How long does a phantom pregnancy last?

Hey Guys

Looking for a wee bit of advice re Snow as she's got us all a wee bit concerned at home

Last week she started dragging hay into a wee box in her hutch and then on Saturday she started pulling clumps of hair off her body and been placing this into the box. As far as we can see she's not damaged her skin pulling the fur but did wince slightly when I tried to stroke her tummy. When I checked the box tonight, it's almost like she's made a birds nest lined with her fur. We've assumed that's she's having a phantom pregnancy (she's just over 10 months old), so were wondering if there was a way to be sure if this was the case and if it is how best to keep her settled and happy till her hormones settle down again. She was fairly quiet on Sunday and not really running around like a daftie and hasn't finished the food in her bowl for the past few days but we have been given her extra hay as recommended online so she could well be filling up on that.

She's not been neutered either so will this mean she could have these phantom pregnancies again?

Any advice appreciated thanks

Hi, having recently gone through this with one of mine I can say hers only lasted a little ober a week. Though I dare say it's different for everybun. And yes, she can have more and I know it's distressing to see her pulling fur. But it's quite normal.

my females have had phantom pregnancies, my old girl always had a few every year and they lasted a week or two usually. She did have a few every spring though! My new girl (now spayed) had two or three last summer then one just before she was spayed. Might be worth getting her done if you don't want it happening as was routine with my two. Silly things :lol:

She will do this throughout her life if you don't have her neutered. I would strongly recommend that you do. Before I knew any better, I lost my first rabbit to uterine cancer because I didn't have her neutered . I've never forgiven myself. Up to 80% of un-neutered female rabbits will develop uterine cancer by the age of 5 - please don't let your lovely girl be one of them.

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the advice, it was really scary watching her pulling out her fur but she seems to have stopped doing that today as no new fur lying around her hutch, which is good news

Appreciate the advice re getting her neutered, I'd been advised that it was only necessary if she started having problems so we've not done anything about that should we have this done by a certain age or just as soon as possible?

Take Care

Jacqui

JacquiM said:

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the advice, it was really scary watching her pulling out her fur but she seems to have stopped doing that today as no new fur lying around her hutch, which is good news

Appreciate the advice re getting her neutered, I'd been advised that it was only necessary if she started having problems so we've not done anything about that should we have this done by a certain age or just as soon as possible?

Take Care

Jacqui

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As long as they're in good health, you can have them neutered at any age. But a younger rabbit will get over it much better than an older rabbit. The oldest I had done was 6 and all my others have come from rescue so were already neutered. Do you have a good rabbit-savvy vet? If you let folks on this forum know the area you're in then we can probably recommend someone :thumb:. Some vets are not rabbit-savvy at all unfortunately .

I'm getting my two done as soon as I have the cash to do so. The sooner it's done the less chance of a recurrence of the PP and the sooner she can; calm down; stop spraying &; get over the surgery. Plus the sooner it's done the sooner you remove the risk of any kind of ovarian cancer.

LOL! Mackers, has anyone ever remarked that one of your...hamsters? Looks like a teeny tiny panda?

definitely calmed mine down when she was done. Bit groggy afterwards but within three days she was back to her old self but less moody

that is right - if the vet isn't used to performing a spaying on a rabbit it's better to find a vet with a good amount of experience as it is quite a serious operation (esp for females). Best of luck if you decide to have her done

Automaton539 said:

LOL! Mackers, has anyone ever remarked that one of your...hamsters? Looks like a teeny tiny panda?

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:lol::lol::lol: - that 'hamster' is a guinea pig! And yes, she does look like a panda from that side, but she's a negative image on the other side.

We are in Angus (Tayside) if anyone is able to recommend a rabbit-savvy vet
We've always wanted to get Snow a wee friend and was thinking about a spayed boy and leaving her intact but the thought of potentially losing her to cancer would be too much to bear so I think we're going to have to seriously look into this for her