spraying!

[melissact]

You guys, my bun just sprayed me!  We got him about three weeks ago, and he has been mainly litter-trained since then–he only pees in his litterbox, whether he is out in the living room, in his room, or in his cage.  He still leaves poop everywhere, but I assume that’s territorial and will get better when he is neutered.  However, I was just on the floor with him.  The bun has lately been exhibiting courting behavior towards me–he circles me quite a bit and grooms me.  It’s pretty adorable.  However, just now, the bun started circling me again and suddenly I was wet!  He totally sprayed me!  The problem is that he saw the vet a week ago, and we inquired about getting him neutered.  She said that she really likes to wait until a rabbit is at least 5 months old until she does the operation–Ernie is now just shy of four months old.  How do I minimize the spraying until then?

[Cadbury]

Ah yes, the fun of hormones! He has claimed you as his own! I don’t really have any advice about minimizing the spraying…luckily, Cadbury didn’t do that. When her hormones kicked in, she was also too young to get spayed – and it was a rough month or so! Good luck, and know you are not alone!

[Deleted User]

Eewwwwwww thats not nice … Oh dear you will have to probably persevere with the spraying until he is neutured.  I hope he does not spray you too much as it is kinda nasty.

My female bunny used to spray me and everything else even though she was spayed .. she was particularly messy and very frustrating for me … well at least your furry face does his wee wee in his littertray …. mmmm Sprinkles was particularly difficult to littertray (and never got the hang of it) so I was constantly cleaning up poos and wees.

Keep persevering!

Dawn xx

[Gravehearted]

yes – the spraying is a lot more common when a bunny hasn’t been neutered. Honestly, there’s not really any way to stop the behavior, but it’s a very good thing that you already are planning to get him neutered next month!

[melissact]

Oh dear. Sigh. And he’s already shaping up to be a destructo-bunny; he somehow found some pictures stashed in between some books on the bookshelf and took great pleasure in eating up the images of my grad school friends. The more comfortable he feels in our home, the more adventurous he gets, and the more things he finds to pull apart. He’s just so darned cute, though. I bought some Fooey and seriously, that stuff is horrible-tasting. Some of it lingered in the air after I sprayed it on the furniture, I inhaled it, and I couldn’t shake the aftertaste for two hours. I just hope it works on the bun. Looks like it’s going to be a long month.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I would TRY behavior modificatin for now….Get a spray bottle (don’t rinse out one used for cleaners, just in case) and if he sprays you, shout no, and spray him back…Hopefully he gets it right away.

Does he do anything at all to inicate he’s about to spray? If so you could spray and shout no then, before you get sprayed…Let us know!

[melissact]

Unfortunately, he gives no warning. Even when he actually pees, there is no warning–I used to watch him like a hawk and look for the characteristic tail-lifting I had read about when I was trying to litter train him, but there would be no indication until the puddle was spreading underneath him. Thank goodness he eventually litter trained himself. Now he’ll just be running around, as normal, and suddenly hit me with a stream.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Gross!!! I’m sorry for you !!

[melissact]

Holy smokes! I just made an appointment to have Ernie snipped by a dedicated rabbit vet recommended by the House Rabbit Society. We’ve seen her once before–she’s great. The operation is going to cost upwards of $275! Bunny ownership is not for the poor.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I know hey?? It’s surprising what the little devils put us through!!

[melissact]

*And* he sprays me. Geez. He’s such a great little guy, though. Oh well, it’s not like I’ll have to put him through college or anything.

[kimberleyanddarren]

my vet said four months was ok.. should i find a new vet?

to melissact i am sorry to hear your bunnies hormones have kicked in before the op it will defo be a frustrating month! i think maybe if he starts circling you then pat his head but at the same time walk off so he may get the message also if you wear old trousers when you are around and spend some time petting him on your legs his scent may already be on there and so may not want to spray you other than that i think its just to keep going till the op – sorry!

[melissact]

His scent is definitely generally on my pants–he has made it a habit of licking the heck out of my pants whenever I am on the floor with him. As my boyfriend pointed out, the bun has probably licked every square inch of my pajama bottoms by now. He is really quite snuggly.

I have read that it is okay to neuter a bunny at four months of age, but my vet said she really prefers to wait until the bunny is five months old. She’s really the only rabbit vet in the area that is recommended by different rabbit organizations, so of course I need to take her advice.

[KatnipCrzy]

Melissact- your bunny is a Holland Lop, right?  Not Mini Lop?  Holland Lops are smaller- so waiting the extra month for him to be that much bigger could be helpful.  Technically a bunny can be neutered when the testicles drop- and while it might be frustrating to deal with your little bundle of bunny love for an extra month- he will only be more healthy and hale a month from now. 

  In some shelters kittens are spayed and neutered as young as 8 weeks- which at that age they should weigh about 2 pounds.  Holland Lops I think are about 3 pounds at adult weight.  (Just to demonstrate age/surgery weight examples).

He should at least buy you dinner and a movie if he thinks he gets to spray you!    Why back in the gold old days, male bunnies used to have to walk 3 miles, barefoot, thru the snow (there and back) to get to their one true love so they could spray them.  Young bunnies these days just don’t know how easy they have it.

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