BUNNY STOPPED USING LITTER BOX AFTER ATTACK

[KelseyAnn]

I work on a live/ ranch and I usually leave my bun outside during the day in an outdoor run to eat, get some sun and fresh air. My coworker had his 6 month old puppy tied up one day and she chewed through her leash, tipped over the run and was playing/chewing with my bunny’s face/ears. There weren’t any lacerations, just scraped some hair and superficial scratches.

I took her to the vet and they gave my some pain meds and eye drops (they seemed irritated from the dog). Other than that they said she was fine!

We left her alone a couple days to relax, settle, and get back to normal. She is getting better although she is missing a lot of spunk and attitude ☹️

The problem is, she stopped using her litter box. I have locked her back up in her cage with it to try and encourage it and it doesn’t seem to be working. It’s been a little over a week since the attack so I’m not sure if it will just take more time? She is done with the pain meds and there is still no change.

PLEASE HELP! 😞😞 I don’t want to have to have her live outside, but cleaning her cage out twice-three times a day is time consuming and is causing quite the smell.

[Louiethebunny]

I wonder if she could still be in a state of shock or overstressed? When rabbits are very stressed they can stop eating and drinking and therefore stop producing droppings. If she isn’t eating or drinking, then this could be the case, and not eating is very dangerous and can result in G.I. stasis.

[DanaNM]

Oh dear, poor thing. 🙁

Just a word of caution, if the run was that easily tipped over by a dog, it isn’t safe for her to be in unsupervised in general (you may have already come to this realization). Wild predators can and do attack rabbits (especially birds of prey, foxes, etc.).

Although this could be related to the attack, it would be good to rule out other possible reasons for the loss of habits. How old is your bunny? Is she spayed? What is the litter box set-up like? In other words, how big is the box, is there any other bedding in the cage, how big is the cage, etc?

I would also mention this to the vet in case there is a possible injury they missed.

In the meantime, puppy pee pads can be a game-changer and help with the smell etc. as long as your bun doesn’t chew them.

Ruling out a medical cause, or unrelated cause (such as hitting puberty), I wonder if being threatened in that way triggered her to want to reclaim her territory. If that is the case, things should go back to normal over time, but I would want to rule out medical issues first, then go down the list of other possible reasons.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[KelseyAnn]

Thank you so much for your insight! Fortunately, she has been eating and drinking normally, and poop is normal form and consistency along with her urine.

Im realizing that now that I shouldn’t leave her unsupervised in it. It is in a fenced in yard so I thought I was safe. It’s a bummer I had to learn a lesson the hard way.

She is almost 3 years old, not spayed. I got her when she was 9 months and she was litter trained within days after I got her! This is the first time this has happened. I have a cat size litter box, her cage is about 4 ft by 2 ft.

I’m currently using puppy pad (With some hay on top) and I switched to them a couple days prior to the accident, should I switch back to what I was doing previously (wood pellets and hay)? Do you think maybe that would help her feel for comfortable?

Thanks so much for all the advice and insight by the way!!!

 

 

[DanaNM]

This is helpful!

Switching back to her normal litter might help, but I have a suspicion this is related to her not being spayed. Females are more territorial when unspayed, so I’m wondering if this scare may have brought that out in her.

I am also obligated to mention that females have a very high rate of reproductive cancers by age 4 (up to 80% by age 6, and it’s the leading cause of death in unspayed females), so if you can get her spayed, I really encourage you to, regardless of this marking issue.

Does she get lots of exercise time indoors as well? 4 x 2 is too small to be spending all of her time in (especially if she is the bunny in your profile pic!!). Recommended minimum cage size is 12 sq ft.  Sometimes when the cage is too small, the bun doesn’t really distinguish between the cage and the box. I understand that if she is marking all over there is a need to restrict space, but maybe restricting to a penned area attached to the cage would work well.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Hazel]

I agree, 4 x 2 is too small even for a “regular” sized rabbit. With the recommended minimum cage size of 12 sqft, they should have at least 4-6 hours of play time out of the cage per day, that again is only the recommended minimum.

And yes, please consider spaying her. At her age she probably already has abnormalities in her reproductive organs, but a spay provides an easy fix if it hasn’t spread yet.

I’m glad she didn’t get seriously hurt, that must have been terrifying for her and you. 🙁

[KelseyAnn]

She is usually free to run around 24/7, unless she gets sassy 😂 I used to use the cage only for at night, but now with her not using her litter box I feel I can’t let her out. I switched back to her previous litter and no more poops outside of the box! Just pee, so I think it might be a territorial problem as previously mentioned.

I’m going to talk to my vet today about getting her spayed. Thank you all for the help!!!

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