Re-Bond after a spey, I really need advice! :)

Hi All,

I really need some advice. I have a bonded trio of 2 girls (Miffy and Maizy) and a boy (Smudge). Maizy and Smudge are neutered however Miffy is not and last night there was a fight between Maizy and Miffy. I have booked Miffy in for a Spey on Monday. However I have a bit of a problem. I like in a shared house and I am not allowed the animals in the house. The vet advised that I keep her in overnight. I am also concerned about re-introducing them and what might happen as they could fight and that is the last thing I want after the op.
Does any one have any advice my questions really are:

*Does she need to be kept in?
*When and how do I re-introduce?

I work full time an hour away from work and can’t get family to help. I really need to get her done ASAP as I don’t like to see them fight but I just don’t know how I’m going to do it. I’m at work today so may not be able to reply but any hep and advice will be hugely appreciated. Miffy I just about a year, Maizy just over and so is Smudge. xx

Bunny_mad said:

Hi All,

I really need some advice. I have a bonded trio of 2 girls (Miffy and Maizy) and a boy (Smudge). Maizy and Smudge are neutered however Miffy is not and last night there was a fight between Maizy and Miffy. I have booked Miffy in for a Spey on Monday. However I have a bit of a problem. I like in a shared house and I am not allowed the animals in the house. The vet advised that I keep her in overnight. I am also concerned about re-introducing them and what might happen as they could fight and that is the last thing I want after the op.
Does any one have any advice my questions really are:

*Does she need to be kept in?
*When and how do I re-introduce?

I work full time an hour away from work and can’t get family to help. I really need to get her done ASAP as I don’t like to see them fight but I just don’t know how I’m going to do it. I’m at work today so may not be able to reply but any hep and advice will be hugely appreciated. Miffy I just about a year, Maizy just over and so is Smudge. xx

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She needs to be kept separate now from the other two until she is spayed i'm afraid. Fights can get pretty serious with unneutered buns and cause a lot of damage....you must keep them apart until she has had her op and recovered. Yes she ideally needs to be brought inside for a few nights when you collect her from her Op....post-op buns can get quite hypothermic and are unable to control body temperature adequately. It's also getting pretty cold out there now at night. Can you not just keep her in your bedroom? We are still renting and my buns are housebuns! (They're not supposed to be either )

As for rebonding - well you will need to wait until she has fully recovered from her Op and then introduce them all together on NEUTRAL territory - in a room they've not been in before or in a bonding pen on NEUTRAL ground that doesn't carry any rabbit's scent. Bonding can happen quickly or take quite a few days - weeks depending on the rabbits. But I would give her atleast a couple of weeks post-spay to recover before even attempting it, bonding is stressful to the immune system and she will already have been through a lot with her spay.

Your other problem is going to be reintroducing her back outside after spending a month or so living in the warm - she may not be able to readjust to the cold temperatures - you're going to need to insulate the outside accomodation as much as possible until she adjusts...perhaps a wind break around the hutch, plenty of deep bedding, heat pads under the hay etc. Their fur grows according to environment so you will need to be very careful about putting her back outside in winter when she's been in the house for sometime - I would keep your bedroom (once she has recovered from her spay only) cooler. Whilst she is recovering she needs to be kept warm. Good luck with it all

Alternatively, once she has recovered from her spay (few days inside at least) you could move her back outside to separate outdoor accomodation with a heat pad etc...she will adjust faster then to living with the others again outside over winter.

Oh Dear,
I have no idea how I am going to do this. Basically I live in a shared house whereas I rent a room. My housemate would tell my landlords if I had her inside. Also I have no other hutches or accom to put her in outdoors. I have no idea what I’m going to do. She is with the others today whilst I am at work. However I need to separate but seeing as I don’t have a hutch I don’t know how.

I really didn’t think this through did I? Does anyone have a hutch I could borrow for a few weeks please? I really need to collect it tonight or Sat day to get them separated. That way I could get her back outside at least and have her next to the other 2.

If anyone has any suggestions then please let me know as all advice is very appreciated. I know I have to put my bunnies first but this is going to be almost impossible seeing as I’m not allowed to have her in and can’t re-bond. I’m about to start a new job so no idea how I will attempt the re-bond. My OH currently lives an hour away and can’t stay at mine and although my mum loves my buns she has no idea about how to deal with them.

If I ABSOLOUTLY have to have her indoors I also need to borrow and indoor cage. If anyone can help I anyway it would be really appreciated I work in MK and live in Bicester

It may of course be possible to have her spayed and put her back in with the others straight away. This is not something I would personally do, but someone with more experience may say this is possible. I honestly dont' know about this sorry. I just described above what I would do in the situation.
I hope it all works out ok.

You could ask the vets to keep her overnight after the op if you really can't keep her indoors. It may cost a bit more but i wouldn't put a bun out after a ga especially a big op like a spay. You could ask a rescue to rebond for you if they don't go back together easily. I'm sure some rescues would help in return for a donation. Hope you manage to sort something.

Just called the vet and she claimed to be an experienced rabbit lady. She advised that I split my run and hutch combo in half so give un-speyed bun top and duo bottom. Then when she is done put her outside with loads of hay and a snugglesafe. Then to leave them like that for 2 weeks or so, then swap them so they get the scent, then swap back. I may actually ask a rescue to help though as I am so nervous when it comes to this. What do you al lthink of putting her out. I would give her loads of straw and keep her warm. I’m so stressed. I just want to do right by them without getting in trouble. x

I'd go with Santa's idea and get the vet to keep her in overnight at the clinic instead of putting her outside.

I'd then use everthing I could find to make the outside hutch as warm as possible. However, I would be concerned about a pair of buns living in such a small space of one floor only (bottom half) and even your recovering bun stuck in the upstairs half once she feels better. Buns need space and exercise.

This is a very good point re the space and I agree as it won’t be a short term fix. I really need to get her another hutch so they can have there hutch they are in at present and she can have another hutch until they are bonded again. I will ask the vet re keeping her in and see what they say. TBH the lady I spoke to said she had experience but said she didn’t Spey so maybe she wasn’t giving me the best advice. Ok so the overnight prob is solved I just need a hutch. If anyone has one that they could lend me it would be much appreciated. I just don’t have the funds to buy one at present. I am leaving my job next Fri and I have taken too much holiday I will loose about ¼ of my wages. I know money shouldn’t be an object but it has come at the wrong time!! Any help would be great. I appreciate all your responses. I really do. I won’t be splitting the hutch, I may have to tonight until I get another but then I will let them have all the space again! 

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