Given her age it could be some arthritis developing and preventing her from squatting properly, resulting in her peeing on herself. There are possibly several other explanations such as UTIs but in my personal experience with an older bun that had started to pee on herself, the cause was arthritis. Although arthritis in itself can cause UTIs and cystitis due to the bunny not being able to squat to empty their bladder properly.

Just a side note, are you going to an exotics vet? Sometimes vets that arent familiar with rabbits will just prescribe bytril for any urinary related problems rather than properly exploring the issue and underlying cause.

Are there any other symptoms such as increased drinking, increased urination, straining/pain when peeing, decreased movement, hesitation to jump? Any other symptoms however small are worth mentioning to your vet to help them pinpoint the issue

How is her movement in general? Is her area, including that around the litterbox, floored appropriately (i.e., not slippy)?

How is her eating and have you introduced anything new to her diet? Urinating on herself could be a result of producing more urine than usual, so any chance she is seemingly drinking a lot more water? This can stem from organ failure problems or dental problems, for example. Considering her age, it may be wise to do a blood panel at the next visit — even if not related, it’d be good to have a baseline for her.

You can find treatment information on UTI’s here: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Urinary_tract_infection#Treatment

I will also throw in that incontinence is a less-known symptom of EC infection — not saying your rabbit has it, but just throwing things on your radar: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Encephalitozoon_cuniculi

Hi, I’m sorry that I don’t have anything to add about the issue itself, but it sounds like she might benefit from rabbit massage to keep her more mobile. That’s what I started to do as our bridge bunny Breintje aged.

Rabbit massage uses 2 techniques: long strokes with the flat hand or thumb, and making circular movements with the hand or thumb.

Strokes with the flat hand are for relaxation: I always started and ended the massage with long nose to tail strokes, and alternating hands to always have a hand on the rabbit.

Strokes with the thumb are to relax large muscles like the muscles of the back. I gently (!) ran a thumb on both sides of his spine, both downwards and upwards against the fur

Circles with the hand are to relax a whole joint: put a hand on a shoulder or hip and make large circles with light pressure. The warmth of your hand is an extra bonus.

Circles with the thumb are for getting nasty knots out of muscles. Breintje had shoulder issues, so I often relaxed them with a hand first, and then I followed the edge of the shoulder blade while making small circles with my thumb. Often I felt small muscle knots pop out, followed by a lot of happy purring.

More general info about rabbit massage: they’re frail, so keep pressure light at all times. Avoid massaging the neck and be very gentle with the muscles around the spine.

The rabbit should always be free to walk away or change their posture if they feel uncomfortable, so do it on the floor or on the sofa. Some bunnies get so relaxed that they dribble a bit of pee, so having a towel or a puppy pad under them will help.

It’s important that the rabbit can relax fully, so I put my phone on silent, remove jewelry, roll up my sleeves and tie my hair. This way they won’t be startled by sudden movements of loose hair or clothes, or sounds. Massage is a great thing to do before bed, because it’s quiet outside and rabbits love to socialise late in the evening. It’s very relaxing for both bunny and human too.

I always start and end the massage with long nose to tail strokes. When one hand is at the tail, the other starts on the nose so there’s constant stroking. This may be enough for the first couple of times: rabbits need some time to get used to being massaged. Follow your bunny’s cues to see how far you can take it. It took Breintje a couple of months before I could help him with his hips. The legs of a rabbit can be a very private area for them.

The rabbit will tell you if something is painful by tensing their muscles. Sometimes they grind their teeth too. Closing your eyes and feeling their tension is a good way of finding the problem areas. Keep the touch very light for the first couple of sessions, so the rabbit enjoys it. Then it won’t startle as much if a muscle knot pops. That hurts a bit, but the rabbit will feel the relief too.

Once they know you’re helping them with the pain with the massages, you may be in high demand. Breintje sometimes really demanded one, even if I was just about to leave the house. When he was so adamant he always had a knot in the same spot in his left shoulder.

Breintje had a special way of telling me he needed one: he jumped onto the sofa and thumped if I wasn’t on it. He always sat at an angle so I could reach everywhere, and he learned that that angle meant massage. So he parked himself in the right angle, walked a step backwards and pressed his butt against my leg with a little wiggle: you may proceed! 😆