Gender confusion & Pee smells :(

[talesOfTybalt]

So Tybalt was supposed to be neutered last week – I had everything packed and ready and took him in to the vet. They had a quick look while I filled out some forms for his surgery and when they got back the vet told me they couldn’t find his testicles and now they’re unsure whether he’s male or female! She even asked 3 of her colleagues to have a look and the consensus on his gender was 50/50 😐

I totally trust these vets, they’re definitely rabbit savvy but I am extremely confused on this whole gender thing – they said come back in a couple weeks for them to have another check and see if anything looks more developed.

Tybalt’s now a week away from 5 months sooo is he actually a girl or just a late bloomer?! I did get him as a baby so it’s possible he was misgendered from the start but i noticed his hormones slowly kicking in when he turned 11.5 weeks old and while he’s been RLY well behaved all this time, this last week or so his litter habits have been out the window, he’s become more destructive, he’s always honking and circling me and oh my god the stench of his PEE!! It has never been like this so if it smells this bad it has to be hormonal right? (Looking at his pee it looks normal so I’m ruling out health issues). I feel horrible because I know he (or she) can’t help it but it is soo strong I almost feel sick when going to his xpen or changing out his litterbox (I used to do this every 2/3 days but am now doing it daily to try and get rid of the smell). I will literally be at the other end of the room or about to sleep when i get a huge WHIFF of it and I feel like the smell is following me now LOL.

So does anyone have any advice/opinions/experience with the confusion over his gender and definitely some help about the smell would be appreciated! I just feel a little frustrated and stuck rn because no one knows if tybalt is a he or a she!

Thanks muchly! 🙂

[Hazel]

Tybalt is keeping things interesting! 😆  I could be wrong about this, but I think I read somewhere that you can see the scrotal sacks even before the testicles drop, they will just be small, bald patches of skin on both sides of the genitals.

[LBJ10]

Sometimes the testicles don’t drop… sometimes they are just misgendered. What’s interesting is that they said they were 50-50 on boy-girl, so were they looking at the shape of the genitals? Sometimes bunnies can be a little bit ambiguous down there. Males can be split and hermaphrodites are not unheard of.

If you wait a couple of weeks and the testicles still are not visible, then the vet may have to proceed with a “spay” and just see what they find in there. Sometimes they find a uterus and ovaries, sometimes they find undescended testicles.

[Wick & Fable]

My Wick’s testicles didn’t drop until he was 8mo, and that’s a pretty accurate number because he was going to the vet at least once a month for other reasons so late bloomers definitely exist.

Incorrectly sexing rabbits is very common, regardless of how experienced someone is. Many accidental litters result from incorrectly sexing rabbits!

Agreed with LBJ in that a fine option is simply delaying and discussing with your vet a spay and if something else is discovered, than that’s that!

Hormonal pee and poop smell much more strongly. You can put a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar in the water bowl and that can help nullify the odor a bit.

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.

[talesOfTybalt]

Hazel: He/she is certainly keeping me on my toes 😛 I can’t see any but it is difficult to look down there on my own haha

LBJ: She said to me when they gently pushed for the ‘bits’ to come out, to her it looked like a slit but her colleague could see the ‘line with the o’ so it’s definitely ambiguous! Do you know how common hermaphrodites are? I looked at splits from another bb post and it could be a possibility i guess. Silly q but do testicles HAVE to have descended to do a neuter?(im thinking no bc cryptorchids..?) So what if he is just a late bloomer but they proceed with a spay and see he really IS a boy, just the testicles haven’t developed – would we have to wait for them to drop or can they just do the neuter there and then? She did offer me that option of having a look and spaying if he’s actually a girl but I figured I’d just wait a couple more weeks and see where we’re at since it’s not an emergency or anything.

Wick: Did you have to put up with hormonal behaviours or was he okay behaved? bc 8 months seems so far away… each day I’m noticing more craziness haha but he IS almost 5 months so I think I will go ahead with the spay option in a couple more weeks. Also thanks for the apple cider vinegar tip! I did a DEEP clean this morning of his whole xpen but as I sit here typing I’m getting whiffs of THE smell again and I seem to be the only one who really notices it! 🙁

 

 

 

[Wick & Fable]

I was lucky in that he didn’t have any hormonal behaviors until the week following his balls dropped. Once they did, he started spraying me the following day, each time he got the chance, so I’d run away from him pretty often. He also started tail flicking, where his behind would sort of go bonkers, which I assume was him readying up to hump my leg or something, haha.

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.

[talesOfTybalt]

Wow that’s like having a baby bunny for 8 months straight! he’s only ever attempted to spray me twice but now its just in his xpen and occasionally in certain parts of my room. I admit (at the risk of sounding like a bunny perv lol) I kinda wanted to see him hump something at least once so then i could be confident in knowing it was time for a spay/neuter haha.

[Wick & Fable]

Well humping is actually done by both males and females, if that’s what you are referring to! It’s a dominance behavior, in addition to mating.

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.

[LBJ10]

It would be preferable to do a neuter with the testicles in their proper position because it is easier to do (obviously) and the recovery is quicker. That being said, it may come to the point where you don’t want to wait anymore. After all, his testicles may never descend. It happens. The vet can definitely do a neuter, but the procedure would be similar to a spay. This means a longer recovery. I suggested scheduling an appointment assuming it will be a spay and the vet will simply remove whichever type of reproductive organ(s) they find. That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting a little longer just to see.

True hermaphrodites, whereas both sets of sex organs are fully functional, are extremely rare. However, rabbits with a complete set of one and an underdeveloped set of another happens more often. Split males aren’t common, but they aren’t super rare. The topic has come up a few times on BB. Medirabbit has an interesting article complete with pictures… although some of the examples are on the extreme end of things. It does state that cryptorchidism is common with this condition: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Male_rabbit/Split/Hyposoad_pen_en.pdf

[talesOfTybalt]

oh! i knew females humped for dominance but I didn’t think ab them doing it for mating reasons. Either way, since Tybalt’s not around any other rabbits and doesn’t seem v dominant I figured humping would be a surefire sign it was time for the big snip.

[talesOfTybalt]

Ahh okay I see, thanks for clarifying LBJ. I think my taking action will depend on his behaviour and such over the next couple weeks but it’s nothing I can’t live with and in the meantime I’ll educate myself more on spays since all I know about it is the longer recovery period.

Yeah I thought those cases are probably unlikely but ya never know! Thanks for the link, I’ll take a look 🙂

[LBJ10]

Well, there’s always the possibility that Tybalt is a girl. 😉 This is extremely common around here because tiny babies are difficult to sex correctly. They are easier to identify once they get older because the genitalia starts to look different. And, of course, if testicles make an appearance then there is no mistaking that!

You will get an answer one way or another. But again, there is nothing wrong with waiting a little longer just to see. It sounds like his hormonal behaviors aren’t too bad.

[talesOfTybalt]

Haha he can be half alien for all i care, i just want my lil bundle of joy to be happy and healthy 🙂 but yes, i suppose i shouldn’t be surprised at the misgendering. It’s not that i even care what gender he is, i’m just one of those annoying people that NEED to know everything and the not knowing is what’s bugging me!

I knew he’d test my patience, just not like this 😝 I’m fine with waiting bc his behaviours could definitely be worse but he can go from 0-100 over the next few weeks, only time will tell!

Thank you again 🙂

[prince dorian the bun]

How sure are you of his current age? Just asking cause if a rescue there seems to be a lot of guessing. Initially I was told Dorian was 2 months old as he was little puff, but the vet decided he was 6 months at his neuter (which was the day I picked him up from the animal shelter, talk about dramatic homecoming!). Then again you mentioned he has signs already, maybe just a late bloomer!

[talesOfTybalt]

Haha Dorian, what a guy! :’)

So his mother came to the shelter as a pregnant rabbit (I’m not sure of her backstory) but she had her babies there and Tybalt was one of them so I’m pretty sure on his age! Because he’s at the 5 month mark now and i can definitely see his behaviours worsening as the days go by (man this guy LOVES to dig at my carpet everywhere!) I’m also now feeling very 50/50 on his gender, it is largely possible he’s actually just a girl but I guess we shall wait and see 😛

[prince dorian the bun]

Well in that case hopefully they gave you the right date :D. Maybe you do have a rare hermaphrodite! We found a stray kitty when I was young and when we took her in to be fixed discovered the “her” part was not quite right, their male parts just were not fully formed so not noticeable. It’s rare, but it does happen. Whatever the results, Tybalt is still one of the most handsome of buns!! (just don’t tell Dorian I said so)

 

[talesOfTybalt]

You’re right, I sure hope they did! That’s true actually bc we speak about these being rare cases but our own animals could BE those rare cases everyone else talks about – my brothers keep joking and calling him Tybalina now when they come to play with him haha. Aw that’s so sweet! (I’ll keep it hush hush from Dorian dw, he’s still a beautiful boy x)

Is it weird I’m actually so excited to just find out his gender – I feel like a pregnant mom waiting for my next ultrasound to find out the sex of my baby lol! 😛

[prince dorian the bun]

I think Dorian’s is the cutest (I mean he is my bun, so I may be very biased!), so he shouldn’t be jealous… but don’t want to risk it! Just noticed the both have the little socks on their paws.

I bet! Did you decide to wait a month or so before taking him back in?

[talesOfTybalt]

Dorian’s too cute to have a jealous streak! And yes I literally just realised that as well from seeing Dorian’s pic in the july pics post! it’s soo endearing, does dorian have it on all 4? tyb has 1 full sock paw, the bottoms and toes of his feet and literally a tinge on his other paw over ONE nail.

Idk if I can last a whole month but I’m definitely waiting it out as long as i can handle – I feel like now that I’ve said it all out loud, his hormone related behaviours are REALLY coming out bit by bit haha

[LBJ10]

You could have a gender reveal when you find out!

[talesOfTybalt]

Gender reveal update: My lil Tybalt is a girl!! 🙂

[talesOfTybalt]

Nvm, false alarm he is DEFINITELY a boy… I won’t be surprised if it changes again by the time I pick him up from the vets!

What an emotional rollercoaster today has been 🙂

[DanaNM]

Hahaha!

. . . 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.  

[Trixieandcookies]

Can’t wait to find out!♥️😁

[prince dorian the bun]

LOL! Tybalt is definitely keeping you on your toes 😀

Which ever gender they are, still the cutest bun. I mean look at them in that hat!!

[talesOfTybalt]

okay final FINAL update: he is a boy phew! 😀

Mannn! so today he was neutered but I booked him in for a spay, when I got there I was filling out his health forms while they checked him and the vet nurse came out and said congrats you have a girl! So i left him for the day to be spayed and came home. I had a few hours to come to terms with him being a girl when the vet nurse called me and apologised saying he’s just been taken in for surgery and he is absolutely definitely a boy!! When I went to pick him up they said he did a superbbbb job of hiding his testicles but as soon as he was under the anaesthesia he basically ‘let himself go’ and it was very evident he was a boy (LOL) so thankfully they did a neuter the normal way without having to go through the abdomen!

Now my lil boy is home safe and sound and is doing rly well! He’s a little quiet as expected but is eating and pooping so I am v happy :):)

Thanks for listening to my rambling guys haha!

[Trixieandcookies]

Aww congrats!!

[DanaNM]

Haha! The mystery is finally solved! Glad everything went well. 🙂

. . . 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.  

[prince dorian the bun]

That’s hilarious! I am glad it all went smooth and he is home safe and by the sounds of it on the road to speedy recovery!  Oh and I never saw your sock question, Dorian is just on his front paws.

[jerseygirl]

Hahaha! Wow, the gender fairy really wanted to have some fun with him, huh! Or should I say plum fairy?

Tybalt must have sneakily pulled them back up into his abdomen everytime anyone checked.

I am baffled that they couldn’t tell from just the genital mound though. Perhaps he’s more ambiguous looking there?

Anyway, glad to hear he is doing well.

I do recall a story from a former bb member who’s rabbit was misgendered several times even by the vet. Like Tyb, It wasn’t until the op that that was finally confirmed. I’m sure there’s been many more stories like it on here but I particularly remember this person because she has a female rabbit named Toby and a male rabbit named Daisy.

 

[talesOfTybalt]

Thanks guys! 🙂

dorian – aww they’re like little white mittens haha

jerseygirl – ya got that right! 🙄 maybe both fairies fought over him bc I mean who wouldn’t?

He did a crazy good job bc I’m no expert but I did peek at his bum everyday and it was looking more like a girl to me haha, even the nurses were all having a laugh with me over his indecisiveness on his gender – without the testicles he’s definitely v ambiguous looking since the vets couldn’t even agree on it!

Oh that is so cute!! 😀 Everyone had been asking me about changing his name but how could I do that to my little baby when he leaps and bounds over to me when I call out Tybalt! it wouldn’t be fair to him and besides, all these cute fluff balls of ours can basically pull off any name right? 🙂

[ThorBunny]

Yep, that’s how I ended up with a female rabbit named Thor 🙂

Sending good wishes for a quick recovery Tybalt!

[Louiethebunny]

Haha sweet Tybalt! Wishes for a quick recover!

[LBJ10]

That’s hilarious! Glad it worked out.

I wonder if he is split, it just isn’t an extreme case. This would make him look more girl-like down there, but at the same time his genital area would not be obviously abnormal.

[talesOfTybalt]

ThorBunny I love Thor for her! makes her seem like a real badass and it suits her dark colouring as well 🙂

LBJ – I compleeetely forgot about the split option, I definitely think it’s the most viable one.

Tyb had his post op check up yesterday and the vet said he looks absolutely perfect yay 🙂 he certainly has been acting like he didn’t have surgery at all! I feel bad keeping him on bed rest for 10 days so I’ve been extending his pen at night and going in there with him for some cheeky cuddles before I go to bed 😛

[Author]

Messages