once a sprayer always a sprayer?

[ADEE]

Im pondering getting a retired breeding french lop male from someone who was refered to me by a foster mom through LMRR. She forwarded my information onto her and hers onto me regarding giving her male a forever home, the woman is no longer breeding french lops and from what im told hes a very special boy to the breeder and she wants him to get a good home where he can get lots of love and attention. He is NOT neutered yet but we are planning on taking him to my vet as soon as we get him ourselves. My vet has agreed to do it and I have an apt to take my girls up to her in a week to get examined and possibly spayed in the very near future. Of course we will take the nessesary precautions to keep them from breeding, they wont even be housed in the same room at all, so breeding isnt an issue. Im more curious about what are the odds this male will not spray, according to the breeder he is not really a sprayer but he has been bred before so its possible he may be more inclined to do so, she said as long as hes fixed it shouldnt continue.. should this be a red flag for a sprayer or is it likely he wont be a disaster waiting to happen. Were spoiled by our good girls who use their litter boxes like champs and love that they can be out for hours in the evening and not piddle anywhere besides their box. Obviously we will have to litter train him… can an old dog err bunny learn new tricks?.

 

any feedback is more then welcome!!

[Beka27]

an older bunny can definitely be littertrained, but how old are we talking? i know some vets will not neuter past 2 or 3 years old. on rare occasions even neutered males will spray. therefore, i can’t give you an absolute answer b/c it is going to depend on him. and i wonder how having unspayed females in the next room would affect him…?

edited:  i was looking around a bit more for some info. 

source:  http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx

Prevention of Urine Spraying – Both male and female rabbits can spray urine on vertical surfaces to mark their territory. Intact mature males do this at least 10 times more frequently than females. In addition, the urine from a sexually mature male rabbit can have a very strong odor that is unpleasant to many humans. If this behavior is allowed to continue for a long period of time, it may be impossible to completely stop this behavior. Therefore, it is best to “nip it in the bud” and get the little guys neutered just prior to shortly after sexual maturity.

did she say that he does spray a lot right now?

[Sarita]

He can definitely be neutered past 2 or 3 years my vet has spayed and neutered much older rabbits so don’t let that be a deterrent.

Neutering does not ALWAYS guarantee this behavior will completely stop.

And yes, an older rabbit can learn to use the litter box probably easier than a baby. As with any new rabbit you would have to work with this on him. Obviously neutering can be a big help in this. Usually it is a rabbit’s inclination to just use one area of their “house” to poop in so hopefully he is the same way and you can use that particular place to put his litter box along with some hay in the litter box to encourage using the litter box.

[ADEE]

our other two girls use the litter box great… i did the “hay in the box” technique and its worked wonderfully.. She didnt say if he was really spraying alot but did mentain that it would help keep him from spraying. I dont know for sure how old he is, i did request more information but shes slow to return emails. Hopefully I will get a bit more information soon. I would really be disapointed if we brought him home and things turned into a nightmare, weve been so blessed so far with our two girls i have even considered just saying no and keeping just the two. I would hate for the girls to pick up bad habits because of a male coming into the house. Im still very much on the fence regarding this male let another any other rabbit but i figured i would at least do my research on the subject first.

Thanks so much for your help!!!

[Beka27]

if you are happy with your girls (which i KNOW you are), you don’t HAVE to get another bunny right now. enjoy them, have fun with them, do your best by them, AND do what’s best for you and your human family. i know it’s hard b/c there are always bunnies at the door needing rescuing, but we cannot save them all. maybe someday each of us can have our own rescue and there will be no more homeless buns… wishful thinking, i know…

[Sarita]

I totally agree with Beka on this too.

[ADEE]

Thanks Beka for the kind words.. Truth of the matter is I would love to take in every bunny in need of a home but we have two perfect little girls who get the best of everything and we like it that way so far. Its the same fear when I had my second child, would i have enough time, love, space, money to provide for “things”, exc and while it did work out for the best of course, its different then having a child.. its a helpless animal that basically never grows up and moves out lol. I know animals are a long time comitment and we have comitted to Rain and Shiloh. Perhaps someday we will have another one but im really leaning towards keeping our home a two bunny home Thanks again for the help and support. im like you and would love to take in every bunny that needs a home but it just isnt reality.

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