Re-Bondong with my rabbit

Just recently, I took my two house bunnies to get neutered. Unfortunately one didn't survive, but the other is doing well (he's got a cone for a few more days yet as he can't leave the wound alone). however, I feel I need to bond properly with him. Before the op he would come over and settle down for some strokes before giving a little lick and wandering off, but now he won't really offer any of this. Since the op we've had his cage in the living room where we can keep an eye on him and he will run and sniff and try to crawl into every space possible. He won't show any of the previous affection though. At the moment I'm just treating it as if he were new, ignoring him to show I'm no therat, offering a little treat (basil leaf - he loves them!) if he does something I like, hoping he will become affectionate and trusting. I'd like to groom him properly but he's lost a lot of confidence in me because recently it's all been man-handling to take to the vets, take his cone on/off etc and he wont sit still for any strokes. He actively hates it if we try to stroke his head when he has the collar on, despite loving it before. Any advice? The bunny we lost was really affectionate despite being very young, and I'd love it if we could get the same level off this one (eventually!)
Many thanks

It's bound to have shaken him up a little, but you are doing the right things, eventually I'm sure he will come round again. I'm not sure he needs a collar on, it's very rare for that to be necessary tbh

Not sure about the collar either, but when its been off Dusty was all over the area of the op. Thing is, he's a very furry Lionhead, and its hard to tell exactly where he's licking, but the vet said she's seen a bunny tear its skin after a neutering and as Dusty was paying attention to that particular place, its better to be safe than sorry. TBH, he looks as though he's ok with it on bar not being able to clean himself very well. We groom when we can but its a compromise between getting him still and brushing and not distressing him too much. We're particularly worried as he lost his brother due to stress (so the vet told us - he collapsed as they did a pre-op blood test). There's no way I'm going putting him through another procedure if I can avoid it. I have also discovered the exciting past time of spoon feeding him his fresh cecals *barf*.

BlindXX said:

Not sure about the collar either, but when its been off Dusty was all over the area of the op. Thing is, he's a very furry Lionhead, and its hard to tell exactly where he's licking, but the vet said she's seen a bunny tear its skin after a neutering and as Dusty was paying attention to that particular place, its better to be safe than sorry. TBH, he looks as though he's ok with it on bar not being able to clean himself very well. We groom when we can but its a compromise between getting him still and brushing and not distressing him too much. We're particularly worried as he lost his brother due to stress (so the vet told us - he collapsed as they did a pre-op blood test). There's no way I'm going putting him through another procedure if I can avoid it. I have also discovered the exciting past time of spoon feeding him his fresh cecals *barf*.

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I can totally understand why you are nervous under the circumstances I just had a look as I remember reading an old thread about rabbits wearing vests to stop them bothering with spay/neuter wounds, here is one of them, and a link to another one on that one too. I think someone made something from a baby vest!
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...-May-14-U-D-Call-the-fashion-police!-42/page3

Bleugh at feeding cecals :lol: but it is important they eat them :thumb:

Weirdly, after writing this, he's calmed down a bit. Let me stroke his head today, when he was chilling. Even got a few tooth clicks. Looks like its on the up! Checked the link, thanks, vest looks good. I'll consider that if there's ever a next time (by the the time I've ordered it and its arrived, its collar off time anyway, for this instance). And the sooner the smell from those soft poos goes, the better!

thats good that he's feeling calmer :thumb: