Territorial Problems

[Heidi]

I had my bunny (CornDog) spayed about 2 months ago and things are going great. Huge improvement! However she is starting to become territorial. She didn’t really have this problem prior to her surgery and I am not sure how to fix it. Here is my problem:

 

I have a cat Miley, she has been with me and in our home for the last 7 or so years. We got the bunny in January at 8 weeks old. The cat and the bunny had been best friends; they would play together, sleep together and even drink from each other’s water dishes in the house. I had the bunny spayed about 2 months ago and since then she will lunge at Miley. Miley can just be sitting on the floor minding her own business and CornDog will come running at her (Miley just runs away), CornDog has chased Miley into corners scarring the crap out of her and just the other day Miley was sleeping on the back of the couch in her usual place and CornDog jumped up and forced her off the couch. Miley is starting to not want to come downstairs if the bunny is out of her kennel. Is there any way to fix this? And how? Or am I not going to be able to fix this as Miley allows her to be the Dominant one in the house.

[Mikey]

CornDog is such an adorable name! She may be hitting a hormone surge. Some rabbits hit them during the warmer weather seasons but calm down after a few weeks/a month. Females can also take up to six months to fully their their hormones after a spay, so that could be making her territorial as well, but will go away with time

[Heidi]

thank you…. CornDog was named by my 4 year old. Glad to know her territorial issues with Miley should subside, I loved watching them together prior to the surgery. Miley really took to CornDog as she had just lost her companion a few months prior to getting CornDog and CornDog brought her out of her depression.

[Mikey]

Thats very sweet I would wait a few months and see if she gets better. You can correct her every time she acts territorial in the mean time. You can try clicker training (have a treat, click with your tongue or a training clicker, then call her to you) as a way to get her to stop and come to you as a form of redirection. It works for some rabbits, but does not work for others. It may be worth a try, though

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