Bunny is healthy but holds poop when she’s alone

[emmabunny]

Hi all! Our 3 month old bunny Emma came to live with us a month ago. She is currently a single bun, and I hope to get a second bunny to bond with her in a year or so. She had a wellness check at the vet two weeks ago, and he gave her a clean bill of health. We will be getting her spayed as soon as it’s possible, at 6 months old. She is very friendly and approaches new humans for head rubs. She is free range in our bunny proofed living room (she has an ex pen that is left open) and is great with her litter box (just leaves a territorial poop on her favorite spot of the rug a couple times a day). Whenever we get home from work or come out to the living room in the morning, she comes out from her favorite spot under the couch to greet us. 

I am concerned because she is holding poo/pee and not eating when we are not home (/sleeping in another room). We are sleeping for about 7-8 hours a night and away at work for about 9 hours a day, so this is two long periods of time that she is barely eating or pooping. Her poop and eating resumes and is completely fine when we are around. I am 99% sure that she spends most of her time in her spot under the couch when we are not home/sleeping (but would need a webcam to be 100% sure). She does not poo or pee under the couch. We mentioned this to the vet, and he said it was not a problem if she is eating and pooping fine when we are around. However, this concerns me if I’m ever gone for a longer period or time (e.g. getting stuck at work and being gone for 10-12 hours). When I am home on the weekends or when I have a day off, she is always out and about and eating and pooping all day long (only going under the couch for an hour or two total, during the day). So I know that her eating/pooping increases when people are around. 

Is this just an adjustment time for her to get used to her new surroundings (we have had her for a month), or is there something I can do to help her get comfortable with eating and pooping when she is alone? 

[tobyluv]

When my bunny lost her companion, she suddenly started holding in her pee and poop during the night, although she still ate normally. She would wait to pee and poop until morning, when we let her out on the screen porch, which is where our bunnies normally spend the day. It worried me that she was holding it all in for those overnight hours (7 hours), but I had no idea what to do about it, and she seemed perfectly healthy otherwise. It’s almost as if she thought a predator would get her in the house if she used the bathroom, since she was the only rabbit there now. She has always been a wary rabbit. We noticed the first day when we brought her home from the shelter that she started getting uneasy when it got dark. So, we’ve always had night lights for her.

When we got a new companion for her, she started peeing and pooping again during the night. I’m afraid that if we hadn’t gotten another companion for her that she would still be holding it all in.

You may want to get a second bunny sooner than you planned. You would of course have to wait until Emma has been spayed. But that would only be a few more months.

I’m not sure what you could do during the night, but during the day, I wonder if having a radio or tv on would make Emma feel more comfortable when you’re gone? Make her feel like she’s not alone.

[Azerane]

Bandit rarely peed/pooped overnight. I rushed him to the vet one morning because of it, thinking he was in stasis. But after that I soon realised that it was just the way he was. The later I stayed up, the later he would use his litter tray. But often he didn’t use it at all during the night until I got up again the morning. I always found it strange but it never caused any issues.

In your case because your bunny is doing it when she’s alone, perhaps leaving a radio or something on for her may help her to feel like there’s still someone around?

[Bunny Hugger]

I agree with trying tv or music. You could pick some particular music that you play when you are home and then start leaving on when you are not around so your bun can maybe associate it with you and safety.

Also keep in mind that a month isn’t very long for a bun so it could also be her still adjusting. Is there a “safe” area for her near the food and litter box? Such as a covered area, hut, tunnel, etc. She may feel better knowing that if something happens when her humans are away she can quickly get to “safety”.

My bun sleeps most of the day when I’m at work and doesn’t seem to need to eat or poop until much later in the afternoon. I have the opposite problem of you and Azerane – my bun is perfectly litter trained when I am around but when I wake up in the morning there is always a scattering of poops and sometimes a small spot of pee directly in front of his litter box. I have tried everything but I’m pretty sure he does it on purpose!

[emmabunny]

Thank you all so much for the advice. I have been leaving the tv on for her when I run out for something on the weekends. I will start leaving the tv or radio on the weekdays as well! It’s strange but she doesn’t seem to like the radio very much (will listen intently for a bit and then run under the couch if I approach her)- maybe I need to put the radio next to the tv (which she is used to, and seems to like). Emma has a mini haven in her pen, but she doesn’t seem interested in lounging in it- she just wants to run in and out of it when she is doing her Bunny 500’s. Her pen is right next to the couch she likes to hide under, so I’ve folded back the panels on the side of the pen that are right next to the couch. I hope she finds it easier and less scary to get to her food/litter box. She also has about 3 different pet beds/hideaways I’ve set up around the living room, but she is only interested in hiding under the couch! :/

I want to get a bunny friend for her one day, but don’t want to rush into it as Emma is my first bunny (and quite unexpectedly, as I “adopted” her from my sister to “save” her from my energetic young niece and nephew). I spend most of my free time with her, so I hope she is not too lonely till we are ready to add a second bun to the family!

[emmabunny]

Here is a picture of her “open floor plan” exercise pen after I pushed the side panels back, to give her easier access to the couch. The couch she likes to hide under is right next to the silver lamp base on the left side of the picture. I hope she feels more comfy with this set up!! 

[DaisyMae]

I’m glad someone posted about this because I’ve been concerned about the same type of thing. Soon after we brought our bun home almost a year ago, I built her a nice sized cage using NIC cubes, and she spent about half the day in there. She would always eat her hay and use the litter box in her cage. However, for about the past 6 months, the dining room has become her “area” where she spends most of her time, and I have a huge litter box in there that she uses all day. Now, when I put her in her cage at night, she refuses to use that litter box. She rattles the cage to come out in the morning, and as soon as I open it, she runs over to her big litter box in the dining room and goes. I don’t understand why she is doing this now. Before bed tonight, I transferred some of the used litter from her big litter box into the litter box in her cage to see if it entices her to use it. These little buggers are certainly complex!

[Niamian]

Well Redford has a similar thing. He is a free roam during the day but is in his cage when we sleep. Luckily I work from home so two of us spend the day together.
Anyway I noticed that every morning when I let him out he couldnt wait to get to his bathroom litter box. Now, he would go during a night in his litter box in the cage but definitely less then his usual.

Anyway by an chance last week or so we adopted little white lionhead Bianca and even though they are not bound, and live in separate cages still, it might just look like he is pooping normally at night time too. Now his first idea in the morning is food and to sniff Bianca trough the bars.

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