False pregnency

[Lily]

My Dutch mix has been plucking her fur like crazy today! I took her out and noticed fur sticking out of her mouth and pulled it out, i reconized it as defently hers, and continued to take it out of her mouth, i got a good handful out…way more than should fit! So i go and take the roof off her house and looki n and theres a big nest! There is no way she should be pregnent! So its false, it just worries me the amout shes pulling out…

[BinkyBunny]

So when you say no way she should be pregnant – is she spayed and if not, has she been with a male who has not been neutered or has been only recently neutered? Because then…well….she could be pregnant.

If she is spayed OR she has only been around a neutered male (over a month since surgery) then she could be going through a false pregnancy. This usually lasts about three weeks.

[Balefulregards]

Coco did this pretty regularly prior to being spayed. I was always amazed at how much fur she could pull out and not have bare patches. She also did the thing where she would spit out what looked like a TON of hair.

Since she was living along in a cage in a basement prior to adoption, I knew she was not really pregnant – but she would become a holy terror during these times. Her spraying behavior would increase. My arm would get mounted, scratched and bitten.

Spaying stopped this behavior – although every little once in a while she does a bit of the love honking/dancing.

But BB is right -We’ve had a couple of members who have had pregnancies happen Through cages – or in Two Boys who turned out to be a girl and a boy. Mating like bunnies isn’t just a saying.

[Lily]

The only male bunny shes been around in Fluff, and he got neatured a few months ago. BUT the vet only took one ball, which means he could still be producing? But i dont think so that doesnt sound right, but is it possable? Ive never seen Fluff hump Foofoo anyways, he has Puff and Foofoo doesnt get that close to him, she rarly lets him groom her. But they do go on runs together……

Baleful- im really amazed by the amount of fur as well, no bald spots but so much!

[KytKattin]

If he still has one ball then he is definitely not fully neutered unless the vet determined for sure that there isn’t another one. If it’s retained he very easily could have gotten her pregnant (we had this happen with a horse. No, the heat doesn’t kill everything off). I’m not saying for sure that she is in labor, I just think it’s a possibility. She isn’t spayed I take it? Just because you don’t see it happen doesn’t mean it doesn’t when you’re not looking (unless you don’t keep them in the same cage together and do supervise them when they’re out). Plus it really does only take a few seconds.

[KatnipCrzy]

If your male bunny still has a testicle- he is not neutered!!  He is capable of being a father even with only one testicle!  It is very likely that he would not be as fertile due to the increased temp that the testicle in the abdomen is exposed too- but he still has the equipment to become a father.  He would just not be a good breeding animal if that is what  he was being kept for (I do realize that he is a pet)

Why did your vet not remove both??????  Even if one had not descended- they could surgically go into the abdomen to find it to remove it!!  I know that in dogs and cats a retained testicle in the abdomen GREATLY increased chances of testicular cancer in the retained testicle.  Not sure about bunnies- but it would most likely be the same case.

[jerseygirl]

^I think tiger lily has been having difficulties finding a good vet. Kind of irresponsible of the vet though, to not follow up or warn you. Be prepared tiger.lily, don’t breeding does pull the fur for a nest right before they birth the litter?

Hope this isn’t the case and it is a false pregnancy.

[BinkyBunny]

Oh wow – I have never heard of a vet only removing one testicle. So bizarre.

Oye, well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough. How stressful. Keep us updated Tiger Lily and of course, either way false or not, keep the male away because she could get pregnant again within 24 hours of giving birth.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Uhoh, if she was only able to remove one testicle he’s still fertile and if she’s not spayed, she’s still fertile. If it’s not a false pregnancy she’s going to have babies soon they pull fur the day before or the day of.

Can you get her in for an emergency spay? At any rate keep us posted!!

[KytKattin]

Kokanee- at this point in the game an e-spay would probably do more harm than good. She’s already in labor if she’s going to have them, and removing the uterus this soon is not something normally done by vets unless they have to, even if she needs a surgery to deliver them.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That’s true-gosh I hope it’s a false pregnancy!!

[Lily]

Thanks alot for the info! Im actruly kinda panicking now….another litter! But Fluff (My male) lives in the same cage as Puff and Foofoo doesnt live in there cage shes seperate, but they do have running time and are not always supervised.

My vet is horrable….this really worrys me, i really hope nothing comes of it…..The vet killed one of our chinchillas!  So id never consider letting him do a dangerous operation like an emergency spay…..Foofoos a tiny bunny anyways so id worry extra…..(Well id worry extra about any of my babys lol)

Shes still pulling it out by the huge mouthful…..no babys yet…hopefully not at all Im not sure if im ready for another litter…..after loosing Puffs litter…..because she abandoned them an the kitten formula didnt seem to do it…. Of course if there was a litter id love them! Ill keep this updated.

She has a bald spot on her tummy/chest!!!!!! Poor bunny! How long do you guys think it’ll take to grow back?

[BinkyBunny]

Rabbit hair seems to grow in spurts. It can depend on the bunny. It can be bald for a couple of weeks and then all of sudden seem to start growing fast. That’s what I have been used to seeing.

I too hope that it’s a false pregnancy. If it ends up not being, i copied and pasted our “oops litter” advice/links

Pregnancy/Babies – Uh Oh, Surprise Litter?:

• http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html
• http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html
• http://www.rabbit.org/care/newborn.html
• http://www.mybunny.org/info/newborn.htm

Might want to read a couple just to be prepared.

[KytKattin]

Hey there, I hope everything is okie dokie.

[Lily]

Thanks guys! Ill defnetly take a look at those links! No babys yet! (Hopefully not comming, though itd be cute if they did….)

[KytKattin]

If she’s a nice rabbit and lets you hold her (I think she is?) you could pick her up and try to VERY gently feel for babies. Though be warned that she might not be her nice self right now. I couldn’t with Nova until she was a day or so away, but your girl would probably be similar (plus with Nova I made a habit to not pick her up in the first place since she was a very defensive mother, among other problems).

[Lily]

Foofoos a sweetheart, and I cheaked when she first started plucking fur and couldnt feel anything. But when Puff was prego I couldnt fel anything eathir…and she defently had babys! The big reson I think its fake is because shes so tiny! Puff got HUGE when she was prego, I thought she was just fat for while….But Foofoos always been tiny and hasnt changed in size, if anything she looks smaller because shes lost her poof >.< She has all her bedding, carefresh and hay, stuffed into her house, i dout she can even fit though the door anymore! Im a bit nervous to poke though it to closly because if there is babys i dont want to risk impaling them with a piece of hay or something….

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

It’s actually extremely hard to tell if they are pregnant. They hide it, and as far as I’ve read they don’t generally get bigger, or drop nipples until after giving birth.

Well keep us posted!

[BunnyLiz]

O no I hope everything will turn out okay. When I read your subject i immediately thought of one of my dogs. She had a false pregnancy when she got fixed. We picked her up and gave her a new toy. The rubber kind that squeak. It was a lime green creature lol. Well when she heard it squeak she just thought that the toy was her baby. She loved it like a baby too. She never played with it, never squeaked it. Carried it so gently in her mouth around with her. Where she went it went. She would put it down for naps in her dog bed while she slept on the floor next to it. Even set it in the food bowl to eat when she ate. Toke it outside with her to use the bathroom and everything. The vet said it was really rare. She stopped after a few months but still wouldnt squeak it or anything. It was so cute to watch a dog toy grow up lol.

[LilynJestersMama]

Oh my goodness, what a great story BunnyLiz! I’ve never heard of such a thing! How amazing that some silly green plastic toy helped her get past that tough time. I hope you were able to get some photos of her being a “mom”.

[BinkyBunny]

OH BunnyLiz…what a heartwarming story!! A bet a squeeky toy has never been so loved in all of squeeky toy history.

[Lily]

That sounds so cute!!!

I did a full cage clean yesterday and found nothing in Foofoos cage, Im pretty sure its a false one.

[BinkyBunny]

OH….whew…good so far….keep us updated.

[Lily]

Still good. She stopped pluckign to, so relived! I did put all the clean fur from her cage before i cleaned it back in just because it took so much ork for her to pluck it all…thought she might want it or something……Bu she just egnores it now.

[BinkyBunny]

WHEW! Big WHEW! Well, at least maybe a future pregnancy has been averted since we now know you have a one testicled bunny. (a partial neuter) That’s the first time I have heard of that myself. And if you ever get cold, you know your bunny can make a warm little nest for you. LOL

[Lily]

Yes very good to know

[Author]

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