my rabbit needs to mate

Question
Dear Lee my rabbit Poochy is almost 5 months old and male. lately he has been showing behaviour which clearly indicates that he wants to mate with a female rabbit. he sprays urine on my feet each time he sees me and runs around in circles. i don't know what to do as i have only one rabbit. in addition to this the vets in my country (India) are not at all competent enough to neuter a rabbit. i desperately need help because Poochy has also started getting a little aggressive.

Answer
Hi Tanvi,

(UPDATE)

I just wanted to add that when you are researching and talking to vets in your area, you must explain to them that your rabbit is regarded as a family pet, or member of the family - as opposed to you regarding him as a farm animal or not regarded as high as a family pet.  This is to make sure they are aware of how important quality care is to you concerning your rabbit.  Sometimes they assume otherwise unless you make it clear to them they are a beloved family pet and that you want the best care possible for them.

(END UPDATE)

his behavior changes that you mention indicate he is now a sexually mature male rabbit.

Unfortunately, the only real way of reducing this behavior is to have Poochy neutered.  The 'aggression' really isn't true aggression, it is more like mounting and trying to hang on, or 'defending his home'  is what it is.

Neutering is the real solution.  It takes about a month afterwards for his hormone levels to reach their new, lower levels.  you will probably notice positive changes by the 2nd week after the neuter.  You will basically get your bunny back (before he hit sexual maturity).  He gets to live without being frustrated and will stop spraying you.  Life becomes enjoyable with him.  And he will have a better quality of life because he won't be driven by hormones all the time.

I did not see anything listed in the House Rabbit Society's vet listings for India, but Idid come across vet listings for India.  My suggestion is that there probably are vets that have more experience than others with rabbits, you probably will need to do a little research and calling to find them.  Around where you live, call those vets and ask them first if they have experience with rabbits.  If they say no, ask them who they would recommend if they had a rabbit that needed surgery.  You could also call up any animal shelters and rabbit rescue groups around you and ask them where they would go if they had a rabbit that needed surgery.  Hopefully you will find a couple of leads near you that you can investigate and see if they are experienced enough to neuter your Poochy.

The listing for vets in India I found is here:

http://www.weforanimals.com/vets/vets-1.htm#Vets

To be honest, not all the vets in America are competent to neuter or spay rabbits either.  They are still considered exotics here, and many vets don't do procedures on them because of their lack of experience with them.  I hope you find a good rabbit vet that can safely neuter your boy.

Make sure that the vet gives you some pain meds you can give him for a few days after so that Poochy continues to eat.  In the US they give rabbits the pain medicine called metacam (drug: meloxicam).  Also they should give him some antibiotics for a few days to make sure the incisions do not get infected.  Again in the US the antibiotic called Baytril is given as it is well tolerated by rabbits.  

Lee

PS - do not let him mate with a female rabbit under any case!  That is not a good solution.  She will get pregnant and it won't stop his behavior for any period of time.  Until he is neutered he will be like this.  Giving him a female will not even temporarily stop his behavior, and you will be left with a lot more rabbits to care for and get spayed or neutered.