Why I’ve chosen not to neuter my rabbit.

[Cheyanne May]

So basically I was just searching through rabbit forums (not only on here, other sites as well) about neutering. 
I’ve been in this argument with myself since I got my rabbit but I am %100 certain that I don’t want to neuter him.
So, one lady in the forum I found, had said she couldn’t really afford to neuter her rabbit but was going to, just because so many people on the forum topic pushed her into doing so. 
So, I commented and told her it was totally her choice and that she didn’t have to listen to anybody, and if she can’t afford it she could always wait until she can.
SO, another lady commented calling me un-educated, saying she hopes I don’t own pets, etc.

So I was furious. Instead of sticking up for myself I left the forum, and I’ve had time to think about it all and honestly, who does she think she is? some kind of rabbit god? 
It is totally up to the rabbits OWNER to decide, not random people you don’t even know on the internet. 

I had full intentions of neutering Pepe when I had a female rabbit, but I don’t have her anymore, so what’s the point?
Not only are there absolutely no rabbit savvy vets in my area, but the ones that do take rabbits have very little experience and charge 4-5 hundred per neuter! and 5-6 hundred per spay. Why am I going to pay some vet who knows very little about rabbits to begin with, that much money when things could go horribly wrong? 
I’m 20 years old and I live on my own, and I certainly do not have five hundred dollars to neuter my rabbit and that’s fine with me. I’ve asked my vet how important it is, and he told me it didn’t matter. Unless I had a female rabbit, then he would recommend it. 

Also, Pepe is the sweetest rabbit I’ve ever come into contact with. He’s never bitten me, and I’ve had him since he was 8 weeks old.
If I could ask Pepe if he wanted to be neutered and he said yes, then I’d do it. But I’m not putting my little guy through that because in my opinion, it seems pointless, and is just another way for vets to make money.

[Bam]

I agree with you. You don’t have to neuter a male rabbit for health reasons, and if he’s an only rabbit, procreation won’t be an issue either. I neutered my first male bunny for behavioral reasons, but if he hadn’t developed those isues, I would never have given neutering him a second thought.

Forums where people get aggressive and rude over differences of opinion are generally best avoided imo. I don’t hang out with people who try to bully me irl, so I see no reason why I should put up with that kind of behavior on the Internet.

[Cheyanne May]

You are totally right, there is no need to associate yourself with rude people, especially on the internet.
We know what’s best for our bunnies!

[Willow_Bunny]

I completely agree with you on this! I don’t see why a stranger who has never met your rabbit thinks it’s okay to tell the owner how to take care of him/her. As a 20 year old rabbit owner myself I totally understand where you are coming from with this issue. Especially being so new to rabbits I find that I’m easily swayed by different opinions. No one needs rude people to tell them that your educated decision not to force your rabbit into a potentially dangerous operation is stupid! I, myself, am in no rush to have my bunny spayed. Simply because right now I can’t afford it and she is the only bun in the house. But I will have her spayed eventually only because I hope to get another one. But that’s WAY in the future and right now she’s a sweety.

I get it.

[Cheyanne May]

Thank you!! I’m so glad other people see where I’m coming from on this subject.
If my Pepe was at risk of health problems being intact, i would definitely consider getting him nuetered. But right now he is a happy, healthy bunny and I do not plan on putting him through an operation that may or may not stop him from peeing on my things. In fact, I’d much rather he peed on my things.

btw – your bunny is so cute!!

[BB Administrator]

I am sorry you had that experience. While any time you post publicly, you are opening yourself up to other opinions, those opinions should be given with respect and in return should be responded to with respect. People feel passionately about different sides of a coin, but lashing out is unacceptable. Many forums, of all kinds, are like that. People can hide behind their computer and say callous things – it’s a strange phenomenon, where if you were in a room full of people face to face, they would be more respectful. Many forums are a free for all. Even here, we try our best to keep it a snooty zone free, but on some occasions people’s emotions can get the better of them.

Our goal in this forum is to educate, and part of that education may include advice about spaying for health reasons. If someone is having behavioral issues, like aggressiveness, spraying and they need it to stop and nothing is working, then advice about neutering/spaying may be given for that. And while that may not solve all issues, as some of those behaviors can still continue on for other reasons, it can be very helpful solution. That type of advice will be given a lot here, but no one is allowed to say hurtful things if there are differing opinions about it. Sometimes when people get wrapped up in this, just hearing a differing opinion can feel like an insult, and that has be to be put in perspective as well.

I think the problem arises, when defensiveness gets feathers ruffled on both sides and instead creating a tone of “Thank you for your advice”, or “Here’s my advice, but the decision is up to you.”, People then feel the need to right fight. People are going to feel strongly about things, the trick is allowing others to disagree (even when you think they are just plain wrong) without it getting snarky. You learn to say thanks, or okay, it’s up to you and move on. (ce la vie)

Helloworld!!

[Cheyanne May]

I love that about Binkybunny. I’ve never had anybody ever make me feel like I was stupid for expressing my opinion, or asking a silly question.
And nobody has ever been “snooty” towards me, and everybody on here is generally awesome.

I know what you mean though about feeling strongly about certain things. Some people just don’t see both sides I guess.

[Willow_Bunny]

I feel the same way Cheyanne does. I enjoy reading the forums on Binkybunny because of all the different advise and opinions. It helps me make a decision based on everybodies experiences. Everyone on here is so open and friendly!

(Thanks Cheyanne! I thought she was pretty cute myself )

[Stickerbunny]

Only reason I neutered my male was because I got Stickers and wanted to bond them. A solo male rabbit with no behavioral issues is fine to leave intact – if you don’t mind the smell anyways (their urine smells more if intact). My vet said he has never treated a male with reproductive health issues, but he does push spaying for females due to the high cancer risk and false pregnancies.

[Roberta]

I agree, it is a decision only you the bun owner can make for yourself… My boys got very boisterous and it was essential unless I wanted them humping my foot every 5 minutes and with Piglet I had to get him done first to keep him with Pepper as they are so closely bonded. I have nearly every bun neutered/spayed now just a few girls to go… But if it was just a single boy and his behavior was ok I might not have had him done… I had lots of problems with spraying too so not getting it done wasn’t an option for me.

[JackRabbit]

I neutered my male because he got very humpy and because of his bonded sister. I spayed both of my females due to the high risk of uterine cancer (80%). With any decision, I believe we as pet parents have the responsibility to thoroughly research the pros, cons, risks, and rewards so that whichever direction our decisions go, we can rest assured that they were educated decisions.

[Standard_Procedure]

I’ve decided not to spay my doe. She’ll either live a long life or die from cancer but with her personality intact. It’s like someone asking me, would I rather be castrated to live another 10-20years or die within the next 5 years should I choose to keep my genitals, I’d rather die early. I know if I live castrated my personality won’t be the same anymore. My bun isn’t going to be looking forward to the trauma of losing her reproductive organs, and her personality will remain the same.

[JackRabbit]

May I, respectfully, ask why you think spaying would change her personality?

[Linette]

I’m not here telling anyone what to do, but I am going to share the perspective I use to look at the situation. I’ve had rabbits of many breeds, sizes, fixed and not fixed etc over the course of 40 years.

By keeping them as non breeding pets, we put them into an unnatural situation. Their bodies are still telling them to do what comes naturally.

Many females are NOT happy if they are not busy taking care of babies. They get neurotic, territorial, angsty, etc, because their bodies are telling them one thing, and our keeping them in an unnatural setting keeps them from fullfilling it. Getting them spayed so they can live long healthy happy lives is a good thing.

Many males will nip ankles, hump legs, spray urine etc if they are not neutered, and this behavior may end up with them being kept caged most or all of the time, and then they are lonely, chew the cage wire, and are still sexually frustrated besides.

Many people think they are doing their pet a favor by not getting them fixed, so I ask you…how would you like to have to live the rest of your life with no sex, no partner, no kids, no freedom to make these choices for yourself? An intact rabbit is dealing with that, and sometimes it does lead to behavior that is unpleasant for the rabbit and their owners.

Getting them fixed can make their lives a lot happier by removing that frustration and sexual drive, that will never be satisfied.
Is it natural? No, but neither is bringing them to live in our homes, etc etc.

you don’t need to spay or neuter your pet if you don’t want to, but many times it is actually a mercy for them, so keep that in mind.

You may say “well, I wouldn’t want to be spayed.” but you probably have the option of having a partner, family, etc available to you, Mr and Mrs Rabbit don’t. And it is not only not being able to have sex that’s the issue, female rabbits have a drive to raise babies, and not being able to do that can truly be horrible for them.

There are exceptions, and only the owner can judge if their bunny’s quality of life is hampered by frustrated drive to breed/raise babies.

[Ouisie]

I have no desire to lecture at all so please no one take this as anything other than advice. As someone who has had a LOT of vet bills due to poorly bunnies I would like to give my opinion. Female rabbits have a very high chance of complications with their intact reproductive organs. I would urge anyone with an intact female to think about the future and the high possibility of their loved bun developing uterine cancer. Please consider what the bun would go through treatment-wise with this condition, and please also think about the costs if they DO develop cancer. I have all our pets insured. If we hadn’t had insurance we would probably have lost our Link who has E-Cuniculi but has recovered so well after seeing specialists which we only would have done as we have insurance. The costs went into thousands of pounds for this treatment. For me, spaying my Navi and Daisy buns was a no brainer. My girls recovered quickly and have wonderful personalities. xx

[GuntherBunny]

I couldn’t agree more! I have also chosen to not neuter my rabbit Gunther. He is an only rabbit and is beyond sweet! He has never displayed spraying or territorial behaviors and so I find neutering a pointless risk. Health wise, the chances of a male rabbit developing cancer from not getting neutered are slim, so for me it isn’t a decision that would be endangering Gunther’s health. If I had a female rabbit, however, I would totally and completely spay her as the risk of cancer in intact female rabbits is so high. I too am 20 years old and I’ve actually just applied for VPI insurance for Gunther to help out with the vet bills. I also plan on getting care credit because vet bills can be high and at 20 I don’t particularly have a lot of disposable income.

[Hazel]

Posted By JackRabbit on 6/24/2014 9:38 PM

May I, respectfully, ask why you think spaying would change her personality?

I agree with JackRabbit. Spaying won’t change their personality. All it does is remove hormone induced behaviors, which I wouldn’t consider part of anyone’s personality. I could do without PMS and I certainly don’t consider it part of who I “am”.

Just my opinion, I don’t mean any offense. Everyone has to make up their own mind as to what they think is best for their pet, as did Cheyanne. Good job not letting anyone bully you into something you don’t feel good about!

Linette, awesome post! You brought up some great points. Spaying/neutering is a complicated issue and before making a decision, people have to look at it from many different perspectives. Normally I would always recommend neutering a male, if not for undesirable behaviors then for the psychological reasons you mentioned. With females, the great cancer risk is of course a huge factor, on top of that.

[bunnytowne]

I had an unspayed female.  Got from humane society.  The paper had her picture etc and said was a neutered male.  Paper was wrong.  Turne out to be a female about 5 years old.  Unspayed.  She was so sweet.  A lady wanted her really bad so I let her have her.  Thats how it was found she was unspayed and female to our surprise.  She had a great personality.  Didn’t need spaying for hormonal reasons.  She was spayed for health reasons by her new owner who loved her to death. 

Now I had a male.  At 7 months he started spraying like crazy.  A week later he was neutered.  The spraying stopped immediately.  Fortunately.  He was so sweet. 

My lionhead female I got spayed for health reasons.   The first bunny I mentioned I would never have known it wasn’t a neutered male.  When I found out I doubt I would have spayed her.  Her personality was great.  The lionhead was young the first bunny was an older bunny.  Thats the difference with the spaying one and not the other. 

[Cheyanne May]

Linette, i don’t think you understand the point of why I posted this.

Like I said, my rabbit is extremely happy, and so, so sweet. I have never gotten any type of attitude from him and have never been bitten.
He use to spray when other rabbits were around, but now he is an only bun and spraying isn’t an issue.
I know for a fact that some rabbits personalities do change when they are fixed, and I would never risk Pepe losing his amazing personality.
Also, he is far from lonely. He has managed to make friends with my kitten. He gets all happy and binky’s around his cage when she’s around, and I’m glad they have each other when I’m not home.

However as far as humping goes, he used to hump everything. again, only when another rabbit was around. But since he became an only bun, he hasn’t humped anything.
He shows no aggressive behavior in any way, and is just a happy, peacful, loving bunny.

Also I mentioned how much it costs in my area to have him neutered. Also that there aren’t any rabbit savvy vets around here, so the person operating (if I decided to get him fixed) wouldn’t exactly know what they’re doing.
The $500 I would have spent getting him fixed could go towards other things, like toys, and hay, and everything he needs to make him happy.

So that being said, It is my choice to have him neutered, and I am in no way being selfish at all. He’s a happy bunny and I plan to keep him that way.

[Sarita]

I think Linette was giving you her perspective as well, just like you are giving your perspective. I think she understood :~)

[MoveDiagonally]

I agree with Sarita. Linette very respectfully gave her perspective as you gave yours. I don’t even think she was talking about you specifically just about neutering in general.

If your male bunny doesn’t have any of the behavioral/litter issues that are associated with intact males then that’s great! Not neutering is perfectly reasonable when you have a well behaved boy. On the other side, not everyone is that lucky and there are many legitimate reasons to neuter.

[LBJ10]

I don’t believe Linette said that you are selfish for choosing not to neuter your rabbit. I didn’t get that from her post at all. In fact, I think she added an interesting perspective on this topic. She added the rabbit’s perspective. Personally, I don’t believe that rabbits are as attached to their “manhood” as people are. So speaking strictly of hormones, taking away that sexual frustration probably is the more merciful thing to do (as Linette put it).

My view on spaying/neutering is that it is ultimately the owner’s decision to do what they feel is best based of the unique circumstances of their rabbit. Every rabbit is different and what works for one may not work for another. Of course, spaying females is important for health reasons. With the risk of cancer so great, it really should be considered important preventative care. When it comes to males though, there is a lot more gray area. There aren’t the same health concerns, so it really is just for behavioral issues driven by hormones. Or if you want to bond. It is practically impossible to bond 2 intact rabbits.

So if you have a lone male and do not plan to add a 2nd. And there are no problems with hormonal behaviors, then I don’t believe neutering is vital. Just my thought.

[Roberta]

I think this has been a good thread… Every one has voiced opinions and views and still respected all others.. As I said, Not neuturing wasn’t an option for me as I had spraying and behavior issues, not to mention a house full of girl bunnies post and pre spay… But if it works for someone else then that is the decision they need to make and it is the right one for them.
It’s funny, I encountered a debate on the topic some months ago and the antogonist (who was attacking every ones decision to spay or neuter saying we were all sadistic butchers) trotted out the old, “We wouldn’t do it to ourselves” defense… I couldn’t help myself, I had to play the devils advocate again and point out that, Tubal Ligation, Mastectomy, Hysterectomy, Vasectomy, Oophorectomy and a couple of others I can’t recall right now are all procedures to remove or disable human reproductive organs etc in order to prevent conception, improve quality of life or prevent and inhibit terminal or debilitating illness. More so in women of course than men.

[Beka27]

Really good points from everyone! It is absolutely the individual’s decision ultimately, to be taken into consideration with discussion with their vet. (As mentioned, spaying females is not as “optional” bc of the high risk of cancer.)

To the original poster, I understand your posts to mean that you’ve chosen not to neuter your rabbit right now, but that you’re not opposed to neutering if the need arises with this particular bunny, or with any rabbits (single or otherwise) you may have in future years.

[Eepster]

We made a similar choice not to neuter our bunny Porky.

Posted By Beka27 on 6/26/2014 10:37 PM

Really good points from everyone! It is absolutely the individual’s decision ultimately, to be taken into consideration with discussion with their vet. (As mentioned, spaying females is not as “optional” bc of the high risk of cancer.)

To the original poster, I understand your posts to mean that you’ve chosen not to neuter your rabbit right now, but that you’re not opposed to neutering if the need arises with this particular bunny, or with any rabbits (single or otherwise) you may have in future years.

This is such a great way to put it.  I am fully in favor of neutering when there is a reason to.  I have heard so many stories of boy bunnies who spray everything or hump arms and what have you, that I would have been scheduling the very first available appointment with the vet for.  Porky just happens to not be one of those bunnies, so we decided to skip the pain and minor risks.

Also, he doesn’t seem frustrated.  He has some stuffed animals, and they fill his needs.  I’m sure if he had an actual female bunny as an option he would dump his stuffed companion, but since he’s never met a real female rabbit he is perfectly happy with the stuffed ones.

[Beka27]

Yes, I felt it important to clarify that! There have been people in the past who are gung-ho against spay/neuter for ANY reason for ANY pet (dog, cat, rabbit, whatever). They don’t tend to last long here though. Lol…

[Daisy1015]

I think it is your choice. I have had two rabbits but not concurrently. One male and one female and neither was fixed. I was lucky and both lived to be over nine years old. My male was a little cage territorial but other than that he was fine. I had looked into spay/neuter with each and could find noone who would do it in my area. It seems more common now thAn 12 and 20 years ago. I am currently looking for a vet in advance of purchasing our next rabbit friend. So far no luck! Even the spca could not help me and they run a spay / neuter clinic And do their own. They don’t even know anyone who does it to refer me. I am quite surprised.

[Sarita]

Here is a list from a rabbit rescue in Ontario that has a whole list of rabbit savvy vets:

http://rabbitrescue.ca/useful-info/vets/

[Megabunny]

My Sunshine did great until he was about 7 years old, then got a tumor and we neutered him and he went on to live till he was 11. AndHenry should copy/paste her experience with an an unneutered male. Good stories of the naughty ones, but what a lucky bunny to behave so well to avoid that procedure!

[Roberta]

I’m in need of new slippers after Starsky humped mine mercilessly, the little sod, before his neuter… I am so jealous of people with well behaved boys and girls..

[Bam]

My Bam was well-behaved and did his business in his litter-boxes the whole first year I had him. He was adult when he came to me. Then suddenly he had a change of behavior, I don’t know what triggered it. It wasn’t an increase in amount of day-light, because it happened in december. Suddenly he fell in love with the dog, wouldn’t leave her alone, circled and nipped and peed on her + he started peeing and pooping in the sofa.

These behaviors went away 2 weeks after neutering, and he returned to his “old” personality, but I was very reluctant to have him neutered, didn’t really believe it’d help and I felt so sorry for him + crazy worried about having him put under.

It was actually this problem that brought me to the BB forums, so a lot of good came out of it. I’ve learnt so much here about diet and care and how to deal with various bunny-problems.

[JackRabbit]

I’m sorry, I know this is a serious subject and I shouldn’t laugh, but fell in love with the dog?! I’ve heard of bunnies becoming “fond” of arms, legs, stuffed animals, etc. But poor loved doggy!

[Roberta]

LOL, Starsky was pretty determined to meet “the cats” when he went through his teens… Thank the Goddess for extra strong Xpens.

[bunnytowne]

Well,   I wasn’t planning on neutering my boy is why it was done so late.  When he started spraying tho  I had to.  I mean he sprayed everything lol  It was all over the walls closet doors MY bed mirrors lol.  I mean everywhere.  lol   I thought it was kind of funny but wasn’t going to put up with it either. 

[Ella]

I also agree with you! Especially on how rude and defensive other owners can get about heavily opinionated topics. My mom has had over twenty rabbits since her first Dutch, and has only neutered one because he had testicular cancer. She did 4-H growing up and no one ever recommended spaying or neutering rabbits because of the high death risk. (They are NOT cats or dogs, and the procedure will always be more expensive and stressful!) That said, although my mom has only neutered one out of over twenty, and I never did my male, I wouldn’t presume to force my opinion on other rabbit owners who simply want to look at the options.

I am 23, and my second rabbit is likely a female (I check the sex every few days now she’s 7 weeks, because there’s room for error when they’re tiny). I may consider neutering her if she develops significant behavior changes. Now she’s easy going and extremely friendly from great handling from her breeder. I have some money saved for her care, but as only one of my mom’s rabbits ever had health problems (and she’s had plenty of unfixed females too, with no noticeable behaviour or health issues), I am torn as to whether it is truly worth it like some owners passionately argue.

[jerseygirl]

Hi Ella
This thread is 2 years old now. We ask that members do not resposnd to posts or threads that are older then a few months.
You are welcome to start a new discussion in any of the forums. I’m going to lock this one now to prevent further confusion.

[Author]

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