concerning behaviour after neutering

Question
i have two dwarf lop bucks, brothers, george and dave. it was quickly established that george was the alpha male n dave seemed compliant with this, he never fought or defied george in any way. dave is a little more sociable but neither like to be handled in any way at all. i told the vet this, as i took george in to be castrated on wednesday, i picked him up later that evening and iv never been more worried, he was shaky and very depressed looking, i assumed this was due to the anesthetic but the behaviour continued for the whole day following, so far iv seen him nibble on the odd piece of hay n had a tiny amount of water but thats it. he doesnt really move much either and now he seems rather scared of dave. whenever dave goes near him he stomps his foot incredibly hard and runs and now dave has began to chase and i think maybe even try to nip him. george was only gone a day but when he came bac that evening both their behaviours changed, before they were both content to be left alone play with eachother and binky round the room, now george barely moves and dave wont leave me alone, he follows me everywhere, circles me obsessively and i think he even trys to place himself inbetween me and george. im very concerned and any help you can offer would be much appreciated, i dont want to lose either rabbit but im not sure how to handle the situation. i dont particularly trust my vet, she seems far too young and not very 'rabbit-wise' but she was recommended from the pet store where we get our supplies. our rabbits were bought privately though. im also three months pregnant, would this effect their behaviour?

Answer
FOLLOWUP:

Dear Tori,

I think your boyfriend might be right.  Five days is a *really* long time for recovery from a neuter, and it makes me wonder what type of anesthesia the vet used.  I would recommend you check here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for a really rabbit-experienced vet.  The bunnies are going to be unhappy wherever they go, so it's better to have an experienced vet where the risk of problems will be lower.  If the vet told you to just leave the boys together so they'd "get back to normal" then she really knows very little about rabbits!

I hope you can find a more experienced vet.  The health (maybe life!) of your bunny might depend on it.

Good luck,

Dana

*****



Dear Tori,

To prevent the type of thing you're now experiencing, it would have been best to have both boys neutered at the same time. Even a short separation of rabbits whose bond is as tentative as Dave and George's can tip the balance.  And with George feeling poorly, Dave saw his opportunity to take advantage.

I hope George has recovered now.  But it would be best to protect him from his brother until he's neutered too, and then you can carefully re-bond them with the tips here:

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=00062824-sp00000000&sp-q=bonding

But if you were not pleased with the results of the neuter George had, then I strongly recommend that you find a more rabbit-savvy vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and make sure it's done correctly, with the appropriate anesthetic.  Always ask what's going to be used, as isoflurane or sevoflurane gases are the anesthetics of choice these days, with appropriate, safe pre-anesthetics given beforehand.  (Our vet actually uses morphine with excellent results, but different vets prefer different pre-meds.)

It would also be a good idea to take both boys in when Dave is neutered, so you don't have a reverse repeat of this week's performance.  If they both go to the hospital, neither one will have reason to challenge the other when they come home.

I hope this helps.

Dana