How to fix a trauma/trigger point ?

[Hermelin]

Hi everyone, I need a bit of a tips on how to fix a trauma my bunny Toste have. We seem to have stayed at same point neither improving or going worse.

I’ve managed to teach Toste to accept picking up, trimming claws, not be scared of me and the family, I can check his teeth, cover him in kisses and he will just bunny purr. But Toste have a trigger point, if you touch he can attack (punch with front legs or bite), he can also start screaming but often it’s just a growl and he will run and hide.

Myself can touch the trigger point but I want to help him desensitize more. So I can make him more comfortable around people but we seem to have come into a stalement.

 

[Mehidk]

I'm sorry, what's his trigger point again? Where do you touch?

 

[Hermelin]

It’s on Toste left side back bum, I marked it as red in the picture

That’s his ticking time bomb spot which can trigger him to attack and hide. I know it’s just him getting scared but I want to help him better. I’ve desensitized so he won’t get scared when you put the hand on there for a short while, you can touch that spot while cuddling and he won’t attack when seeing a hand nearing that spot most of the time. But as I said it’s a ticking time bomb and sometimes it can go haywire. Myself have only triggered him once or twice per month, you won’t know when it will happen and it can be from no where. He can go from bunny purring and kissing to getting extremely scared.

Why I say scared is because he will attack and then run and hide. The typical behavior he gets when he get scared of something.

Fast movements near that spot will also trigger him to attack or run away scared.

It’s not as bad as it was in the beginning but I’ve come into a stalemate with helping him with that spot. Everything else work really good with him and almost as a normal bunny but still a bit more on the skittish side. Even Odin can accidentally scare Toste into panic mode.

 

[Mehidk]

Poor Toste I'm wondering if it's a trigger point because he was viciously attacked in on that part of his body at some point in his life before he was adopted by you? Or perhaps it's a sensitive area were it's more tender?

Trixie is the same way some times. One minute I can be petting her and loving her, next thing you know, she grunts at me because I put her veggies down the wrong way. She hasn't bitten me thankfully but she has lunged at my hand before.

 

[Hermelin]

Poor Toste I'm wondering if it's a trigger point because he was viciously attacked in on that part of his body at some point in his life before he was adopted by you? Or perhaps it's a sensitive area were it's more tender?

Trixie is the same way some times. One minute I can be petting her and loving her, next thing you know, she grunts at me because I put her veggies down the wrong way. She hasn't bitten me thankfully but she has lunged at my hand before.

Don’t know what can have caused him having that spot as a trigger point. His previous owners parents told me that Toste spent a lot of time running around wild in the neighbourhood and his owner was a child (around 8 years old). So his body signals often got misunderstood, he moved to me when he was 5 months but he had already had a lot of experience as a baby.

They sounded proud that he never ran away from the area and would sometimes come into the house through the cat door.

This wouldn’t truly give him a safety because he have bad eye sight. First time he moved in shadows scared him. I can still scare him when my shadow moves, even though I warn him and try to tell him I’m coming he can still get startled.

 

[Hermelin]

Today Toste tried to bite my leg, he was running around my legs and me trying to walk accidentally got too close to his spot. So he growled and went for my leg. I stopped moving to let him notice the leg was mine and nothing dangerous. I also called his name when I heard his growl to get his attention, which made him stop the attack. I just felt his teeth and he gave a lick when he noticed it was just me.

He stopped and kept on being my shadow running between my legs. But I get a bit tired of him attacking me and trying to bite me. Both my parents are a bit scared of him even though he have never bitten them or attacked them.

The reason why he don’t attack my parents is because my parents stay away from him and will only drop treats to him. While myself give him cuddles when he want and he follow me like a shadow. So I interact with him more, if people interact with him more they can accidentally trigger him.

Toste is a cuddle bunny that love being around my family. He’s relaxed around us and often sleep like a log where you can see him move while dreaming. So Toste is really relaxed around us but it become a bit hard avoiding his trigger spot.