Help! My male bunny started spraying as soon as I started my period!

[Mama2BunBuns]

BunBuns is a 6 month old Flemish Giant mix that we adopted directly from a breeder about 2 weeks ago. We asked for a female but “her” testicles dropped the day of pickup. Thanks sex change fairy lol. From the very first day, he took to litter box training immediately. He only leaves pills outside of his crate if we feed him his fresh greens outside the crate or if he gets too relaxed in a deep petting session. He normally eats them up promptly as I assist by tossing them back into his crate. This behavior doesn’t bother us tho. A week after adoption, I started my menstrual cycle. BunBuns is not neutered yet as we are still searching for a competent bunny vet in our area (breeder lives an hour away from us). He had never once peed outside his litter box before I started my cycle. Is it possible that he smells my hormones and scents and interprets these as me being “in heat”? Cuz in the last 3 days, he has peed ON me on my sofa and then again on my clean jeans I was folding on the same sofa in the same spot. I used to have a male dog that would jump my leg when I was on my cycle so I guess I’m just wondering if bunnies are similar in the aspect of smelling the hormones and not caring what species the smell is coming from? If anybody has any help (besides ‘neuter him’ as we plan to do this ASAP anyways cuz I want to double my BunBuns life span anyways) I would greatly appreciate it. For the time being, we have restricted all access to the sofa (especially since its feather stuffed and very difficult to clean) and we have began the suggested process in other threads on this website of a towel or blanket that is covered in his scent to go on the spot of the sofa we wanted to designate as his own spot so he doesn’t feel the need for additional markings.

[jerseygirl]

I do recall members saying their rabbits behaving differently when they (the owner) was pregnant so I suppose it is possible he is reacting to your homones..

But – I think it is more a coincidence of timing, personally. If his testicles only just dropped 2 weeks ago, it’s more likely a result of his own hormones coming in to full force! He’s likely feeling more comfortable in your home now also, and marking what he sees as his. 

Peeing on sofas and beds is unfortunately really common, especially with young rabbits.  

Other then what you’ve done so far, you could try putting a litterbox up on the sofa while you are there. In the hopes he will go in that instead. Even if you just line it with a towel and pop a bit of hay in there.
Extras around the room may help too. If you see him lifting the tail or backing up into a spot, you can then prod him toward a litterbox or grab it and put it down for him. A little treat/reward after would help reinforce him using a box.

I tried looking on some rabbit vet list for your area but didn’t have much luck finding specific names. I did find this though. http://www.preventalitter.org/spay—neuter.html

There may be restriction on who qualifies to use a low cost clinic. If you don’t qualify, you could just enquire which of the vets does the rabbit neuters and if they practice elsewhere.

[Wick & Fable]

I also think it’s coincidence. A rabbit spraying one person or items associated with one person is not uncommon (Wick only sprayed me), so it’s likely just him reacting to his own hormones and their behavioral drive, rather than your cycle.

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.

[tobyluv]

That’s certainly a good price at the spay and neuter clinic that jerseygirl found.

Here are some lists of vets in Virginia, but there are none listed for Richmond. Sometimes we do have to go out of our area to find a good rabbit savvy vet.

http://rabbitsinthehouse.org/?page_id=47

http://www.bunnylu.org/vet-referrals.php

You may want to call your local humane society and see if they have any knowledge of rabbit savvy vets in the area. If you are calling around to all the vets, here is an article that is all about finding a good rabbit vet.
http://rabbit.org/faq-how-to-find-a-good-rabbit-vet/

[Author]

Messages