Leader of the Pack
Well-Known Member
I know you guys don't know me and my family very well yet; but I hope you'll bear with me and trust me when I say that I am very conscientious where our pets are concerned...just better versed in the ways of cats and dogs....or so it seems.:?
I "really" could use some advice and counsel on how best to handle a situation that just developed with Miss Sidney last night. It was quite interesting around here to say the least. I probably should give you the specifics about her first.
She came to live with us on March 13th. At the time I was told she was about 8 weeks old. I acclimated her to her little home/hutch with full intention of allowing her free roam of the house. All my cords are "bunny proofed", and it's only been in the last few weeks that she has gotten large enough that she has started jumping up on furniture, and even found her way into the cats window seat, where she seems to like to lay with the cats and look out the window. The only behavior that I am hard pressed to stop her from doing.....which some of you guys may find objectionable (and I won't mind if you tell me so...I'll learn as we go along and find a way to stop her) is using the cat litter pans. I scoop litter pans around here 3 times a day, and since Miss Sidney finds "The Cat Room" much to her likeing, I hope I'm not putting her health in harms way by allowing her to do this. But I digress.
Last night, during Sidney's typical active period she was running and playing with the cats and her "playful" time suddenly turned into a game of "hump the cat".
The cats handled it very well. The larger cats just threw a paw over her back and rolled her off. But a smaller rescue kitty that we have, whose growth was stunted, didn't fair so well. Sidney got on top of him and covered him up and when I eased in to take Sidney away she had hold of M&M's scruff. It didn't hurt him, I checked for marks and he was fine. Just a little shocked I imagine because up to now the two have not had an interaction that way.
All our furry-family is either spayed or neutered. Which just leaves Sidney.She seemed to be so excited that I finally gave her a time out for the rest of the night in her hutch. I hated too, and I know she wasn't very happy with me about that. But I figured it was best to give her and the cats a break at least until I could gather my thoughts this morning. This morning I allowed her out and about again and so far today she has been a little lady again. Oh, and I did double check to make sure we had a "female"....
. We've never had a female rabbit exhibit the type of behavior that she did....with the cats. I really wondered if my eyes had decieved me and "Sidney" was a boy. But no, she's all girl.
I had mentioned in my introduction blog that we live in an area where there are basically no exotic pet vets around at all. There was one about 20 minutes away from us 3 years ago but he has since retired. I called that vet clinic this morning to see if they were doing rabbit spays/neuters and they are not. They told me they have had one rabbit surgery at their clinic in a year, and it was a male. The receptionist gave me the phone numbers for two vets in Memphis, TN that are exotic pet vets. The problem is that Memphis is over an hours drive from where we live, and I am an Epileptic (controlled) which means that I'm personally not allowed to drive long distances.
What I'd like to know...and I hope I haven't all ready worn you out....while I know that Sidney would probably benefit in the long run if she were fixed; considering the problems associated with being able to get her fixed...is there a chance that....
A) Her behavior with the cats could be something more in line with an act of dominance similar to what cats and dogs will often do toward one another even after they have been fixed? As our vet used to tell our clients, animals that have been altered loose their ability to create babies, but they don't loose their drive. Also, with dogs this display can often be an attempt to show dominance.
B) With your experience, do female rabbits go into heat and if they are not mated, exhibit this behavior...so that it may be something that we could learn to work with when she goes into heat.
C) We don't plan to have any other rabbits other than her. Would this do anything to slow down her cycles. I know that sometimes with cats we've rescued, that not having a tom around, or other health issuescan affect or delaytheir heat cycles.
I really don't mean to come off sounding like a totally irresponsible and stupid bunny mom. But we had such a horrible experience when we had Biscuit altered, and then having him die like he did....when I got Sidney I specifically made sure we had a female expecting that she would be ok if we were unable or chose notto have her altered.
Was I totally wrong about that? Your opinions and advice and counsel would be greatly appreciated. I am such a hard nose when it comes to having cats and dogs altered that I really am ashamed and fear some of the responses I might get. If we really need to get her fixed I will see what we can do.
Thank you ahead of time. Terri
I "really" could use some advice and counsel on how best to handle a situation that just developed with Miss Sidney last night. It was quite interesting around here to say the least. I probably should give you the specifics about her first.
She came to live with us on March 13th. At the time I was told she was about 8 weeks old. I acclimated her to her little home/hutch with full intention of allowing her free roam of the house. All my cords are "bunny proofed", and it's only been in the last few weeks that she has gotten large enough that she has started jumping up on furniture, and even found her way into the cats window seat, where she seems to like to lay with the cats and look out the window. The only behavior that I am hard pressed to stop her from doing.....which some of you guys may find objectionable (and I won't mind if you tell me so...I'll learn as we go along and find a way to stop her) is using the cat litter pans. I scoop litter pans around here 3 times a day, and since Miss Sidney finds "The Cat Room" much to her likeing, I hope I'm not putting her health in harms way by allowing her to do this. But I digress.
Last night, during Sidney's typical active period she was running and playing with the cats and her "playful" time suddenly turned into a game of "hump the cat".
All our furry-family is either spayed or neutered. Which just leaves Sidney.She seemed to be so excited that I finally gave her a time out for the rest of the night in her hutch. I hated too, and I know she wasn't very happy with me about that. But I figured it was best to give her and the cats a break at least until I could gather my thoughts this morning. This morning I allowed her out and about again and so far today she has been a little lady again. Oh, and I did double check to make sure we had a "female"....
I had mentioned in my introduction blog that we live in an area where there are basically no exotic pet vets around at all. There was one about 20 minutes away from us 3 years ago but he has since retired. I called that vet clinic this morning to see if they were doing rabbit spays/neuters and they are not. They told me they have had one rabbit surgery at their clinic in a year, and it was a male. The receptionist gave me the phone numbers for two vets in Memphis, TN that are exotic pet vets. The problem is that Memphis is over an hours drive from where we live, and I am an Epileptic (controlled) which means that I'm personally not allowed to drive long distances.
What I'd like to know...and I hope I haven't all ready worn you out....while I know that Sidney would probably benefit in the long run if she were fixed; considering the problems associated with being able to get her fixed...is there a chance that....
A) Her behavior with the cats could be something more in line with an act of dominance similar to what cats and dogs will often do toward one another even after they have been fixed? As our vet used to tell our clients, animals that have been altered loose their ability to create babies, but they don't loose their drive. Also, with dogs this display can often be an attempt to show dominance.
B) With your experience, do female rabbits go into heat and if they are not mated, exhibit this behavior...so that it may be something that we could learn to work with when she goes into heat.
C) We don't plan to have any other rabbits other than her. Would this do anything to slow down her cycles. I know that sometimes with cats we've rescued, that not having a tom around, or other health issuescan affect or delaytheir heat cycles.
Was I totally wrong about that? Your opinions and advice and counsel would be greatly appreciated. I am such a hard nose when it comes to having cats and dogs altered that I really am ashamed and fear some of the responses I might get. If we really need to get her fixed I will see what we can do.
Thank you ahead of time. Terri
.
