couple of days to calm down at home and let her get back to normal routine at home and then you can do a bonding date in neutral territory and see if they act like friends again. See how it goes from there and you might be able to salvage the bond and just do some bonding dates and they might agree to love eachother again.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Yes, unfortunately bonds can break from vet visits due to different smells. Sometimes even a poorly bun causes a little rift in the bond. Sirius&Luna had a pair that separated after a vet visit, but she also had a new bun in the house too.

I’m unsure how to advise though because I don’t have a bonded pair. I think probably separating them and then maybe trying some stress sessions or trying to re-cement the bond again?

Hopefully Dana will chime in, she’s the resident expert.

[DanaNM]

So sorry this happened, how stressful

My vet doesn’t let bonded pairs stay together either, and they are the best rabbit vet in town (our rescue uses them, so they see TONs of bunnies). They say that they need to separate anyway to observe poop (which I completely get), and most of the time bonds don’t break (which I believe, since they see so many). Plus, even if you had brought them together, no guarantees. Member Sirius&Luna’s trio just all went to the vet together and stayed together, and they still had issues.

So, don’t beat yourself up, these things happen, even when you do everything that’s recommended. It’s unclear whether it’s a new location, new smells, other rabbit smells, or the illness of one bunny that triggers these things, maybe some combo. Illness and medications can make buns smell differently, and behave differently. Hard to tell what’s goin on in those bunny brains…

I would keep them side by side, just like during pre-bonding, while Zoe finishes her stasis treatment. You can even start swapping litter boxes, and petting them both to swap scents. Zoe will be happy to see Simba, even if he isn’t so sure about her.

Once Zoe is better, start up the bonding process and see how they do. If they do well, you might be able to just go straight to marathoning in neutral, but you’ll need to judge their behavior. It’s quite possible that once she is doing better he will react better towards her.

. . . 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.  

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi!

My trio had a falling out after all going to the vet visit together. I spent about two weeks doing little bonding sessions, and then they just suddenly snapped back into being bonded. It was much much easier than the first time, more like reminding them that they all knew and liked each other.

I still needed to monitor them carefully, but it happened very quickly once I put some time into it.

[DanaNM]

Oh S&L I’m so happy to hear that! I had been wondering how you all were doing!

. . . 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.  

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