NAZ-question about spraying and marking

[somebunny]

hello, my bun has been doing the same thing for the last week!

unfortunately she chooses to poop on our lovely shagpile (pre bunny) comfy carpet and the couch.

she is 4 months old and has been using her litter properly since we trained her, she never had any stray pellets outside of her cage but now she’s pooping everywhere! she has only peed outside of her cage twice, once in the kitchen when we first got her, and once on my favourite blankie but otherwise she has been really good, so this new behaviour is a surprise.

tonight she has traumatised me as she peed on the new bathmat i had layed out 10 mins before, and then while i was cleaning it up she sprayed me and peed on the floor! we had to put her back in her cage early

we recently changed her pet store bought hutch to a larger nic cube cage, she was using her litter as per normal.

also, could it be to do with my husband? i spent the day with the bun today and we were just lying around watching tv relaxing- there were no poops, then when he gets home she poops everywhere!

how can this behaviour be controlled? i don’t want to keep her in her cage all the time just because she poops everywhere!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Split this from the other topic since it’s almost a new question-hope you don’t mind!!

Is she spayed yet? She’s only four months so I’m guessing no, spaying will greatly help this…Also if she’s spraying she may in fact be a he Have you set up an appointment for the speuter yet?

[MooBunnay]

I agree with K&K – spraying sounds like a male behavior, how did you determine that she was a he? Also, the neutering or spaying should help with the situation. Also, the fact that your bun gets jealous of your man also sound like a male bunny trait When my bunnies do any territorial marking I find that it is usually the areas of the house that smell the most like me or my husband – for example the bed, or couch – so try to make those areas inaccessible to the bunny when you are not able to supervise.

[somebunny]

woops, sorry about that! (not too good with forum ettiquette!)

well actually, my husband thinks i’m overreacting and she didn’t spray me -he thinks she just accidentally dribbled on me or something while she was running away from me.

the person we bought her from said she was a girl, and he showed my husband her underside to prove it..but i didn’t see that bit so not sure what it all looks like down there!

anyway, i have made an appointment with the vet for this weekend for a first time check up and vaccination. I went for a vet that is about 1 hr away from me as the one near my house didn’t seem very confident, but this vet i found seem’s to be highly recommended – i wonder if there’s anyone from sydney who has ever been to him – David Vella in Crows Nest?

hopefully he will be able to guide me! also, she’s now almost 5 months (not 4 months) so i guess we can make an appointment for her to be spayed/neutered!

but in the meantime, she’s a little monster !

(right now she’s watching tv, relaxed like she owns the place hehe)

[somebunny]

also just wanted to say it’s great to come to this forum because there are no people around me that i know of to talk to about rabbits, as they are very ignorant about rabbits, so i really appreciate this place!!

[Beka27]

let us know how it goes at the vet.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

OH gosh no worries, just thought you deserved your own thread Glad you found it-I put your name in the title so you’d see it!

Let us know how it goes at the vet’s Sexing is very hard, many males were umn, thought to be females so she could be a boy or she could have just dribbled

I love this place, keeps my family/friends from locking me up! I realized I was talking about my buns and no one really cared for all the stories, so I actually sought out a forum just to bunny chat It’s a great place to be!

[Balefulregards]

Coco was a sprayer – and a girl.

She was quite a bit older when we adopted her ( we think 2 and a half years), so her hormones had fully settled into being an adult female rabbit.

I have noticed in the month post-spay that LOTS of those behaviors which were distressing to me – the spraying on my bed, the romancing, mounting and biting of my arm have evaporated.

She is a happier and healthier girl because of the spay.

Good Luck at the Vet!

[somebunny]

well Hershey had her first vet visit with Dr. Alana (from canada!) this morning, it was a 45 min drive to the vet but she did well. The vet checked her heartbeat/lungs, tummy, ears/eyes/nose, teeth/tongue, checked for mites and weighed her (1.4kg/3 pounds). she even got her into a bunny burrito very easily!

she has been vaccinated for Calici virus as well.

most importantly – she is definitely a she! so the vet said the time is right to get her spayed and the sooner the better for her, i guess we’ll book in a time sometime soon.

the vet also asked us questions about where we got her from, how we are taking care of her, what we’re feeding her, where she lives etc – she was very helpful and kind.

overall she said Hershey is very healthy

[Beka27]

good!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Thats great! Sounds like you found a good vet as well!! All good news

[somebunny]

hello, just updating – we have made an appointment for hershey to get spayed next week on friday. bit nervous about it, we have both taken the day off from work for it…but i know the vet specialises in bunnies so she will be in good hands.

in the meantime is there any way to control her pooping and peeing everywhere? i’m afraid i’ll have to keep her in her cage until she get’s spayed as it is getting too much. i don’t mind the pooping so much as its easy to clean, but pee is hard to clean and its tiring to keep cleaning up after her (i’m a bit of clean freak so that doesn’t help either).

so i don’t know, i’m just sad right now because i want to let her out but i can’t because i can’t relax when there’s poop all over me

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Watch her very closely when you let her out. Watch for the ‘pee signs’ …backing up slightly, tail raised, fixed expression…As soon as you see her getting ready (you may miss it the first time watching for the signs) plop her in her litter box and praise praise treat treat Try that tonight and let us know what she thinks

Also it’s important while litter training to keep a dirty litter box :p I mean, you don’t want them up to their elbows in filthe but you want them to get the picture. Put some pee soaked litter in a clean litter box and at least ten poops. Don’t empty until you have to-that’ll help her learn where she should go!

[somebunny]

well i think her peeing is definitley marking, last night she peed on my husband’s slipper while he was wearing it…she does love that slipper..but then this morning she peed on the sock on his foot!

i thought it was a bit funny but he didn’t!

maybe she loves him?

it seems these days her tail is permanently in the raised position!

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