Post-neuter – Mating behavior decrease time window?

[Wick & Fable]

Hey everyone!

Wick is getting neutered in less than 24hours, being about 8mo now. He is a slow grower, so it took awhile for the green light. He hadn’t shown any aggressive/mating behaviors so I thought I was safe… until 3 days ago. He circles me and follows me everywhere, sprays me about 3 times a day (the three times I fail to prevent it by literally running away or distracting him with lots of pets; if I let it happen, it’d probably be much more) and his grooming is more nip/biting now, rather than licking which is a bit painful sometimes (he learned not to do that when he was younger, but the habit has come back and the human squealing doesn’t register for him anymore). He’s also just more rebellious in terms of going into places he knows he shouldn’t, and he thumped his foot for the first time at me when I was slow at getting his food out… what a sassy rabbit transformation. The behaviors towards me are mating behaviors rather than aggressive (doesn’t do it to anyone else), so I’m not necessarily mad, but my goodness has it been a stressful few days with Wick.

I know the hormones need time to settle and get back on track following a neutering. Anyone have estimates on when the behavior may calm down? I also know there’s the chance it may not go away. I’m just mentally prepping for how many laundry loads I’ll need to go through with all this spraying….

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.

[Mikey]

They might worsen for a few days to a few weeks, and then they will start to die down. It can take up to 2 months, usually, for males.

My Bombur took almost 2 months to fully stop his hormonal behavior, and he never had a hormonal spike after his neuter. Blue took a few days to calm down after his neuter, and didnt have a hormonal spike, either. Badger took about two months to fully calm down after his neuter, and his hormonal spike lasted from the 3rd day after his surgery to about the 3 week mark after.

[Author]

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