HELP MEEEE

[flopsydobinkies]

Okay, someone PLEASE tell me my bunny just needs to be spayed!

So for the first 2.5-3 months we had her, my Flopsy princess was a perfect angel: good litter habits, occasional ‘bunny bombs’ left scattered around the house, but overall a really well-behaved bunny.

Then she started pooping EVERYWHERE. And not just the normal random pellet or two, I mean full-on PILES of rabbit raisins. And what’s worse, over the past two weeks or so, she’s started spraying. At first I thought it was just that she didn’t like my husband being in her condo to clean it (they hate each other), but then she sprayed me as I was cleaning it. I thought, “Okay, she’s just territorial. I’ll only clean her house when she’s out running around then.” Except I just went under the dining table (where she lurks during the middle of the day) to sweep up her latest pile of poops and she sprayed me TWICE! Twice in five minutes!

I’m hoping to God she’s just hormonal and this will all go away once we get her spayed; otherwise I don’t know what we’re going to do because my husband harbors enough enmity for her as it stands. And I REALLY don’t want to give her up, she’s my precious bunny baby, but I just don’t know how to deal with this.

Do you guys think this is just a hormonal thing and we’ll be okay once she goes in for her spay? We would have set up an appointment the same day she had her checkup, but we’re two broke college kids and I was hoping we could postpone her surgery until we get next semester’s aid check. If the cause of her abominable behavior is hormones, she’s going to the vet ASAP and I’ll have to put it on my parents’ credit card and pay them back when I get my financial aid.

AUUUUGH I LOVE HER SO MUCH BUT SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY!! 

[bunnyfriend]

Definitely a hormonal thing! Especially since she had perfect habits and now suddenly she doesn’t. A month after a spay she should turn back into your precious baby again (: Sorry I know it’s a little costly.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

NJ House rabbits has a credit thing they do, you get like 100 off the spay/neuter or something like that. Maybe your state has something similar?

[flopsydobinkies]

bunnyfriend: Oh thank God. That is such a relief. I can’t wait to have my sweet little Flops back.
OneTwoThree: If TX has such a credit thing, I wouldn’t know the first place to ask about it. Could I ask my vet, or is there some kind of HRS representative I need to contact?

[peppypoo]

Yup, sounds like a trip to the vet is in order!

I’ve never heard of such a credit thing here in Texas, and I’ve been to more vets than I would like, haha. However, a lot of vets have something else called Care Credit, where you can slowly pay off a procedure….might be something you could look into. I hear you on the poor student situation! There are a handful of us here in Texas if you need vet recommendations too .

[Beka27]

Just to add my ditto… it’s definitely spaying time!!! Do whatever you can to get that accomplished ASAP! (Well… within reason… lol!)
How old is she? These behaviors usually arise at between 5 and 8 months…

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Do you have a vet yet? You could ask them, thats where I heard about NJ’s from. Or this *might* have an exotic pet vet http://www.spaytexas.org/listsearch.php

[flopsydobinkies]

Beka27, we don’t actually know how old she is. We adopted her from the city shelter at the end of May. We think she’s an adult, since she’s full weight for her breed, but I don’t know when Holland Lops reach full growth so her age is anyone’s guess. And of course whatever scumbag dumped her there didn’t leave ANY information about her, not even a name. We actually thought she was a boy until her checkup recently. Poor little bun, how could anyone abandon something so cute?

[Monkeybun]

Well, its october now, so she is at least 5-6 months old, perfect time to spay

My Squirrel is a Holland lop as well, and at 7 months he is at his full growth.

[mocha200]

Here is a list of rabbit savvy vets http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.htm

[skunklionshow]

I’m surprised the city shelter does not spay/neuter.  I’m shocked that a shelter let you take an unspeutered animal home.  The only time I have heard of such a practice is when a contingency plan is in place.  I’d contact the original shelter and ask what options they know of.  They may have a vet that does the rabbits for them.  Often it’s included in your adoption fee.  I ditto the CAre credit, w/o that I would have been stuck many more times than I could imagine.

[Elrohwen]

flopsydobinkies, I agree with MB that she will definitely be large enough by now. Otto, a holland, was 4lbs when he was neutered at 5 months and has never grown any larger.

[flopsydobinkies]

OneTwoThree, yes, we do have a vet. I called this morning and set up her spay for Friday. The tech I spoke to said I could expect the bill to be ~$70! What a nice surprise, I had resigned myself to paying at least $200! I did find out they have an excellent success rate and they do use isoflurane, which I remember HRS posting on FB were important questions to ask. The vet apparently does lots of bunny speuters and actually just did another spay last week, which eases my mind.

skunklionshow, I too was surprised that the shelter didn’t speuter before we took her home, but I guess they’re not used to getting rabbits in as much as dogs and cats. College kids love dogs, for some reason, so that’s what they’re flooded with when spring semester ends and all the students move back home, irresponsibly ditching what should be a lifelong companion and not giving a thought to the fact that if he’s not adopted quickly, the dog they abandon will be killed simply because there’s just no room. I hate idiot freshmen. ANYWAY. The stupid shelter didn’t microchip her, either, even though the adoption agreement stated no animal is to leave without first being chipped. I doubt they’d offer to help with the spay if we did ask them to.

MB and Elrohwen, that sounds about right, then. Vet said she was ~4.25lbs.

Also my dad agreed to let me use the credit card he gave me for emergencies to pay for my princess’ spay, and I’ll be paying him back when I get my spring aid check.

Oh! What should I do for Flopsy when I get her home from the vet? Will she just want to lurk in a dark corner for a while? I imagine she’ll be pretty miserable for at least a few hours when she comes home. I remember my cats and dogs when I was a kid acting a bit drunk after their speuters and sleeping a lot, but what do bunnies do? The longer I have my Flopsy princess the more I realize just how much I don’t know about buns. (Thank God for BB, right? LOL!)

[Monkeybun]

She’ll be all groggy and not wanting to move much the first couple days. Make sure you get pain meds for her, she will need them. Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t want to eat much the first day, but keep some of her favorites on hand to try to tempt her into nibbling something. Do Not let her do any bunny 500s or jump up onto anythign for a week at least. Keep her confined to a smaller space with no levels.

[Beka27]

She sounds very lucky to have you. Keep us posted…

[Author]

Messages