Neutering opinion

[Taro's Pets]

I had an argument on Facebook. I dont know this person, but he commented on my comment on a rabbit video. Someone asked if litter training is easy, and of course I HAD to reply! I said: (copy and pasted from original post)

“Yes, its really easy. All you need to do is put the rabbits poop and pee in the box and they’ll use it because theyre clean animals, and prefer to use a corner. However rabbits who arent fixed can be harder to train because they spray a lot. My bun is getting neutered soon. He’s litter trained but is starting to spray a bit. ”

Then someone replied: (again, copy and pasted from ORIGINAL post!)

Never neuter a rabbit. It’s very cruel and unnecessary. Just keep males and females separate. A male rabbit will only spray for two reasons, if he is insecure about his territory or to impress a female. Your rabbit is doing it now to establish his territory and as soon as he feels he is unchallenged, he will stop. You can also tell him not to do it. Rabbits are highly intelligent and can be trained. But don’t remove his testicles just for human convenience.

Our male still has all his bits, hardly ever sprays, does not smell, is not aggressive and gets on fine with the female in the next hutch.

I of course know that neutering is strongly recommended for rabbits. The vet near us, whos a rabbit specialist says neutering and spaying is basically a must for all rabbiys.

[LBJ10]

You really shouldn’t let strangers on facebook get to you. There are people on there that will comment on public pages with the intention of getting into a fight with someone. I just saw something today (completely non-bunny related) where people were making a huge deal over something that was meant to be lighthearted and funny. Instead, people we arguing and attacking each other.

As for neutering, it can be very helpful if a bunny is exhibiting hormonal behaviors. Not all boys are little terrors like Andi’s Henry (who would spray halfway up the wall on a regular basis). So the person commenting may have genuinely not experienced some of the worst boy bunny behaviors out there. It also sounds like they keep their bunnies outdoors, in hutches. How they expressed this though did come off as a bit rude. It’s hard to say with over the internet stuff since there is no tone, just written words.

[Taro's Pets]

Yeah, I know. It was just because they commented on something I commented on a public video. My bun is starting to spray everywhere too. Especially on my bed.

[LBJ10]

I know, sometimes it’s hard not to take something personally. Believe me, stuff has upset me too. Hopefully other people will step in and back you up.

[Eepster]

Neutering isn’t a must for all rabbits. I happen to have been very lucky and have had two males who have both been mellow fellows. I also have only ever had one bun at a time, so no need to worry about pregnancy.

If my rabbit was a sprayer though, I wouldn’t have hesitated to get him neutered. I even briefly contemplated it when he did territorial marking during an emergency stay at my fathers house, and that was just smelly poops and musky puddles. Fortunately for him, he stopped after a couple of days, and he is old enough that I was more concerned about it than I would have been for a younger bun.

If I ever in the future get a male with any hormonal behaviors, he will be neutered. Of course, if I ever get a female, hormonal behaviors or not she will be spayed for the health benefits.

[Bam]

Well, I agree that unnecessary surgery should never be performed on any animal, but there are instances when neutering a male is warranted. Life as an indoors pet bunny is very very different from life as a wild rabbit, where procreation is extra important due to their very short life-span – wild rabbits are basically ambulatory food for so many other animals. This very prowerful urge to father babies, babies, babies has no purpose in an indoors setting, and in girl rabbits, the constant hormonal surges are what causes a very high percentage of intact does to get cancer of the reproductive organs at age 4 or so, which in nature doesn’t matter, no wild rabbit lives to see middle age.

My first male bunny, who was a lone bunny back then, fell in love with my dog and pursued her all his waking hours. He circled her, he grunted, nipped her, pee and poop-marked her spot on the couch. He was a very adult bunny, he was a fully grown adult when I got him and this happened A YEAR after he came to live with us.

If that hadn’t happened, I would not have had him neutered. But the option was more or less to keep him caged all the time (when he was caged, he frantically bit at the cage bars to get out to his chosen one, my 62 lb German Shepherd, who was not terribly amused (she was always nice and gentle with him though, but she would yelp when he nipped her and she was always trying to get away from him to get some peace, to no avail.) He was like a bunny possessed. Sexual urges can be extremely strong in rabbits. I still think it was the kindest thing to do, to have him neutered. The courting behavior must’ve put such stress on his whole system.

I totally agree that you shouldn’t let “Internet people” get to you, but I know it’s so hard not to. There are lots of Internet people who just wants to be mean and make other people feel bad, and then there are lots of Internet people who claim stuff they absolutely believe to be correct, but oftentimes they are basing their opinions on bad sources or just on their own prejudices.

[kirstyol]

Bramble was a lone bunny when we got him neutered (we have two now), at first I wasn’t going to get it done as he was always going to be a single bun (that worked out lol) and he never sprayed or humped anything – he was litter trained in a day! However after a few months I began to sense that he was getting frustrated, spoke to the vet about it and decided to have him neutered, it made the biggest difference to him he was so much happier so it was definitely in his best interests to have it done. Not all males need to be neutered, but it was definitely the best thing for Bramble. ‘internet experts’ are often just people very sure of their own opinion, its hard not to take it personally especially if they are rude about it

[Nibs Momma]

I’m not sure why they posted that or what the intention was But I know first hand that neuturing for my Nibbles was a must. He was spraying all the time. He was neutered about two years ago. We have had no problems with the surgery, and have not had any issues since. I highly recommend it.

[Beka27]

You do what’s right for you and your bun! The anti-neuter people are hard to sway (just like the pro-neuter people!) My experience dictates what I believe and what I recommend to others, but I am also familiar with Eepster’s situation! Neither of us are wrong based on the rabbits we have/had.

[Author]

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