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Bunny bust up - what should I do? U/D friends again :)

KarenM

Administrator
Staff member
Alfie and Bubbles have been together about 3 wks and Bubbles was spayed last week. They were kept together and all was well until just over 24 hrs after her op, when Alfie started chasing her around the dog crate. I was worried that Bubbles would do herself some damage so I separated them.

On Friday, I put them together in the dog crate to try to rebond. Bubbles was a bit jumpy at first but Alfie groomed her after about 10 minutes and she groomed him a little while after. Things seemed back to normal, so I put them back outside in the hutch on Sunday but with the run shut off for now - I had scrubbed/ vinegar sprayed/painted the whole inside of the hutch while they'd not been in it too, so it should have been completely neutral. :?

As soon as they got in there, Bubbles got very skittish & ran away every time Alfie went near her which in turn made him chase her and sometimes pull fur. I was hoping it would settle down after a few hours but it's still going on. They'll happily share food, Bubbles will even nudge Alfie out of the way to get to the water bottle but she still seems wary of him if he moves too fast. What should I do?

This is all very new because their first meet was very uneventful - a little bit of humping, no chasing or anything and they just accepted each other. I'm also concerned because we're going away for the weekend on Friday. A neighbour was planning to feed them etc for me but I wasn't expecting all this to be going on. :(:(

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I wish I'd left her spay until later but I was being optimistic (for a change :roll:) and assumed there would be no problems. Sorry this is so long. :oops::oops:
 
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I would personally split them for now. Bubbles still has all her hormones as it's only been a week. Also when you are away at the weekend, you won't have to worry about their behaviour.
 
I would agree. I think it's probably best for everyone concerned if they are split for the time being. Especially with a lot of the upsets happening on 'neutral' ground. :?
 
How long should I wait before rebonding?

I can split them but the only place I can put one of them is in a dog crate indoors. If one is going to be spending a long while inside, that's then going to make it hard for me to put them back outside when (fingers crossed) they are friends again because it will be too cold for the one that's been indoors. :?

Help. :cry::cry:
 
Billy and Bonnie fell out after Bonnie's spay...I kept them seperate on vets advise overnight after the spay and then when they were put back together Billy chased her a lot.
I then seperated again but with both of them being indoors it was difficult,after a day or so they came together again and just seemed to sort it out between themselves,there was chasing but they settled....this was without confining them or rebonding as such.

Hope your pair settle down too.
 
Thank you. :) I'm hoping these two can sort it too because they were so close from day one. :(

They go through stages of seeming back to normal and then Alfie moves too fast and that sets off the running and chasing but it's getting a bit more half-hearted now. :roll:

I don't think Alfie is really acting any differently to normal - he's always been the boss & if anything I've seen him groom her more the last few days than he ever has - but he's confused by the change in Bubbles' behaviour and he's probably wondering why she scarpers when he gets near. :lol:
 
The spay was a massive operation for bubbles & even though they were kept together she is the one that went through the trauma. This in turn has probably made her more nervous than she used to be hence the running from any sudden movement. Only time & the return of her security/confidence will sort this problem. As long as there are no serious skirmishes Id leave them to it. Good luck with those 2 very beautiful buns
 
it was recommended to me that spayed buns are kept from their partners for four weeks to allow her to heal internally. It is a major op and a male will start to hump, which could interupt the internal healing process.
 
The spay was a massive operation for bubbles & even though they were kept together she is the one that went through the trauma. This in turn has probably made her more nervous than she used to be hence the running from any sudden movement. Only time & the return of her security/confidence will sort this problem. As long as there are no serious skirmishes Id leave them to it. Good luck with those 2 very beautiful buns

Thank you. :) I've been worrying so much the last few days about what to do for the best that my head hurts. :( There has definitely been no serious fighting, although even the darting around & chasing is hard to watch because I think the world of them. There has been no fur pulling at least since yesterday afternoon, so hopefully things are improving.
 
it was recommended to me that spayed buns are kept from their partners for four weeks to allow her to heal internally. It is a major op and a male will start to hump, which could interupt the internal healing process.

I've read somewhere about the humping but have also read that lots of people keep them together after the op. The rescue advised me to keep them together too, as this is what they normally do. There has definitely been no humping while they were spending time indoors last week though.
 
I think everything is ok now and it was just a little storm in a teacup. :D I had to put them in the run in the garden yesterday to clean the hutch and they were both binkying around and nuggling up together. Bubbles had a quick thump when I put them back in the hutch but they were fine after that. I sneaked out to look at them just now and they were both flopped out side by side (Bubbles is normally the wary one who sleeps sitting up so that's definitely a good sign. :lol:)

Thanks for the advice all. :love:
 
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