When should your rabbit be spayed

Question
QUESTION: I have what I believe is a holland lop mix
about six months old. I'm very worried about
the cancer that's so common in unspayed
females, but I want to know about what the
after-effects will be and how she should be
treated after the surgery. Should I hold her
more, or less? Also how do you potty-train a
rabbit if it' s true that you can? Thank you so
much
Luna S.

ANSWER: Hi Luna,

My personal opinion is that a bunny should be spayed as soon as they reach sexual maturity.  Yours being 6 months old is ready.  It is really going to be up to your vet.  Make sure that you find a vet that is very rabbit savvy.  If you don't already have one I would suggest this list:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

She will still be the same bunny with the same personality but she wont get those annoying hormones that unspayed rabbits tend to have.  It takes about a month after spaying for all the hormones to be gone.  After surgery for the first few weeks she will be recovering and should really be allowed to rest for the first few days.  You will want to let her out to play a bit after that.  The vet will give you instructions.  Our vet says no exercise for a week and no outdoors.

Yes you can litter train a rabbit in fact most of them are pretty easy to train.  They are clean animals and prefer to go in the same place.  Sometimes they catch right on and others it takes them a few weeks.  They may sleep in their pan rather than using it to potty and then one day it is like they figure it out.  There are some steps to follow that will make it easier.  You can read them at this link:

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/rabbits/ht/littertrainrabb.htm
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

Good luck with your bunny

Pam

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for responding, and if it's not to much trouble, I have another question. See Mittens is a very active, friendly, playful bunny and I'm a little worried about what she's deemed her favorite plaything: baloons. She bumps them around the room with her nose, runs around them in endless circles, and it's VERY cute. But balloons pop. I'm afraid she's already poped a few after we have parties and I don't want her to be chewing on one and get a chunk of it in her windpipe or stomach. What do you recomend as good rabbit toys. Objects she can interact with. She prefers attention to treats and is a very picky eater, so not many of the hundreds of treat centered toys will get her interested. Thanks
~Luna

Answer
You most definitely don't want her playing with balloons.  There are so many great toys that rabbits love.  We have hard plastic gerbil balls that have a noisy ball on the inside.  Our rabbits push them all over the house and even carry them around in their mouths.  These have been the best toys for us but I have not been able to find them anywhere online.  We can order them from our local pet store.

We use a lot of toys made out of sisal.  They love to chew and sisal is safe.  You can try various toys and see what she likes best.  I will attach some sites for you at the end.  Another thing you can use is plain cardboard boxes with shredded paper.  It makes a mess but they love to dig and this alone can provide hours of entertainment.  My rabbits have a slinky and they love it but you have to make sure to observe them constantly when playing with anything plastic that can be chewed and swallowed.  The hard plastic baby toys work very well because they are strong plastic and very difficult for them to chew through. You may have to experiment a bit and see what she likes.  The favorite around her are any of the hard plastic balls that make noise.  We have a lot of toys that they wont touch and others that you can't get away from them.  Each one seems to have their own preference.  Just use caution when you buy them because some of the stores do sell balls and toys with treats that are not good for them at all.

Here are some links to stores we use:

http://www.petrabbittoys.com/#anchor_226

http://pet-rabbit-toys.com/store/index.php?main_page=index%26cPath=6

good luck

Pam