Please help: over a month post-neuter and bathroom habits are as bad as ever?

[Odysseus6]

Hi everybunny,

I am starting to panic and worry about my bunny and his peeing habits. After cleaning up pee from my carpets several times a day for the last half-year, I am coming to my wits end. I thought neutering would help change things but it hasn’t. If this will go on for ever I genuinely don’t know if I can continue to be his rabbit dad.

My little bun was neutered 4 weeks and 3 days ago but still goes around leaving little poops (seemingly just falling out from his butt) and peeing primarily on the edge of my room (sometimes in the center too). He has a litter box that he goes almost perfect in when he is caged, however whenever the cage is open it’s fair game and he just goes to the bathroom wherever. Whenever he pees on the carpet I dab as much as I can with towels/paper towels and then pour white vinegar on it for the smell (it doesn’t act as a deterrent to him whatsoever.) I also shrunk his play area so that he’s no more than a few hops away from the litter box, but it’s like nothing changed. For example, last night instead of being caged I gave him a 1’ deep play area in front of his cage so he wouldn’t feel confined and start digging at 4 am and he STILL peed here and pooped everywhere despite his litter box being maybe 18 inches away.

It’s funny because sometimes when he goes to the bathroom on the carpet and I start walking over, he HIGH TAILS it to cage like truly RUNS. So I think he knows he is doing something wrong – hopefully proof that it is hormonal and not just poor habits. When I first got him he was pretty good and never peed outside his litter box ever the first few months, another hopeful sign that once his hormones kicked in he got bad and are sole responsible for the issue.

I know it takes 4-6 weeks for their hormones to level out but a lot of people said they started noticing change earlier than that. Well he’s just as bad as always over 4 weeks in.

Please help.

[Wick & Fable]

It sounds like you need to place litter boxes in the more open area.  You can think that a rabbit doesn’t truly understand the somewhat arbitrary rule we’re enforcing that they should only go to the bathroom in a singular spot. Rabbits aren’t actually litter-boxed trained per-say— it’s more that their natural bathroom habits fits the litter-box model well. So there are still many circumstances where negotiation is needed, like re-arrangement, additional litter boxes, walling off places (ex. beds, couches…).

Re: the reaction to the restricted play area, that also makes sense to me. Marking the border, in my experience with a neutered male who is not very adherent, tends to communicate, “Hey I want to go past here”, “Hey I’m bothered I can’t go past here”, or something along those lines. I think there is some defiance to it. You can try some things to reduce it, like cover the wall so it seems solid and doesn’t seem like there’s something past there. You can put objects in those hot spot areas so it’s less welcoming to peeing as well. Establishing a signal can also be helpful, especially since your rabbit seems to already pick up what you approaching means. I use a short, loud snake “hiss” sound when I see my neutered male about to go where he shouldn’t, and that usually either jolts him to a litter box or pauses him enough for me to get to him and coax him to the closest box.

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.

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