Bunny behaviour has changed overnight

[robyn and 'tipps']

Im really concerned…

My bunny has always used her litter, has NEVER been naughty and pooped or peed outside it. Never.

Yesterday I cleaned her space and removed older straw and hay and replaced with fresh where she sleeps. I did this while she was playing outside her space. She was fine. Since then she has been peeing on carpet and pooping as she hops about, not caring to use her litter as she has always done. Also, her poops are about a third of their usual size.She seems to be doing a lot of cecos and all over the place. Cant say if she is eating any of them.

She seems stressed but over what? I changed nothing in her space other than straw, rearranged nothing to upset her. I have in no way changed her diet or introduced anything new. Its all seems to be about cleaning her space. She was fine before I did it and now is acting strange. Wont sleep where she used to, preferring other places now and doesn’t use her litter.

Does this sound like stress only? She has always been happy and I really don’t get why changing her straw and cleaning would cause this reaction.

Thank you!

 

 

[Bam]

It’s always difficult to know what stresses a bunny out because often it’s sth that we wouldn’t even notice. Soem rabbits really hate it when you rearrange their space. But maybe there’s sth else, so the problem just coincided with the cleaning of her space. Sometimes they react to new smells and sounds that our senses aren’t capable of picking up on. If she wasn’t feeling quite right when you cleaned her space, the cleaning could perhaps have triggered a turn to the worse.

As you know all bunny tummy-issues must be taken seriously, esp when their poop gets smaller. Does she eat like she should/normally does? A bunny can change it’s own diet by eating selectively, and that may result in tummy issues.

How old is she? Is she spayed? Has she exhibited any signs of discomfort peeing?

I see you’ve 61 posts so I’m guessing you’re not a newbie-bunny-owner, I hope I’m not offending you by stating the obvious. I currently have an unwell rabbit so I’m currently super-sensitive to changes in behavior.

[robyn and 'tipps']

Hello Bam

Thank you for your reply – no offense taken, its the change in the size of her poops that concerns me mainly apart from the behavior changes. Im watching her carefully to make sure she is in fact pooping and peeing as she should. You may well be right, its possibly a coincidence these changes happened at the same time I ‘interfered’ with her space. To answer your questions:

She is 8 mths old and not yet spayed, she is scheduled for this shortly with a rabbit savvy vet. He has been away so i had to wait, preferring an exotics vet over another.

Seems to be eating at present. And peeing, just not in her litter as she has always done.

Im carefully watching all this, especially the size of her poops which have decreased in size dramatically.

Thank you for your input and I hope your unwell bunny gets well asap. Positive vibes (( )) to your rabbit

Robyn (and tipps)

[JackRabbit]

The change in her litter habits could very well be hormonal. Change in poop size is likely from not eating as much hay — make sure she always has fresh hay, and (at least for right now) try mixing in a different type of hay (if she normally eats timothy, try mixing in some orchard grass hay with it).

[robyn and 'tipps']

Thank you, Jack

Yes, am anxious to have her spayed which might help apart from the obvious reasons that its a good idea for her well- being.

Yes, she has hay always and is eating it. Her poop size seems to have improved over a day.

Am watching her, something really rattled her yesterday for sure.

Thanks for your reply!

[Author]

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