Barbi Brown's Bunnies talks  about

SPAYING AND NEUTERING

This is a "hot button" topic in many circles and this is simply my take on it. 

If you plan to have rabbits sharing a cage it will be necessary to prevent fights and serious injury.

If you plan to have your rabbit running loose in the yard, it should be spayed or neutered.

Some unneutered males may spray if exposed to other animals or sometimes the smell of perfume or a woman's menstrual cycle will prompt them to want to mark you as their own! There are a great many more who never spray . I find about one in a hundred in my barn that spray and they certainly all have plenty of stimulation and exposure to invoke the behavior.

The alternative is to have them neutered. I really think the lovable disposition is worth the expense of neutering. And a neutered male is easier to find a home for than a spayed female.

CAN SPAYING A FEMALE IMPROVE HER DISPOSITION?

Yes, sometimes. My position on spaying females is probably not shared by most veterinarians but since you asked.... I am aware that a lot of articles suggests that a doe that isn't bred incurs a much higher risk of uterine cancer at the age of 2 or 3 if she isn't spayed. (In 22 years as a breeder I have only seen 3 does with tumors and only one was cancerous).  The numbers quoted by many rescue organizations are only relative to the number of animals they come in contact with and not relative to rabbit populations as a whole.

That fact not withstanding, I don't encourage pet owners to rush into spaying until they are certain that either the disposition is intolerable or they plan to house it with another rabbit.    Besides, spaying doesn't GUARANTEE an improvement in attitude. If she's a grouch after being altered, she is destined to be ignored, mistreated or someone's dinner!

The spay procedure is more complicated and requires the rabbit to be under anesthesia for quite a long time and the procedure should not be trusted to just any vet.  Be sure the vet has a lot of experience with spaying rabbits.

Consider trying a neutered male as a companion for a cranky doe. He will mount her and make her think she's bred. Her hormones should mellow sufficiently.

We refer our customers to Dr. Fox at the Animal Clinic in Stockton, CA for neuters.  Dr. Fox and his wonderful staff do an excellent job at the most reasonable price in our area.