Solve my Pee Mystery – Bunny Clue!

[Balefulregards]

So irt is 3:30 am in my house…and I am awake.

Why?

Because Coco has just peed in the bed….on my husbands pillow….next to my head. She is now caged, which for a free range girl who had access to the whole bedroom is quite the insult. I did the whole turning my back on her after I caged her. Very bun-dramatic.

The smell is what woke me. She carefully did not pee on ME…but right next to me. So how did a fully trained, never peed on the bed except the one time when she scent marked before she was spayed bun go from not peeing to peeing sometimes once a day on my bed?

The clues/details:

There has been no change in her diet – except that she is pellet free. This solved her poopy butt

She only pees on my husbands side of the bed. Never mine. He is an insomniac, so he usually leaves the bed in the middle of the night.

She started peeing AFTER the cat was shaved. (I know how ridiculous this sounds) The cat gets really matted in the winter, so she has to be shaved in January. When the cat is shaved, she gets more active, as she has to move more to keep her body heat regulated. We keep her in a sweater, which helps, but she still gets more fiesty. When she is cold, she will chase Coco. She never ( or maybe once) chased Coco before the shave.  She now chases her once a day, at least. She never really tries to “catch” her, per se…just a chase game. Coco doesn’t thump or otherwise indicate she is annoyed after these chase sessions, so I am not sure she is scared. She HAS thumped at the cat before if she was startled….or the cat was acting “stalky”…but not with these chase sessions.

I wondered, at first, if she was scared and that was why she was peeing – but the cat is no where in sight at 3:30 a.m. and she totally just peed next to my head.

Finally, about a month ago, I took away the top part to her cage. She was always free roam, but I had the top of her cage set in an “L” formation so she could hop in and out. She was still using a water bottle at that point, So the bottle hung on the inside of the edge of that cage. I switched her to a crock about a month ago and figured I could get rid of the top.

The cat Loves Coco’s crock. For whatever reason, Coco’s water is more delicious than the cats, and she will move mountains to get to it. Again, Coco doesn’t seem aggressive or upset when the cat drinks from her crock – and they will often touch noses before and after.

So, as it stands, I have her actually caged. She is being mighty quiet in there – which is strange in and of itself.

What am I not connecting? Should I keep the cage and re-cage her every time she makes a pee attempt? Will she connect the caging to the peeing? Was the removal of the top of the cage a security thing? Are she and the cat engaging in some bizarre power struggle?

HELP!!!!

[MarkBun]

Both of my girlfriend’s buns will pee on my side of the bed whenever I stay over. How much attention does your husband give your bun? It is possible that he has not been spending enough time with her lately and now is more bonded with you than him. Ergo, she sees him as an intruder now vying for your attention and tries to remove his scent.

Buns also will pee in your sleeping space if you’ve upset them for some reason. And they will wait for their chance to get back at you. Did your husband do something to upset her? Like was he the one that seemed responsible for shaving the cat? He shaves cat, cat chases bun, bun pees on his sleeping spot. I know it sounds a little bit silly but after having Maryann for 6 years, I am quite sure she has the IQ of a 3rd grader.

[BunnyMuffin]

Haha – now is that a compliment to Maryann or an insult to  the 3rd graders of the world?   Bunnies sure do have a talent for passive aggressive revenge though!

[Scarlet_Rose]

I totally agree with Markus, he’s got some great insight and I was just going to mention a few of the same exact things he did. Markus the mind reader!

[Balefulregards]

Markus, it doesn’t sound silly at all. After the past 9 months with Coco, I am fully a believer in the intelligence of the rabbit.

She has been subdued today. We made up at about noon, when she hopped over to ask for some nose rubs. I figured it was as good a white flag I was going to get, so I rubbed and groomed and she licked me.

She likes my husband – does her happy dance around him when he comes into the room – and he will usually stoop down and give her the homage. But he is not as affectionate to her as I am. Also, because he comes and goes in our bed – due to his insomnia – she may well have decided that he is an interloper and is trying to cover his scent. Her preferred sleeping spot is at the head of the bed – about eye level with me, on his side of the bed.

As for the cat – I am the Mommy, so I take the pets to groomers/vets etc. BUT the cat LOVES Terrance, and if he is in the room, La Chatte will jump up and sleep on his bum. It may be too that Coco is re-asserting dominance because the cat has been more clingy with the humans.

Oh, our Dutch girls! So smart.

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