not binkied in days..wont come out of her pen and is not herself

[zoesmom]

My one year old flemish giant has not been herself for a few days. She normally will jump up on the sofa and sit with me like a dog would and lick my face. I cant hardly bribe her out of the pen. Any suggestions?

 

[BunMommaD]

Something definitely seems to be up!

Is she peeing and pooing normal?
Eating normal?
Drinking normal?
Is she having any discharge from her eyes, nose..etc?

*those are all the things I try to check whenever I think our boy might not be feeling well...

 

[zoesmom]

No discharge first thing I checked. She just peed a few minutes ago. I will change her litter box in the AM tomorrow to check on the poo. There is some poo in the box but hard to tell if its new or old. I am so worried. I miss her kisses. its so weird she doesnt want to hang with me. normally she attached to my hip.

 

[LakeCondo]

Is she spayed? If not it could be hormonal, maybe a false pregnancy.

Has it been hot in her environment [pen, room, etc]?

 

[zoesmom]

She has not been spayed. Since she is our only pet we decided against it. Her pen is in our spare room and we keep our house at 75 degrees.

What is a false pregnancy?

She is a very spoiled bunny!! and a very loved one. I never thought I would be the type of pet owner to let their pet lick their face but I have become that person.:biggrin2:

 

[BunMommaD]

Just fyi, The incidence of uterine cancer in un spayed females is extremely high! If they aren't going to be breed it's the healthiest thing for them.
I would be checking her poos before tomorrow, if there is an issue with her digestion rabbit can decline very rapidly...
Is it possible something scared her?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Maybe a reaction to 4th fireworks? Definitely should have her neutered as the incidence of uterine cancer is extremely high.

 

[SynysterBunny]

Just because I'm curious, A flemmy owner in all. I've been told with Flemish buns you should wait a little longer on the spaying because they are a large breed, mature slower. I was told 9-12 months was the age to spay. But I'm worried if I don't do it sooner, like the small breed 5-6 months, could she get cancer? ): I mean, I could find a stud and breed her, but I don't WANT to bring more bunnies into a world where so many are unowned. ):

 

[zoesmom]

I am not sure about getting them fixed at any specific time. I am new to this breed I had a dwarf lop eared when I was younger. My husband wanted the biggest rabbit he could find. I just talked to our vet and they said it might be time to get her fixed. She is acting out and being aggressive. Very out of her character. She is rearranging her pen and seems mad. I have seen her eat and drink today and checked her litter box everything seems to be on the up and up. Just her being angry.:?

 

[SynysterBunny]

Same with me, fiance wanted BIGGEST RABBIT EVAR, so I found a breeder. I won't say no to an animal.

Thats what I'm wondering though, hormones and what not. Mine has been a little nippy when she's mad lately, and she turned 10 weeks yesterday. Big girl. I just want her to mature to full weight and size before I fix her, but worried about cancer onset from not breeding.

 

[zoesmom]

Ours is getting aggressive and not very nice last few days. I did call her vet..He said lets fix her so I am getting her fixed on thursday.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We've done most of our smaller ones around 4 months and our 4 big ones at 8 months. And yes, Jesse, she's gonna be big. Our Checkered Giant is almost 19 pounds.

 

[LakeCondo]

However, some people who breed their rabbits wait until the rabbits are no longer fertile, about 4 years, to spay them. Uterine cancer tends to show up at age 5+. So spaying at age 1-2 would be ok, age 1 being better than 2, 3 better than 3, etc.

 

[zoesmom]

Zoe is just turned a year old last month. After she is spayed will she stop growing ? I hope it helps her snap out of this angry mood..its breaking my heart, She wont sit in my lap she wont come when I call her.

 

[LakeCondo]

How much they grow has nothing to do with being spayed or not.

 

[SynysterBunny]

LakeCondo wrote:

How much they grow has nothing to do with being spayed or not.

Is this true? I'm not too sure. Maybe its different from other animals because when working alongside a vet I've watched a few procedures on horses. And, when a colt is castrated early, it usually doesn't fill out muscle wise all the way, doesn't get that stallion-y crest on his neck. Maybe its different, but I've always seen most animals not able to sexually mature or grow, usually get stunted. That's my worry. Because they don't have those hormones helping them to develop.

 

[majorv]

Most rabbits, except the giant breeds,are considered grown by around6 months. The flemish, at one year, probably doesn't have that much more growing to do anyway.

 

[LakeCondo]

You might want to do a search on this, as we had this same topic come up recently. I don't know about horses, but I've never heard of a Great Dane being stunted. Maybe there is some stunting when it's done very early. A percentage of race horses are geldings & they don't seem stunted to me.

 

[MyBabyHasPaws]

Dogs do get stunted. A lot of people who tend to show their dogs dont fix at all. Dogs tend to fill out more and show more muscle if they are not fixed at an early age. If I can remember correctly I had a talk with a vet about this and he told me that it can mess up their bone development. Not sure though, as I've never really compared.

 

[wendymac]

There were studies done with horses, and it's proven that a stallion will grow MORE the earlier he's gelded. Our current stallion now stands 15.3h. If he had been gelded, he would have matured to over 16.1h (going by length of cannon bone, string-tests, genetics, etc.). And the stallion crest isn't a good thing, either.