Neutered female having phantom pregnancies and bladder mishaps

[Pen]

Hi all,

 

I’m a new bunny mum and puzzled by gorgeous Luna.  She was neutered in Feb at 4 months, got a hernia the next day so had another op – I was told she might not make it through the night so I was very emotional. BUT she pulled through that and is sort of back to normal.  However, since then she has had 3 phantom pregnancies….makes a lovely nest, bless her! She also seems to dribble a bit of pee around at times and in last few days has peed on me or sofa when relaxed and loving being stroked.  She never did this before the operations, and recently she has sprayed in her bedroom, even reaching the ceiling! She also poos quite a bit when she is in the house.  Her hutch is outside but whilst on lockdown she has been in more than she used to when I was at work. It’s almost like she’s lost control of her bowels and bladder, but just not all the time.  She def seems to drop poo when she is excited…..any ideas?

[Bam]

Hi and welcome!

It is common for a bun to become “extra hormonal” for some time after de-sexing. It is known as a post-spay craze and the effects can in some cases last 6 months to a year before it subsides. This could explain the false pregnancies and also the pee spraying and poop marking. Since she’s not incontinent all the time, it doesnt seem like nerve damage from the spay procedure -if that were the case she’d be dribbling pee all the time and her ability to spray pee very high up would also have been affected if a nerve had been nicked.

All the above could be perfectly normal and self-resolving  with time and lots of patience. There are however instances when not all ovarian tissue is successfully removed during the spay procedure. Remaining ovarian cells keep producing estrogen, and the bun behaves like an intact doe, even though she obviously cant get pregnant if she were to meet a boy bun.

[Bam]

ETA: I have now discussed this a little bit with moderator Jerseygirl. She suggested 2 possibilities:

1. Maybe your vet didnt do a full castration, I e a full oviario-hysterectomy. A spay is technically just a hysterectomy. It is not as common these days as it used to be, because it means the animal will still produce sex hormones and display all hormonally linked behaviors, such as false pregnancies and territorial marking. The animal cant get pregnant though  and it can get uterine cancer because there is no uterus.

2. When a bun is de-sexed at a very young age, the ovaries are tiny and can sometimes not be found during surgery.

It does seem over the top with 3 false pregnancies post spay and also this very vigorous urine spraying. That a bun sometimes pees when it’s being pet and is all relaxed and comfy is not too uncommon though, my bridge bunny Bam did that even though he had been neutered for years. Preferably in my mom’s lap because that was his favorite place.

[LBJ10]

There is definitely a craze after bunnies are spayed/neutered. Typically, this just amounts to them being hyper and destructive. Other hormonal behaviors can also be exhibited though. I do agree with what Bam stated above. Three false pregnancies is very over the top and highly unusual. It does make you wonder if the vet missed the ovaries. Since your bunny was only 4 months at the time, they may not have been visible during the surgery.

[Pen]

Thank you for your reassuring reply! Sorry, taken me a few days to know there were replies as all gone to junk mail and then I forgot password! Back in the game now! Thank you.

[Pen]

Thanks again, I emailed the vet and she’s going in Monday to have a blood test to check hormone levels, they are also going to check bladder etc. I thought she was the right age for the op but maybe they have missed something. The vet said he was pleased with the original op and was surprised these things were happening. Bless her,  so worrying. But, she seems quite happy so isnt in pain or anything which is gd to see

 

[Pen]

Question for you. IF there were ovaries left inside her, hopefully not, would she need another op to remove to prevent ovarian cancer?

[Bam]

Ovarian cancer would still be a possibility if she still has her ovaries left. It is, however, uterine cancer that is of most concern in rabbits. It’s uterine cancer that’s so common in unspayed does.

You will have to discuss this with your vet, obviously. I’m glad you got an appointment so quickly!

[jerseygirl]

I agree, there is less of a risk with the ovaries. There is a biologist in Miami (Dr Dana Krempels) who runs a rabbit rescue/sanctuary and has a lot of published papers on rabbits. Some years ago, she said they were trialing hysterectomies and leaving the ovaries. She said they noticed the Does were more calm and bonded well with other rabbits (from memory). I do not know whether they had since discovered any longer term advantages/disadvantages health wise.

Obviously with Luna, she is not more calm.. I suppose it could still be to do with her age, how long ago she was desexed.  I really hope your vet is able to discover what is going on.

[Author]

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