Neutered rabbit still giving off "fight" scent?

[Ozzie]

We have had all three of our rabbits neutered. With our youngest, Bugs, there was a bit of a problem.

When we first took him in, the vet told us that only one of his testicles had dropped, and they weren't sure if they got both of them. A lab test later revealed that what they thought was the second testicle was in fact just some fatty tissue. They asked us to wait a couple months and then bring him back in so they could find and remove the second testicle (at no additional charge.) We did this and they said that while it took some searching, they found and removed the second one.

However, we have noticed that occasionally Bugs and Thumper will squabble a bit, and when they do one of them gives off that musky "fight" or "warning" scent. We believe it's most likely Bugs that is doing it. Does this mean it's possible that the vet clinic actually didn't get his other testicle and didn't tell us? If that's possible, obviously we would need to have him looked at somewhere else because we know this could be harmful to his health.

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some of ours that have been neutered still produce a strong smell. Don't know why that is.

 

[missyscove]

It sounds like you're talking about the musky odor produced by their scent glands. They'll definitely keep doing that neutered or unneutered. It's just another way of marking their territories. Cleaning their scent glands might help.

 

[Ozzie]

Thank you so much for your replies. We were getting worried it meant that he still had one testicle which could lead to cancer, which is bad enough, but which we are particularly sensitive about as my mother died from cancer. We trust the vet clinic we take our "kids" to but we knew they could also have made a mistake. (Though I imagine they would have told us if they weren't sure.)

As I said, though, we were never really sure which of the two were giving off the scent. If we knew it was Thump it would be fine since we were sure he was completely neutered. Since Hoppy stays in his own pen and rarely interacts with the other two (I'll explain that in another thread sometime) he never gives it off.

As for cleaning the scent glands, the scent doesn't really bother us, except that we were worried it may have meant he wasn't fully neutered. Now thankfully we know that's not the case.

Thanks again for the responses. This is a load off our minds.

 

[missyscove]

Here's a link to the library thread on scent glands.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=55074&forum_id=10

If you flip a bun over and go to clean them, you'll smell that distinctive musky smell and can probably confirm for yourselves if that's what you've been smelling.

I just lost my Fiona to metastasized mammary cancer and I've lost a fair number of human loved ones to cancer as well so I understand your worries.

 

[tamsin]

If you're worried, the vet can possibly do a blood test to check testosterone levels I don't know how much that would cost though or for certain the can do that for bunnies.

 

[Maureen Las]

Rabbits do continue to produce a musky odor after neutering, however, it is possible that not all of the testicle was taken out if the vet had problems finding it or it had not descended

The cancer worry is mainly with unspayed females and there is some cancer risk with males, howeverI would be more concerned with him being able to impregnate anintact female rabbit ( if you have one)

I had not thought about getting hormone testosterone levels checked nor have I heard about it with rabbits but you could check into it or get a 2nd opinion with another rabbit saavy vet ( to ease your mind)

 

[Ozzie]

angieluv wrote:

The cancer worry is mainly with unspayed females and there is some cancer risk with males, however I would be more concerned with him being able to impregnate an intact  female  rabbit  ( if you have one)

It's funny you mention that, just the other day we were talking about possibly getting a female as a companion for our oldest, Hoppy. The wife at first said we wouldn't need to get her spayed since all ours are neutered, but I said that we actually would still need to due to the cancer risk.

Getting a female, however, is a matter for a whole 'nother thread.