Not an Urgent Question, but Curious

[housetb]

My little Rupert has been healthy and growing since we got him almost 2 months ago.

Lately, my wife and I have noticed he is starting to smell kinda odd (especially after going pee). We thought it was the veggies we were feeding him (and we had just introduced red tomatoes to him about a week prior to noticing this smell). We have stopped the tomatoes and it seems to have gone away some, but he is still smelling a little. Is this a sign that he needs to be neutered? He has definitely reached sexual maturity because he has been showing signs of that (and we have estimated that he is about 4 months, almost 5 months, old). He is the only rabbit we have though, so is it necessary to get him neutered? I was also wondering, how much does that typically cost? Thanks for the help!

 

[MiniLopHop]

Neutering will help with the smell and also prevent other hormal behaviors such as humping or marking territory or being as destructive in general. I think, just like cats and dogs, neutering your rabbit makes for a better behaved pet that integrates into the family better. It also prevents cancer, not such a high incidence in males as females, but why take the chance?

As for cost, that can be widely differnt in various locations. Males are generally cheaper than females because the procedure is less invasive. Call your vet to see what they charge. Make sure they are well educated with rabbit specidic care.

 

[Tuckerbunnies]

Unneutered bucks can have like a musky smell and you can usually smell it when they have just had a wee or does he spray as that also can smell strong and musky.
Is his bottom wet at all as he could have a urinary infection as they can smell quite bad when they have this.

 

[missyscove]

Have you ever cleaned his scent glands? They produce a sort of musky smell. Some rabbits never need them cleaned and others need them cleaned fairly regularly. Here's a link to our library thread on scent glands.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=55074&forum_id=10

 

[Pipp]

Tuckerbunnies wrote:

Unneutered bucks can have like a musky smell and you can usually smell it when they have just had a wee or does he spray as that also can smell strong and musky.
Is his bottom wet at all as he could have a urinary infection as they can smell quite bad when they have this.

:yeahthat:

Always good to make sure. If the pee is thick, dark and smelly, it's dehydration and/or infection. Ditto with leaky, it's more than puberty setting in.

I haven't had a lot of unneutered males, but the ones I have had either sprayed me (and they're great shots with streams of pee coming straight at you) or circled me continuously for their 'courting'. (Female rabbits must be very patient!)

Neutering is best.

The rates here are around $110, but they can go up to $200 and higher. Best to shop around. Neutering isn't too hard.

If you end up not able to get a rabbit-savvy vet, you/we can look up the techniques used for the suturing (it's here somewhere) and make sure the vet you chose has the information and agrees to use it.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat: not much of anything to add to what everyone else said.

 

[housetb]

Fantastic! Thanks everyone for the input and advice. I have noticed the smell diminish even more over the last day since I posted. I am starting to think it was veggies, but I am still going to look into neutering because it seems to be a good idea. Thanks again!