broken hearted by change in personality

Taking the advice of many rabbit lovers we got pebbles "fixed" two weeks ago.
I wish we hadn't. She used to jump on the couch for cuddles, bite our feet untill we picked her up and carried her, thump the floor if she was ignored, she was an integril part of the family.
Now she moves away from us, hates being carried, heaven knows how I'm going to get near her to clip her nails.
It's heart breaking.
Apart from letting me rub her head while she sits firmly on the floor there's no interaction at all. She used to sit on the couch behind me and groom my hair. Now she doesn't go near the couch.
At the same time we adopted a second male bunny (due to unavoidable circumstances, he was found by some heighbours. he's now also fixed as well) and he's quite happy to be carried and loves Pebbles. Follows her endlessly which may be part of the reason she doesn't want human company any more. or the Vet was rough some how.
I realy miss the amazing personality she had before the operation and would do anything to go back and avoid having it done.
Heart beaking.
Sadly,
Glen

gasayers said:

Taking the advice of many rabbit lovers we got pebbles "fixed" two weeks ago.
I wish we hadn't. She used to jump on the couch for cuddles, bite our feet untill we picked her up and carried her, thump the floor if she was ignored, she was an integril part of the family.
Now she moves away from us, hates being carried, heaven knows how I'm going to get near her to clip her nails.
It's heart breaking.
Apart from letting me rub her head while she sits firmly on the floor there's no interaction at all. She used to sit on the couch behind me and groom my hair. Now she doesn't go near the couch.
At the same time we adopted a second male bunny (due to unavoidable circumstances, he was found by some heighbours. he's now also fixed as well) and he's quite happy to be carried and loves Pebbles. Follows her endlessly which may be part of the reason she doesn't want human company any more. or the Vet was rough some how.
I realy miss the amazing personality she had before the operation and would do anything to go back and avoid having it done.
Heart beaking.
Sadly,
Glen

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She might still be a little sore, my Alfie was grumpy after his op but now he's back to jumping on the sofa and licking me again
Give it time

But you have prevented the risk of uterine cancer which is common in unspayed females :wave:

Rabbits are prey animals so generally don't like being picked up, there are exceptions but none of my 6 like it. If you keep going for picking her up she may just associate you with something she doesn't like. For claw clipping I wrap them in a towel which makes it easier.

It's only been 2 weeks, she still has the wound, hormones can take 6-8 weeks to die down and it is a big op for a small animal so a bit of patience is needed Try and sit with her, let her come to you, offer pellets etc. again it will require patience.

My bonded rabbits prefer the company of each other rather than humans but I can't speak rabbit and can't offer what they can for each other and I love watching them together. Yeah they only want me because they know I give them hay and food but I don't mind that because they're happy

My Benji sulked for a while after being neutered too, but then he went back to his lovable self.

Also, introducing a new rabbit can definitely change the personality. Benji preferred rabbit company to human company, so I found that he spent most of his time with April rather than me. But if I brought him inside he would still lie with me and jump on the sofa with me, I could see he was happier having a friend and living outside.

I guess I hate the change, used to tell and show friends how amazing and affectionate she was, She's gone from part of the family to an aloof boarder.

Fortunately she still has a reasonable relationship with my 9 year old daughter as it's her pet. Pebbles let’s her pick her up and carry/cuddle her a bit.

Hopefully your right and she'll get a bit friendlier as time goes by. Just don't see much point in a pet that doesn't want company after the thrill of her initial behavior.

Very sad but I'll keep you posted if things improve.
Cheers

She might also be feeling your frustration with her. That will make her not want to be near you. So what was initially a pain reaction, and also a trust issue has now become her reacting to your feelings and emotions.

There is plenty of 'point' in having an animal who may not seek out human company- you can give them a good and happy, long life. That in itself can bring huge rewards, even if the rewards were not initially as you saw.

She's not the one who needs to change in this situation. It's you, who needs to work to bring that bond back (and it may not come back as it was but there can still be a semblance of a bond) and it's you who needs to work to accept her for who she is. So, ultimately, the 'issue' lies with you, and not her. That makes it easer to sort because you can control yourself, but you can't control her.

She's still the same bunny, she just needs a little understanding and acceptance. That's all

Sky-O said:

She might also be feeling your frustration with her. That will make her not want to be near you. So what was initially a pain reaction, and also a trust issue has now become her reacting to your feelings and emotions.

There is plenty of 'point' in having an animal who may not seek out human company- you can give them a good and happy, long life. That in itself can bring huge rewards, even if the rewards were not initially as you saw.

She's not the one who needs to change in this situation. It's you, who needs to work to bring that bond back (and it may not come back as it was but there can still be a semblance of a bond) and it's you who needs to work to accept her for who she is. So, ultimately, the 'issue' lies with you, and not her. That makes it easer to sort because you can control yourself, but you can't control her.

She's still the same bunny, she just needs a little understanding and acceptance. That's all

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:thumb::thumb::thumb:

Oh Sky-O I just love you.

Spot on as always :thumb: :wave:

Sky-O said:

She might also be feeling your frustration with her. That will make her not want to be near you. So what was initially a pain reaction, and also a trust issue has now become her reacting to your feelings and emotions.

There is plenty of 'point' in having an animal who may not seek out human company- you can give them a good and happy, long life. That in itself can bring huge rewards, even if the rewards were not initially as you saw.

She's not the one who needs to change in this situation. It's you, who needs to work to bring that bond back (and it may not come back as it was but there can still be a semblance of a bond) and it's you who needs to work to accept her for who she is. So, ultimately, the 'issue' lies with you, and not her. That makes it easer to sort because you can control yourself, but you can't control her.

She's still the same bunny, she just needs a little understanding and acceptance. That's all

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please dont say you wish you hadent got her spayed its as high as 80% of females not spayed get cancer and its a painful way to die........you did the right thing for her and her having a life free from cancer is more important that what we as humans want ......


You can get the bond you had back. Sit on the floor with her and let her come to you, feed her treats and give her a fuss. Never force her to do things she dsnt want to do. Just keep letting her come to you and she should go back to normal

Bear in mind that this may have nothing to do with her spay.
It may be that the hormones are kicking in and she would have displayed these behavoirs even if you hadn't spayed her.

Angel was a lovely wee bunny shed groom me fall asleep on me, cuddle up to me then her hormones licked in and she became a wee terror.
After she was spayed it took a while for those hormones to dissapate from the body.
and now she's even lovelier than before, she is back to grooming me and cuddling upto me and she allows me and only me to pick her up.

Rabbits are prey animals and don't tend to like being picked up, im surprised angel allows me to do everything to her that she does but we have such a great bond and she trusts me completely.

You can repair the bond you had in time, but bear in mind that she has a husbun now and might be like muuuuum I just want to snuggle upto my husbun

And as for not seeing the point in having a pet that doesn't want company, bunny is just being a bunny and is happy in the company of fellow bunnies.
Unfortuneatwly we can never speak bunny language so there will always be some form of barrier and more often than not bunny will always prefer a bunnies company that they understand rather than a great big hulking human who does strange things.

I can see why you're upset, it's not nice going from having a close relationship to getting ignored, especially after a spay when you tend to feel a bit guilty for putting them through it (even though it's for their own good).

Just because her behaviour has changed, doesn't mean it has to stay changed. She maybe still a little sore post spay which might be why she isn't hoping on the sofa with you, plus a new friend means divided attention and all the extra activity will wear her out too. I'd suggest going back to basics and sitting on the floor in her favourite hang out and grooming her and him. Sometimes a little jealously can be used to your advantage and you might find stroking him means she wants a turn too Try hand feeding her dry food, to re-establish yourself as the source of nice things rather than carriers and vet trips. I think you'll find with a bit of time you can be good friends again

As others have said she could probably still be sore, I'm sure you wouldn't feel like jumping onto something much larger than yourself if you'd had major surgery :lol: And as heartbreaking as it is to us as owners, when a rabbit finally has company of their own kind we're often ignored, because they don't need to demand attention from us anymore, they have a friend of their own species that they can properly communicate with, so although she might not be acting as loving towards you (although that could change ) She is probably much much happier not being controlled by hormones and having a friend. Please don't regret getting it done, if I hadn't of had my 3 year old girlie spayed last Tuesday she could of been dead by now from ovarian cancer

gasayers said:

Taking the advice of many rabbit lovers we got pebbles "fixed" two weeks ago.
I wish we hadn't. She used to jump on the couch for cuddles, bite our feet untill we picked her up and carried her, thump the floor if she was ignored, she was an integril part of the family.
Now she moves away from us, hates being carried, heaven knows how I'm going to get near her to clip her nails.
It's heart breaking.
Apart from letting me rub her head while she sits firmly on the floor there's no interaction at all. She used to sit on the couch behind me and groom my hair. Now she doesn't go near the couch.
At the same time we adopted a second male bunny (due to unavoidable circumstances, he was found by some heighbours. he's now also fixed as well) and he's quite happy to be carried and loves Pebbles. Follows her endlessly which may be part of the reason she doesn't want human company any more. or the Vet was rough some how.
I realy miss the amazing personality she had before the operation and would do anything to go back and avoid having it done.
Heart beaking.
Sadly,
Glen

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OMG! I was in the same situation! Shooter was just like that, but after he was fixed- boom! I'm gonna bite your head of if you come near me attitude! I think they lose a bit of trust after what they've been though(lol-in my opinion) now when shooter sees the cage he runs his heart out! I left him alone for a bit. I think just sit near him and act like they are not there also with the couch thing, I think he is too sore to jump up as in other comments all rabbits are different remember she's just grumpy heheh typical bunny sunny cutie pies
Good luck^^

Sky-O said:

She might also be feeling your frustration with her. That will make her not want to be near you. So what was initially a pain reaction, and also a trust issue has now become her reacting to your feelings and emotions.

There is plenty of 'point' in having an animal who may not seek out human company- you can give them a good and happy, long life. That in itself can bring huge rewards, even if the rewards were not initially as you saw.

She's not the one who needs to change in this situation. It's you, who needs to work to bring that bond back (and it may not come back as it was but there can still be a semblance of a bond) and it's you who needs to work to accept her for who she is. So, ultimately, the 'issue' lies with you, and not her. That makes it easer to sort because you can control yourself, but you can't control her.

She's still the same bunny, she just needs a little understanding and acceptance. That's all

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well said :thumb:

Give her time - I'm sure if I'd had major abdominal surgery, I wouldn't want to be jumping on anything a mere two weeks afterwards! Nor would I be feeling very sociable.


All my does were spayed (4) and they never had any long term personality changes due to it, except for Poppy, who was a lot calmer and less agressive as a result - but still full of character.

Are you sure she is happy with her new friend? Perhaps she is just feeling stressed out and still painful. Being spayed is a major op, she will be feeling sore still and feeling stressed about that also. As everybody has said, give her time.

Sky-O has hit the nail on the head. An animal shouldn't have to interact with a human to have a "point" in his/her existence. Also, if she is still ok with your daughter, clearly she is associating you with something bad. It could be that you are the one to administer meds, or you are the one who took her to the vets etc.
My bridge bun, Ellie, would refuse to have anything to do with me for a week after she'd have her dentals. She'd run away every time I walked into the room and thump at me. :roll: It's just a case of building up their trust again. Rabbits are sensitive little creatures both physically and emotionally; it's very easy to insult/upset/anger a bunny!

Fenugreek crunchies:

http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/fenugreek-crunchies.html


Absolutely magical at getting a bun 'talking' to you again! Mix and match with her other favorite treats (in moderation of course!) and spend plenty of time sitting on the floor with her. She'll come round.

Hoppit! said:

Fenugreek crunchies:

http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/fenugreek-crunchies.html


Absolutely magical at getting a bun 'talking' to you again! Mix and match with her other favorite treats (in moderation of course!) and spend plenty of time sitting on the floor with her. She'll come round.

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Or Wagg Beetroot Sticks. I know they aren't as healthy as FCs, but even if Little is passed out fast asleep or really really angry with me she'll still leap all over me for one of these things

It sounds to me like she's probably so happy with her new friend she doesn't need you as much as she did before. While it might be upsetting for you to lose the close bond you had before, try to focus on the fact she must be much happier now to have a friend of her own species.

I also agree with the comments that it's up to you to change the situation. You might just need to make more effort with her now that you have competition!

Hiya

A big operation and then new bun in the house are big changes for a bunny. Then there will be the hormone issues as her body comes to terms with the changes.

Two weeks isn't a long time and she will probably need to feel settled in herself again. As the others have said keep working at it and just treat her as normal while she adjusts.

They may be in a bunny shaped body but they have a lot going on in their little heads xx