Hormonal behaviour in neutered male bun

[Lyia]

Hello everyone

Billy is almost 7 years old. He was neutered when he was young, and around 4/5 years of age he began to exhibit strong hormonal behaviour, where he was trying to mount his friend and spraying everyhwere. The first time this happened, after several visits to the vet, we agreed on an implant under the skin that would deliver medicine to help with his hormones. This worked perfectly for a year or so.

 When Billy began to show the same symptoms again, I assumed the implant had dissolved and took him in for another one. Unfortunately this has had absolutely no effect. 

I have had to separate him from his friend as Billy was constantly trying to mount him and chasing him around. I have tried to give him a stuffed toy now but this just make matters worse, he only wants his toy and will not stop to rest and relax.

The vet is not sure – there may be some monthly injections that could help so I will give it a try (I am worried about the cost though).

I was just wondering if any of you have had the same problem? I don’t think Billy feels happy being this way.

Thank you!

[Wick & Fable]

Is his friend fixed? A non fixed bonded mate will result in hormonal behavior from a fixed rabbit. Additionally, not being formally bonded will also erupt those behaviors too! Can you give more details on their bond?

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.

[Dee]

I had the same issue with my late rabbit, BunBun. The only thing was most of the vets had either never heard of the problem or insisted it as behavioral. I read about this condition and that it often was a problem that is coin in ferrets- adrenal gland growths, and it can be helped by the medication Lupron, which is given to human women to help with hormone-driven issues. The vets thought that was so rare as to be almost impossible, but I was offered to take Bun to Boston for an ultrasound, but at the time I felt it would be unfair to put a healthy, otherwise happy bunny through that. I regret that. A few years later, Bun became ill and needed a CT scan which revealed that he had tumors in his adrenal glands and in his lungs. The vet, a specialist, thought that it was adrenal cancer that metastasized to the lungs. The same or similar medicine your bunny is getting might have slowed or stopped the adrenal tumors. But we live and learn.

I’m not saying that is the case with your rabbit- it seems that your vet is much more up on things than mine were back then. Is the medication your bunny gets called Lupron? That’s what I wanted to try on my rabbit but nobody would prescribe it without testing.

I’m sorry I haven’t been more helpful, but I think you should keep trying different meds if you can afford it. They all work a bit differently so another might do the trick. I feel for you because I know how upsetting and frustrating it is to have your beloved bunny constantly trying to mount everything. I tried to separate BunBun from his wife, Nelli, to give her a break, but they were too miserable without her and Bun would go crazy trying to get to her There didn’t seem to be a barrier that he couldn’t get over to be with his Nelli. So sad. I really hope you find another solution, although the situation is awful, you’re fortunate to have a vet that’s willing to try things to help.

[LBJ10]

I was thinking adrenal issue when I read this as well. It isn’t really common, but it does happen and has been documented. Another possibility could be bladder stones.

If he doesn’t do it all the time and only does it when something sets him off, then it could be stress-related. Wooly will go into a humping frenzy if he is stressed or freaked out by something.

[Lyia]

Thank you for your replies, it is a great help.

Yes, his friend is neutered too. Billy is all the time like this, even when he is in his hutch. When he is out, he jumps on top of the sofa to look at Noah, who is in the top floor of the hutch. It breaks my heart that I cannot find an instant solution to make him feel better.

I will ask whether he has had Lupron already, and if not, whether we can try it. It must be an adrenal issue.

It is further complicated by the fact that he does weird noises when breathing, which the vet said is Snuffles in an early form because there is no discharge. I am not convinced. He has dental issues and had abscesses in the past so I wonder if there the roots of his teeth are overgrown and pressing on his sinuses. The point about adrenal cancer worries me, but it is good to know as both issues may be related. As I am going every month to get his teeth trimmed, at least he has a regular check up and the vet checks his lungs.

If the medicine slows down the cancer, I am glad he currently has the implant even if this is not helping much in terms of his behaviour. And yes, even if the vet is not a bunny specialist (there are not any in the area), they do their best and email around to ask other vets and specialists who are located far away!

[Lyia]

Billy is now on Tardak and I am monitoring to see any results or side effects. The vet said he may need 3 or 4 more injections over the next couple of months and if there’s no results we will then look at the brain and pituitary gland.

[bunny06]

OMG i am having the same exact problem with 12 yr old midnite he has an almost constant erection is running around biting my ankles like he did before he was fixed 11 yrs ago. We thought maybe his teeth no luck with treating that problem we had no luck getting blood to test his testosoterone finally did an ultrasound nothing on his adrenal glands, ferrets get adrenal gland tumors rabbits its very rare, nothing was found but they did find some tumors or a mass on his liver not sure if its cancerous or what. and he still has that problem. i thought he was the only one who had this i just saw your post so it can happen to older fixed buns keep me updated on his treatment

[bunny06]

i would think lupron they have to make sure its adrenal gland tumors only way is to do an ultraound i had one done on midnite he is doing the same thing 12 yrs old and fixed no adrenal gland tumor but a mass on his liver which has me a nervous wreck needless to say

[LBJ10]

Adrenal disease in rabbits is can be caused by adrenal hyperplasia (as well as tumors). This may or may not be evident in an ultrasound. It seems doing a blood test is the more common method of diagnosis.

[bunny06]

i am bringing him back again to try to get blood we do the blood a few x a yr as he has his molars done every 4 months or so. bloodwork would tell us a lot i think. hope we can get it they tried twice a few wks back

[jerseygirl]

Im very interested to hear how he does on the tardak. My older lop boy (neutered) also display sexual behaviours when he reached about age 6. I discovered that other owners were seeing this, mostly starting around age 5-7yrs. I must say, I never did any searches to see if it was something reported in older intact male rabbits.

The vet mentioned pituitary gland could be involved also, but that would be harder to diagnose.

[Lyia]

I hope the bloodwork gives you some clues, bunny06.

I had some done about 2 years ago, which showed high testosterone levels. We went with a suprelorin implant, which worked for a year or so.

I will keep you posted on the tardak, I think he had about 0.4ml as he is around 2 kilos. No noticeable side effects so far, or improvement yet.

It’s interesting to see this happens to buns reaching 5/6 years old.

Billy had a ct scan about 1.5 year ago due to a dental abscess, obviously we were not looking at the brain at the time but I would have hoped that if there was a tumor there the vet would have picked up on it.

[bunny06]

i only went for the biting it was exactly what he was doing before he was fixed and they found something on his liver, she seemed to think he is in pain i think its more an in heat thing as he has an erection he is buzzing around biting my feet, honestly i do not think it has anything to do with his liver and my friend who has a rabbit shelter she has had over 1500 rabbits she said if he were in pain he would not be eating and he would be lethargic. he is acting fine other than the biting. but i did hear lupron for the testostorone levels. i just hope they can get some blood from him to see what the liver levels are.

[Lyia]

How is Midnite doing?

The Tardak seems to work okay, I went back yesterday for another injection as Billy was starting to run around my feet again. Looks like he will need one on a monthly basis, so this isn’t too bad.

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