Bunny Confined to Cage: The Guilt is Crushing!

[Michaela]

I adopted a one year old unspayed rabbit, Eevee, from the shelter a few weeks ago. She’s the sweetest, most outgoing rabbit I’ve ever encountered. When I first got her, her litter habits were great, except for the unending poop on my floors when I let her out to run around. But recently, she’s started peeing all over the place, digging like crazy, and not pooping in her litter box seemingly at all. I’m guessing she’s just gotten comfortable and has graduated from her territory poops (wow those territory markings are smelly) to her territory pees. She let loose on my (thankfully leather) couch yesterday and it was eeeeeeverywhere. There’s been crazy amounts of pee and pellets all over her cage floor for the past few days too. I’ve tried all the training habits I can think of and have decided that I’m just going to have to rush the spay I was already planning on for her. This isn’t a big deal; I expected it when I got her.

The problem I’m having is that I need to keep her confined to her cage for the week so she won’t ruin my carpets and so this idea of peeing everywhere won’t be reinforced. She’s got a pretty big kennel, originally bought for a German shepherd. But she’s stuck there. After the couch incident, I’m afraid to let her out at all. So my question is how can I make this a little less boring for her? She’s got toys and food but how can I still bond with her from inside her cage? Is this horrible of me? She won’t suffer much else but boredom in her kennel, will she?

I just feel like such a bad bunny mom. She had such a dramatic personality change, from the day she left the shelter, where they knew nothing about rabbits. I’ve just wanted to give her everything I can to make her life better and I know she won’t understand why I’m keeping her cooped for the next week but it’s for the good of everyone. Could I just get some advice on this, even if I’m approaching it totally wrong?

[Boston's Mama]

I’m guessing by kennel you mean a dog crate?
If so I suggest getting a puppy pen or xpen to put off the crate to extend the space more since she is used to a lot of room
If she is not a chewer you could place lino under neath as the flooring of the pen to make any pee accidents or markings easy to clean up.
A pen big enough for you to sit in there with her and still keep your bonding with her up and contact up
Spaying is definitely a good idea for the health reasons as well as behavioural
I would also add an extra litter tray for awhile – leave the current one where it is and put one in the pen too so it also smells like her and marks here “area” until she is spayed and toilet habits return

[Author]

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