Does my female need to be neutered to have a companion ?

Hello,this is my first post so sorry if I'm in the wrong De to on . I took on my friends 5 month old u neutered girl. daisy is adorable ..loves company ..sitting with my 3 cats etc. but I feel she is lonely. I asked at vets how much to neuter and they said £120 . I understand it's a tricky op but I just can't afford that at minute. could she Def not live with a neutered male or other female. I have a large shed and separate cage till bonded . I would want to get from a rescue centre . my cats are all done but there op was 50 each ..I'm not saying I wont get her done but will be a couple of months time . Thank you for reading this

I would not try to bond an unspayed girl. They can be very very very hormonal and the bond would most likely fail. It would also be fairly hard to find a rescue to rehome to bond with an unspayed female.

Also getting her done is very important not only so that she can be happily bonded but because it removes the risk of uterine cancer which is a huge risk in rabbits, over 80% of unspayed females will get it by the age of five!

I think your best bet would be to save for the spay, and then look to find her a husbun a few months after that :thumb:

Also have you looked at insurance? I only say because when buns get poorly they have a habit of racking up quite impressive vets bills in short spaces of time. One of my girls managed over £700 in 3 days a few months ago :shock: I was immensely relieved that the insurance paid it for me! :lol:

Hele's advice is very sensible and I am not disagreeing but given your circumstances and the fact that your female rabbit is living alone in the shed, she may well be better off with a partner as the winter months are ahead. As she is young and may not be too territorial yet, it would be a good idea to find a neutered male rabbit, not female, as 2 females are most likely to fight.

It sounds like your shed is a good size where you can put a big litter tray filled with hay in the hopes that the bunnies will become litter trained, if not already.

When you can afford a spay, you would have to confine the female for a short period for her to recover. Being spayed will mean she won't get broody and pester the boy, and of course she won't get uterine cancer later on.

Before your get a second rabbit please consider what you will do if one or both become ill. They will need also to be vaccinated every year, this all needs money so it is a commitment for possibly the next 10 years.

In short, yes she will need to be neutered, for all the reasons that Hele has given

I'm not trying to put the cat amongst the proverbial pigeons, but I've never neutered my females and they have always lived with a neutered male. I had 2 standard female rex with a neutered male, I've had 4 unneutered females with one neutered male (very large hutch and run combo) and never ever had any issues. So long as they have space to run when the female hormones kick in (which has never been that often) it's never been a problem for my rabbits. It's fair to say that I have the occasional litter off most of my females so maybe that affects them and makes them less hormonal, I dunno, but I personally think that it's worth a try particularly if you are rescuing a bun and giving your female some company as well. I also had numerous unneutered females living together when I was younger, and although the bonding could be tricky I never had any long term problems at all.

kyoto49 said:

I'm not trying to put the cat amongst the proverbial pigeons, but I've never neutered my females and they have always lived with a neutered male. I had 2 standard female rex with a neutered male, I've had 4 unneutered females with one neutered male (very large hutch and run combo) and never ever had any issues. So long as they have space to run when the female hormones kick in (which has never been that often) it's never been a problem for my rabbits. It's fair to say that I have the occasional litter off most of my females so maybe that affects them and makes them less hormonal, I dunno, but I personally think that it's worth a try particularly if you are rescuing a bun and giving your female some company as well. I also had numerous unneutered females living together when I was younger, and although the bonding could be tricky I never had any long term problems at all.

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Its difficult because we here tend not to encourage breeding at all, in fact we actively discourage it as it causes females stress and can cause many health problems. We mostly neuter our females because of the huge risk of uterine, ovarian, mammarian and cancer in later life (risk bring 80%) and the fact that it makes them much calmer and they don't feel they need to ''look'' for a male to breed with.

Thanks for all the replies .even more confided lol. I will get her neutered.my 3 cars are just got to save as it's so much more expensive ..I have got insurance for her. I'm luck to get hay and straw for free from my parents farm.she is very loved and so affectionate but I think as well as our company a companion would help her . p's I NEVER breed any of my pets as I think it's cruel and there's enough unwanted sadly out there ]

Sarah1991 said:

Its difficult because we here tend not to encourage breeding at all, in fact we actively discourage it as it causes females stress and can cause many health problems. We mostly neuter our females because of the huge risk of uterine, ovarian, mammarian and cancer in later life (risk bring 80%) and the fact that it makes them much calmer and they don't feel they need to ''look'' for a male to breed with.

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I understand that, I was just saying that it's possible to bond an unneutered female and neutered male as I have done it multiple times. Surely it's better that this poster tries it and is able not only to rescue another unfortunate boy but also make her existing female happy.

Lets hope you discourage breeding too much, they'll be no rabbits to love! My personal opinion is that having babies is the most natural thing that can happen to a rabbit - they aren't breeding machines for nothing! Having said that, I only allow my females one litter max a year, and every single baby I have bred has gone to friends. I can trace every single one and do indeed check regularly that all the babies I breed are happy and healthy. I'm also in a position to take every single one back if necessary. Not every person who breeds rabbits is actually in it for money with no regard for the welfare of the babies they produce or the adults that produce them. Please don't tar anyone who allows there rabbit to have babies as irresponsible. Not a single one of my babies will ever be a burden to any welfare society and every single one has only been homed to people who ensure they have a massive hutch and permanent run. Having a baby from me requires a home visit and multiple questions and almost every homing has been in pairs to ensure the best life for the babies.

Finally I'm a massive supporter of rescued animals. My dog was rescued in Spain before he came to me and is neutered, my cats are from the Cats Protection who I worked for and are also neutered, so I get the no to breeding thing, and as I said in another thread, most of my males are neutered and live with the female group quite successfully, even when there are a litter of babies around. I try and replicate a social group as the rabbits would live in the wild, i.e babies, males and females all together only my males are neutered bar one stud who lives seperate, for obvious reasons.

kyoto49 said:

I understand that, I was just saying that it's possible to bond an unneutered female and neutered male as I have done it multiple times. Surely it's better that this poster tries it and is able not only to rescue another unfortunate boy but also make her existing female happy.

Lets hope you discourage breeding too much, they'll be no rabbits to love! My personal opinion is that having babies is the most natural thing that can happen to a rabbit - they aren't breeding machines for nothing! Having said that, I only allow my females one litter max a year, and every single baby I have bred has gone to friends. I can trace every single one and do indeed check regularly that all the babies I breed are happy and healthy. I'm also in a position to take every single one back if necessary. Not every person who breeds rabbits is actually in it for money with no regard for the welfare of the babies they produce or the adults that produce them. Please don't tar anyone who allows there rabbit to have babies as irresponsible. Not a single one of my babies will ever be a burden to any welfare society and every single one has only been homed to people who ensure they have a massive hutch and permanent run. Having a baby from me requires a home visit and multiple questions and almost every homing has been in pairs to ensure the best life for the babies.

Finally I'm a massive supporter of rescued animals. My dog was rescued in Spain before he came to me, my cats are from the Cats Protection who I worked for, so I get the no to breeding thing.

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Yes but you must understand that those homes that those babies went to, the space in their heart could have been filled with a rescue rabbit that was already waiting for a home rather than another baby rabbit. Is that not a better message to promote?

I'm just saying, that's my opinion, I know others differ...

kyoto49 said:

I understand that, I was just saying that it's possible to bond an unneutered female and neutered male as I have done it multiple times. Surely it's better that this poster tries it and is able not only to rescue another unfortunate boy but also make her existing female happy.

Lets hope you discourage breeding too much, they'll be no rabbits to love! My personal opinion is that having babies is the most natural thing that can happen to a rabbit - they aren't breeding machines for nothing! Having said that, I only allow my females one litter max a year, and every single baby I have bred has gone to friends. I can trace every single one and do indeed check regularly that all the babies I breed are happy and healthy. I'm also in a position to take every single one back if necessary. Not every person who breeds rabbits is actually in it for money with no regard for the welfare of the babies they produce or the adults that produce them. Please don't tar anyone who allows there rabbit to have babies as irresponsible. Not a single one of my babies will ever be a burden to any welfare society and every single one has only been homed to people who ensure they have a massive hutch and permanent run. Having a baby from me requires a home visit and multiple questions and almost every homing has been in pairs to ensure the best life for the babies.

Finally I'm a massive supporter of rescued animals. My dog was rescued in Spain before he came to me, my cats are from the Cats Protection who I worked for, so I get the no to breeding thing.

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They're breeding machines because wild rabbits had to be to have any chance of surviving as a species. Lots of babies means at least a few are likely to survive for long enough to breed themselves. Domestic rabbits do not need to breed, and are much happier when spayed/neutered overall. Unless you are clued up with genetics, I'm afraid there is little regard of welfare there if the rabbits are allowed to breed.

OP, neutering is definitely better but if you are worried about money I'd say look at insurance too, my two have cost me a fortune. I wish I'd insured them!

I'm sorry if I opened a can of worms I just wanted to know if my bunny can love with a friend as unneutered clearly meaning a neutered male or female. I intend to save to get her done as doubt have a credit card to whack it on . I have insurance for daisy and when if ever we get a 2nd will be insured too like my cats .

Sarah1991 said:

Yes but you must understand that those homes that those babies went to, the space in their heart could have been filled with a rescue rabbit that was already waiting for a home rather than another baby rabbit. Is that not a better message to promote?

I'm just saying, that's my opinion, I know others differ...

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Whist I think that may be the case with some people, the reality is that all the people I have sold my rabbits too would just have gone to the pet shop or Pets at Home to get a baby had they not known me. None of them sadly would consider a rescue rabbit, it's sad but that's the way people are, they want a baby rabbit, end of.

I do understand what you are saying; I can't fathom why anyone would spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds buying a pedigree cat or dog when there are healthy animals languishing in kennels for months and months. But they do........

I think the discussion about breeding needs to go elsewhere.

Kyoto..this is a pro rescue group and most people do not agree with breeding so please keep your opinions to yourself and please do not recommend breeding or not neutering your females. It is possible to bond entire females to other buns but we all know the risks involved with that.

OP. Your question is a good one. As others have said definitely get her neutered first. Have you rang other vets in the area (make sure they are rabbit savvy!) as prices do vary greatly. I paid about £90 for a dental and spay at my vets.

You might be able to bond without neutering (obviously with the male neutered), it was quite common before spaying became a safe operation. It can be more tricky though and some rescues do insist both bunnies are neutered first. Chat with the rescue you'd plan on adopting from and see what they say.

£120 is on the upper end of prices so the other thing to do is shop around a bit, obviously you want a vet good with rabbits and experienced with spaying them, but the costs can still vary within that group so you might be able to find a slightly cheaper option so you don't have to save for so long

Vegan_Bunny said:

I think the discussion about breeding needs to go elsewhere.

Kyoto..this is a pro rescue group and most people do not agree with breeding so please keep your opinions to yourself and please do not recommend breeding or not neutering your females. It is possible to bond entire females to other buns but we all know the risks involved with that.

OP. Your question is a good one. As others have said definitely get her neutered first. Have you rang other vets in the area (make sure they are rabbit savvy!) as prices do vary greatly. I paid about £90 for a dental and spay at my vets.

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We all know that generally, this is a pro-rescue forum and that the vast majority of us do not agree with breeding (myself included). However, Tamsin has said over and over again that this is primarily a pro-bunny forum and you can't just turn around and tell a new member to "keep their opinions to themselves" because they do things differently. It's rude.

It's not how we welcome new members to the forum. This place is about education, if we drive away breeders/pet-shop buyers etc etc how will they ever learn the plight of rescue bunnies and potentially change their ways? People can give whatever opinions they want... it's up to the rest of us to research and then do what we feel is right. The OP has had advice to spay their bunny before attempting to bond, and they've said they'll get her spayed, so that's great

First hello and congrats on your new bunny! I just wanted to suggest making sure you have a good bunny savvy vet as not all have the same experience. Also i paid £74 to have mine done so you might be able to get it done cheaper elsewhere. All the best!

chloemurray said:

We all know that generally, this is a pro-rescue forum and that the vast majority of us do not agree with breeding (myself included). However, Tamsin has said over and over again that this is primarily a pro-bunny forum and you can't just turn around and tell a new member to "keep their opinions to themselves" because they do things differently. It's rude.

It's not how we welcome new members to the forum. This place is about education, if we drive away breeders/pet-shop buyers etc etc how will they ever learn the plight of rescue bunnies and potentially change their ways? People can give whatever opinions they want... it's up to the rest of us to research and then do what we feel is right. The OP has had advice to spay their bunny before attempting to bond, and they've said they'll get her spayed, so that's great

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Good post.

chloemurray said:

We all know that generally, this is a pro-rescue forum and that the vast majority of us do not agree with breeding (myself included). However, Tamsin has said over and over again that this is primarily a pro-bunny forum and you can't just turn around and tell a new member to "keep their opinions to themselves" because they do things differently. It's rude.

It's not how we welcome new members to the forum. This place is about education, if we drive away breeders/pet-shop buyers etc etc how will they ever learn the plight of rescue bunnies and potentially change their ways? People can give whatever opinions they want... it's up to the rest of us to research and then do what we feel is right. The OP has had advice to spay their bunny before attempting to bond, and they've said they'll get her spayed, so that's great

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On this thread, yes. This thread is not about breeding so I don't understand why this has even been brought up.

Vegan_Bunny said:

On this thread, yes. This thread is not about breeding so I don't understand why this has even been brought up.

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It was sort of my fault because Kyoto mentioned ''having a occasional litters from my females'' or something and I went into ''welfare mode'' and started explaining how it doesn't do them any good and can cause health issues and how they should be spayed to prevent cancer

I previously paired my mini lop neutered boy (ex-stray) with his girlfriend mini-lop (rescue) before she was spayed and it was ok, however he was exceptionally docile and she was a bossy cow so it was a match made in heaven! Their dynamics didn't change after she was spayed a month later although she was nicer to me!

I miss these two v much

P.S Why not get a few prices then see if your fav vet can price match but check what is included in the quote as some vets don't incl post op pains meds etc.