Spayed doe is spraying urine and honking again

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Our girl Molly was spayed in March, but she recently started to show all the signs of an unspayed doe again: spraying urine, leaving poop everywhere and honking.

She actually sprays instead of dribbling urine like you’d expect with a UTI. I noticed this when I put her back in her pen: she did some sort of jump and a spray of urine sailed across the pen and clattered against the side of the hutch ☹

She had this behaviour before she got spayed, but it stopped immediately after her spay. She’s 9 months old now.

The behaviour started 3 weeks ago when her brother Owen got stasis. He’s been back on his feet for a week now, but her behaviour hasn’t stopped. We were in the process of bonding them, but they haven’t worked out who’s top bunny yet. (I’m not doing any bonding dates atm because she suddenly has a temper and she’s presenting constantly.)

I’ve already ordered a rabbit pheromone spray, but it’s still in the mail. This should help with anxiety, but I’m not sure whether it is caused by anxiety. She is an anxious rabbit in general, but she’s been very confident lately.

Does anyone have an idea about the cause or what I can do? This is becoming really problematic: I work from home and I can’t have customers here if my tiny apartment reeks of pee 🤢 I’ve already had people cancel because they didn’t want to visit…

Would planning a bonding date again calm her down, or will it be too dangerous for Owen?

[Bam]

Ellie, I’m sorry you have this problem. My good rabbit vet held a lecture for vets and vet techs last fall, arranged vy the Swedish Rabbit Welfare Society. I attended as a regular member. Vet mentioned that some neutered femalwe rabbits will “go crazy”and display an excess of all the various unwanted hormonal behaviors the spay was supposed to put an end to. She suggested blood testing to test for hormone levels in the blood stream. The adrenal glands keep producing testosterone in both neutered males and females, sometimes the testosterone production is vastly increased in neutered does. (This is a fairly wellknown “side effect” of neutering  in female dogs). She mentioned suprelorin, a drug that supresses sex hormones. It’s not good for rabbits that you’re intending to breed (can sometimes cause permanent infertility), but you are obviously not intending to breed Molly =)

This could very well subside of it’s own with time, but if it doesnt you could perhaps discuss this with your vet?

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Thank you so much Bam!

I really hope that it clears up, because it started so suddenly. Then again, the illness of her brother may have been very stressful to her. Stress can affect hormones too.

Does anybody know if bonding dates are safe now? Or do you recommend waiting until she’s through this? She is constantly asking for attention and presenting towards Owen, and it makes me wonder whether she’s frustrated at being separated from him.

[Bam]

Hopefully Dana will see this (I’ll alert her to the thread). I’m clueless about bonding, sadly.

[Wick & Fable]

Honestly it seems a bit unusual for such a drastic change to happen, especially if its a been at least a week since the stasis/vet visit scents have settled down. If it doesn’t stop, I would actually investigate with a vet whether the spay was unsuccessful and there may be something leftover that is now producing hormones (and this just happened to align with the stasis episode).

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.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yes, it’s very odd…

The pheromone spray arrived yesterday, and I sprayed it in her pen. She became a lot calmer during the day and is dropping fewer poops. I haven’t seen her spray urine yet. I really really hope that this is it and it was just anxiety.

If she doesn’t go back to normal in a few days we’ll have her hormone levels checked out by the vet. Thank you so much, this forum is truly a treasure trove of expertise and kindness 🥰

Speaking of kindness: Molly is suddenly super cuddly! She used to be so anxious and insisted on grooming you when you came close. She thought it strange that anyone would want to groom her.

Now she often begs for attention, sits down to be petted and starts to purr. She even relaxes and lowers her head when I pet her. I got into her pen yesterday and sat on the floor with her for a while. She loafed and I could pet her, and when she flopped she still allowed me to pet her 🥰 I’m so proud of our little girl!

[Bam]

Fingers so crossed this will help long term! Its obviously much nicer for her to be calm and appreciate cuddles 💗

[DanaNM]

Often buns lose their box habits completely during bonding and don’t improve until the buns are bonded and settled in as a couple. Sometimes it even takes a couple weeks after they are bonded!

Now, as to why it has been so variable, I’m not sure! My guess is some combo of inconsistencies of dating (sometimes lots of dates, sometimes none) and Owen getting sick and smelling differently (due to illness itself and trips to the vet).

It doesn’t sound like she is sick to me, so if Owen is back to normal I think you can resume dating (just keep an eye on Owen’s stress levels).

. . . 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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