Update on BunBun’s Possible Testosterone Imbalance

[Dee]

Hi Everyone,
Sorry it’s been a while, as usual. Just wanted to update you all on my 6 year old neutered BunBun and his “unneutered” behavior. I had posted a few times over the years about his overly amorous ways with his spayed wife, Nelli. He chases, humps, nips her bum and belly, and in the past few months, has added spraying her with urine to his romantic routine. He also sprays everything else in the vicinity of Nell- a bit of an issue since he’s a free range indoor bunny. He hasn’t had any bloodwork actually proving a testosterone imbalance, or an ultrasound to view the possibility of an adrenal tumor or testicle remnant left from.his neuter. I feel that to put him through expensive, stressful tests that require sedation and hours at the vets is probably more harmful than helpful to him. If he was suffering or ill, I would need to put him through tests to help him, but he is happy and healthy- just smelly and sometimes obnoxious!

Last I checked in, I was looking for natural herbal remedies to lower testosterone in Bun. I also started giving him melatonin- about .5 mg nightly, but after a couple weeks I kind of slacked of on that- I should revisit that because most supplements take a while to show results. I looked into saw palmetto and black cohosh, but ultimately was too afraid of giving too much so I never began a regular regimen of either.

I have started giving Bun a few fresh spearmint leaves some days, and I think I see an improvement in his behavior then. I will post results once I make a chart documenting results on days with/ without spearmint ( spearmint is said to lower testosterone).

My vet recommended a behavior specialist from House Rabbit come to observe my rabbits, which is a great idea. I just need to follow through with it! Basically, at this point, I’m just letting things be. I separate the bunnies when Bun is chasing and bothering Nelli and will not be redirected. Many nights they stay in separate rooms so we can all get a break. Bun is okay being without Nell if I’m sleeping in the room with him. During the day,if I’m in the kitchen with Nelli and Bun is in the living room with the 3′ gate up, he will try to jump the gate. Its so scary, because he’s so little and almost makes it, but ends up crashing to the floor. Because of this, we can’t keep them separated without supervision, for fear of Bun hurting himself. As for the spraying, I wash floors and furniture a lot, and am buying a carpet cleaner. I really don’t want my house to stink, but when I see the bunnies in a peaceful moment cuddling, I feel that separating them because of that would be denying them happiness.

However, it really bothers me that Nelli now smells like pee . Hopefully she doesn’t mind- my vet said maybe she thinks she’s wearing a sexy perfume- LOL I love my vet. Bathing her is too stressful and would need to be a repeat process since Bun sprays her daily. Does anyone have any advice on this? I am not sure what, if anything, I can do.

So that’s about where we’re at- I will keep everyone updated on any breakthroughs or possible solutions, including the spearmint leaves. And if anyone has ideas on helping my poor smelly Nelli, I’d love to hear them .
Thanks!

[LongEaredLions]

Thanks for keeping us updated!
If you rub some corn starch into Nelli’s fur, let it sit for a few minutes, then comb it out, it should remove at least some of the smell.

[Dee]

Thank you, LongEaredLions! I’ll do that today

[Dee]

Hi again , LongEaredLions,

I just used the cornstarch on Nelli and it worked beautifully! I thought we were going to have a problem cuz right after the cornstarch application, Nelli decided she’d had enough and hopped off in a huff and a cloud of white powder lol. Fortunately. I didn’t put any near her head! But the she was persuaded to return, and I combed it out. She smells fresh, no pee odor, and her coat is soft and fluffy. Awesome trick! Thanks again!

[Author]

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