Litter training

[Hillary]

I have a female mini rex bunny who is about 8 months old. She was litter trained starting from when she was about 4 months old and never had any issues whatsoever with her going outside her litter box. I brought her on a week long vacation in late December and ever since, starting during vacation, she has been pooping everywhere inside and outside of her litter box. She occasionally will use her box but more often than not she goes elsewhere. I have tried adding more boxes, moving them to where she poops, putting her in her box directly after she goes, and givong her treats when she does go in her box but nothing seems to be helping. She recently started peeing outside her box as well, something she did not even do when we were on vacation. While we were on vacation I put her in a new playpen at night, which she absolutely destroyed. Since being home, though, she is back in her regular pen. She also has thumped a few times in the past couple of weeks, something she has never done before. I know it is normal for bunnies to thump sometimes but I am wondering if all these things are related? Please respond if you have ever had a similar situation and/or if you have any ideas! I have heard from reliable sources that I should not spay my bunny unless it is absolutely necessary due to the fact they often die under anesthia. Does anyone have experience with fixing their bunny? Help please!!

[tobyluv]

It can be difficult to completely litter box train a rabbit who hasn’t been spayed or neutered. The vacation and the changes it brought in location and housing, evidently has a lot to do with it, but her hormones are likely a cause of her new poor litter habits too. She may have been a late bloomer and is just now being affected by her hormones.

I don’t know what reliable sources would have informed you not to spay your bunny. The House Rabbit Society and most other well know sites about rabbits, do recommend spaying, due to possible behavioral problems, but mainly due to the fact that unspayed rabbits have a very high chance of getting uterine cancer. And if you ever plan to get another rabbit to bond with yours, you won’t be able to bond them unless both have been spayed or neutered.

There is always a risk when a rabbit goes under anesthesia, but it is a very minimal risk. You will find thread after thread here with members posting about having their rabbits spayed or neutered. You do need to make sure that you have a rabbit savvy vet, but you need to have one of those for general health concerns anyway.

Rabbits will thump. It is done when they sense danger, or to show disapproval, and a thump can also indicate excitement. Bunnies will sometimes do an excited thump when they are running around or doing binkies.

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