Post Spay Behaviour Change

[LucyA]

I have a 1 year old bun named Molly. We rehomed her when she was ten weeks old and she has always been very friendly and affectionate, lots of licking, climbing on the back of the sofa so she can groom our hair and ears, jumping on my lap and nudging until I gave the appropriate attention her nose deserves and generally loving any attention. She went through periods of being very grumpy with some lunging and biting, and also some nest building and during these periods would be less affectionate and very hormonal (understandably!) We knew this would improve with spaying and she’d be happier because of it.

Since being spayed almost a week ago she has been considerably less affectionate and more timid. She just about lets me stroke her nose for a couple of seconds but looks quite nervous, and she isn’t keen if I go to stroke her ears, which is weird because she’s loved her nose, ears and cheeks being stroked from the day we got her. She will sometimes follow me around but no attempts to snuggle and no coming over looking for attention. No hints of aggression though, which is good at least.

 Of course I expected different behaviour to start with and could see she was in pain, but I thought she’d be beginning to go back to normal now. Has anybody seen anything like this before? Do you think I’m just being overlyworried and she’ll go back to normal once she’s recovered fully? We only stopped giving her metacam yesterday and I wonder if that’s affected her too. Her body language and the way she lays is definitely not back to the relaxed bunny we’re used to yet and I’m wondering if that’s because she’s still sore.

I’m wondering if she’s worried about me touching her ears because that’s where the needle for anaesthesia went in and she remembers that? Or is that ridiculous?

As you can tell, I’m clearly the needy one in this relationship… Thanks in advance!

[LittlePuffyTail]

I suspect she’s just not feeling 100% yet. When you really think about what a spay entails, it’s a pretty big deal so it takes a while to recover. Also, she is having to deal with her hormones being out of whack at the same time as she’s feeling unwell. I would just give her time and not worry about.

I’ve never noticed much personality change in any of my buns, boy or girl, after altering. The only thing that changed was better litter habits and no more humping everything.

[LucyA]

Thanks so much for the reply

I’m really hoping that’s all it is, she had a follow up appointment at the vet today and she said the same sort of thing and that sometimes it takes the females a while to get used to the fact that they feel so different and their routine has been changed etc.
She does seem a little more herself today, it’s just really sad looking at her huddled up on the other side of the room when usually she’d be climbing all over the me and the sofa and delivering licks and nudges everywhere

[Vienna Blue in France]

My Zou has just recently been spayed too (at 2 yrs of age) – I would give it a good month before you expect any ‘normality’ to return – don’t try to “force” anything now though (cuddles or pick ups out of her comfort zone) or you could go backwards in her trust.
It sounds as if she had a really good relationship with you beforehand and so when she’s ready she’ll come back in her own time

Well done for having her spayed – she’ll live longer because of it

[LucyA]

Thank you so much, that’s encouraging! She’s definitely getting a little bit braver, I’m just trying to spend lots of time on the floor with her at her level, and stroking her a little as I feed her. She’s not afraid of us I don’t think, just more cautious and less affectionate. Once I hear her purring again when I fuss her I’ll be happy! 

We’d wanted to get her spayed for ages and we could see how much difference it would make to how she felt as she was mega hormonal beforehand, it just cost a lot at our vet and we kept having other financial problems come up. I know she will be happier and healthier in the long run, just this in between stage is hard

[Author]

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