My bunny has a different personality after being spayed

[Lydia11]

Hi everyone!

I purchased my sweet Dolly off of Kijiji about 2 months ago, she is a year old and was not yet spayed. After doing some research, I decided to get her spayed. Before the procedure, she was very affectionate, cuddly, comfortable being picked up, ran to me all the time for snuggles. She went in for surgery, it went fine, however afterward she did not eat or poop for the following day. I took her to the vet, they instructed me to force-feed her critical care. At this point, she was already stressed out from the surgery and from being placed in her cage and my car for these appointments. I had to chase her around my apartment, hold her tightly, and force-feed her the Critical Care formula to get her GI system working properly (she wouldn’t take it otherwise) – she eventually started eating and pooping again (thank goodness!) but was traumatized from the experience, and wouldn’t come near me.

Now it’s been 10 days since the surgery and Critical Care administration – she is eating and pooping just like her normal self. However, she remains very skittish, somewhat timid, and not nearly as affectionate as she was before the surgery. She HATES it when I try to pick her up, she even jumps away when I pet her sometimes – it’s heartbreaking, I miss the bunny that I once had. I’m trying to be patient with her, but I feel no progress is really being made. I spend a lot of time on the floor with her, lots of head scratches and she does come and lick my fingers and face occasionally, jumps on my lap a little bit,

it just takes more time. Any suggestions on bonding with my little girl? I’d love to be able to handle her the way I used to.

She is a free-roaming bunny in my apartment, so she has plenty of space.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Bam]

A girl rabbit can need more than 10 days to return to her normal self. After 14 days, the internal surgical wound should have healed up, meaning its safe to handle her. The hormonal turmoil brought about by the spay can (and as a rule will) need more time though. Your bun’s brain and body is still adjusting to the cessation in production of female sex hormones. In rare cases, the body can respond by upping the production of testosterone in the adrenal glands – but it’s very much to soon to conclude that this is the case with your rabbit.

Baby rabbits are naturally trusting and “loving”. You can carry them around and they will be like “oh, mommy, yay!”. Regardless of whether a bun is intact or desexed, there will come a time, during adoloescence, when the bun becomes fearful and skittish, though. In dogs this is known as the spook age. It’s a compeletely natural stage in the life of any mammal as it matures into adulthood. The fearfulness and skittishness will mellow out with time.

Since your bun is eating and pooping like she should, I’d not worry. Her body and brain are now going through a huge change. If she stops eating etc, then it’s cause for concern, so it’s great that you’re being vigilant!

PS: She’s absolutely adorable!

 

[LBJ10]

OMG, she is darling! I agree with Bam. I would not worry about her behavior at this point. Her body will need time to adjust to the changes. This can take several weeks. At that point, she should return to her normal personality… minus any hormone-driven behaviors, of course.

Re: Critical Care, meds – She will eventually forgive you. It will just take some time after you have stopped catching her to do it. You can get down on the floor with her and offer her nice things (treats, pets, etc.). She may be wary at first, but once she realizes you don’t intend to grab her, she will start trusting you again.

[DanaNM]

I agree with the others, about the advice and about how CUTE she is!

. . . 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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