What should i do?

Hello everyone,

I've only had honey a few months now she is 9 mths old and we got her from someone who could no longer look after her due to the previous owners health issues.

Honey is a house bunny and has free roam and is usually found playing football with the dog or running away with his toys to get him to chase her! she is very happy and content, however we we're wanting to find her a male friend.

The problem is we we're told honey had been spayed which is all good, but obviously i wanted to make sure so we took a trip to the vets. The vets shaved her belly to look for a scar, they found the tiniest scar you could imagine and they said they couldn't be 100% if she had been spayed or not as sometimes the stitching can be so well done that it doesn't leave a scar.

The vet has given me two choices, to either proceed with the surgery and see if she has been spayed or to get her a girlie bunny friend instead.

I would hate to put her through the operation only to find out it wasn't needed but on the other hand i don't want to get her a female friend and have them fight :/

I really am in two minds on what to do?

Much as I wouldn't want to put her through an anaesthetic and operation, that is what I would opt for. In that way you will know exactly what the situation is and can go ahead with getting her a companion.

Some vets can to ultra sounds to check this, bunnies insides are quite small though so you might need a vet quite experienced with them to manage it. It might also be possible to do a blood test for hormones. If you can work it out that's your best option, as if she isn't then you probably want to go ahead and get her done.

Your best option, either way, is a pre-neutered male. Two females are more likely to disagree over territory. Most rescues will have neutered males to pair up

How about just making sure the male is neutered?
Her behaviour with him might tell you more in the long run if an ultrasound doesn't solve anything.

Do you know her former owner? If you know or can find out what vet they said they used (or did she come with a vaccine card, that has the vet details on it) your vet can ring them up and ask for her file to be transferred to your vet. That will hopefully confirm that the spay was undertaken, or if there is no file, it probably suggests that she isn't.

Personally if you're unable to get it confirmed for certain through other ways, I would opt for surgery. Whatever you decide I would recommend a neutered male as a friend, that's far more likely to work than 2 females, especially if one of them is potentially unspayed.

If she isn't showing any hormonal behaviour she might possibly be spayed. I would assume she was then watch her behaviour when your introduce her to a neutered male. The bonding would have to take place in a neutral area as females can be territorial.

I guess all buns are different but introducing a new bun, even a neutered male to an unspayed female could be a recipe for disaster as like said, females can be very territorial. If it was the other way around i.e the male first it would be easier.

You could perhaps try a neutered male and see what her reaction is but you may have to be prepared to split them and have separate housing arrangements until she is spayed (assuming she isn't already). As every bun is different though I don't think you would ever know for certain just by behavior. If you do go down this route, make sure the male was neutered over 6 weeks or so ago as they can still be fertile.

For a successful bond though (or best chance) you want her to be spayed, not to mention the health consequences of her not being spayed. I understand your reluctance but having her checked now may be a good option. If it was me I would have to find out for sure before i go forward with a bond. Make sure you have a plan B for the failed bond i.e they can live separately or you haven't committed to keeping the new rabbit.

It is a tricky one and it comes down to your decision. I have a bonded pair and it's great seeing them happy together. Good luck!!!

As much as I would not want to put her through surgery I think I would opt for it as if she is unspayed your best to find out now and avoid health complications down the road so if you have a good rabbit savvy vet and Honey is a healthy bun I would go with it then go to a rescue a month or so after to find her a friend. Some rescues do 'bunny dating' where Honey could actually choose her partner!

This is a similar situation we found ourselves in when we chose Cookie from a rescue, they were told by the previous owners that she was spayed but a few days before we were due to go and bring our girl home she started building a nest which could mean one of two things either she was pregnant and getting ready for her kits or she thought she was pregnant so I get a call to say she was going into surgery to check- thank God she wasnt pregnant but she also was not spayed!
Seeing them together is so wonderful!

I recently posted on another thread that there is a procedure to find if a female rabbit is neutered that involves a series of blood tests and an injection to stimulate any remaining uterine tissue. We had this done for one of our rabbits a month or two ago. It cost £100 which is more than a spay but it was better for bunny as much less invasive than opening her up. The lab results do take 2 weeks to come back so you have to be patient.