Rabbit neutered years ago…Still pooping and peeing outside of his box

[jaar]

Hi everyone…I’m new here (been lurking for years though). I have yet to find a thread with a similar situation to mine.

I have a rabbit who is about 4 years old now (have had him for about 3 years). His previous owners used to keep a baby diaper on him because he would poop and pee everywhere. They had him neutered. Problem still persisted. Which is why they got rid of him. And fast-forward to now, it’s been 3 years since he’s been fixed…so it doesn’t seem to be a problem with residual hormones.

Since he’s been with me, it is very clear that he is litter box trained. He simply chooses not to go in his box. He is free-roam, and he will go days or weeks without eliminating outside of his box. Then one day he will decide that the couch or the rug needs to be peed and pooped on. But it’s not like a few poops and a small pee accident. When he decides to do that, the sheets on the couch will be dripping wet when I pull them off to wash. And it’s about 50 poops. Of course I’ll wash and clean everything when that happens, even using enzyme sprays to help clean and wash. He will occasionally pee on rugs and other “soft” flooring. Never on hard flooring like wood or laminate.

Simply blocking off the couch doesn’t work because if he doesn’t have access to the couch, he will just find a rug to do the same thing to. But again…he will go weeks with perfect bathroom habits and just decide one day to eliminate massive quantities somewhere and then go back to weeks of being perfect.

I am at my wits end. I have gone through all the steps of potty training him. I put him back in his pen when he eliminates outside of his box. He has plenty of fresh hay in his box. When I clean the box, I leave some stuff so it still smells like him. He has been checked by vets and is in good health. Any ideas why he might be doing this? TIA.

 

 

[Hazel]

Did you or the vet check if he’s indeed neutered? Either way though, it is weird that he will go such a long time without incidents. Does he otherwise act normal when he stops using his litter box? My bun won’t use his box when he’s feeling unwell.

[jaar]

Hi, thank you for responding!

Yes, he acts exactly the same whether he decides to mess the couch/rug or not. There are days that he will snuggle up with us on the couch and have no incidents.

And I have had three different (independent) vets confirm that he is neutered. When he doesn’t feel well (e.g., he had liver torsion a few months ago), he simply won’t leave his pen and/or litter box. So I think he’s feeling good since he’s running around, I just can’t figure out how to let him do so without randomly finding messes…Maybe he thinks it’s funny…

[Wick & Fable]

Honestly sounds like my Wick, who understands my preference for the litterbox but acts against that pretty often. I have many pee spots on my carpet that I just dont attend to anymore because once it’s there, he usually doesn’t go over it again. Thus, I am resigned.

That being said, we have worked out a system of understanding that if I do catch him, there are steps we go through: either he dashes to a litter box or, I follow him and hold him in one until he pees. If he already peed, I put him in the box anyways to make a point. From this, the adherence is probably as good as it can get with him and I do think it got me past what was previously a plateau of a lot more peeing on carpet per day.

Having a sound helps since sound can be made immediately versus you moving to stop the rabbit takes time. I do a loud hiss sound whenever I catch his tail lift outside the box and now that has established whether he will immediately go to a box or tolerate me following him so he gets to one.

In terms of why he’s doing it, just remember that litterbox training is a very arbitrary concept to rabbits. The perception that they can be litterbox trained is taking advantage of their general habit to poop and pee while they eat and in secure corners. If we were to reduce it down, it’s us telling an animal “These are the places you must pee in… that’s it.” I think some rabbits just seek more freedom and enjoy peeing on soft things beyond that restraint we give them.

More litter boxes, especially near those areas so you can easily shoo him there, may help.

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.

[jaar]

I like the idea of more litter boxes, especially since he has access to three rooms separated by a longish hallway. Do you think I should put hay in each litter box that I set up? What I have noticed is that his “incidents” happen most frequently in the room in which his pen and his current litter box are in.

As far as the loud sound idea, I actually have tried that in the past. But this particular bunny is not very…aware…of anything. Loud noises, other animals, being picked up, etc. just does not trigger his attention.

[Wick & Fable]

There should always be hay in litter boxes, or else the likelihood of a rabbit willing to go there dives down drastically! My living room has 4 litterboxes in total, and it’s not very large. That being said, they cover the “hot spot” areas, or near them, so they are against a wall and not really in the way of everything. While it increases time spent cleaning litterboxes since there are more, its much less frustrating than several pee spots everywhere and in the same general places.

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.

[Author]

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