Bathroom habits/couch peeing HELP

[Lori Miller]

Hello! I bought my 4 yr old son a half blind female Flemish giant (Penelope aka Penny) that we absolutely adore but I'm losing my mind over her obsession with peeing on our couch and pooping on me!! She's 13 weeks old (we brought her home from the breeder at 8 wks) and I literally can't leave the room without her running to pee and poop on the sofa. She was doing great pooping only in the litter box but in the last week she's been pooping EVERYWHERE-especially on things with my scent on them and it's an absolute nightmare if I accidentally leave a pair of pants or shirt within her reach! She uses her box and as long as I keep her off the sofa only pees there, but she's destroying it-I used shower curtains to cover it but they didn't serve as a deterrent and within a week were full of holes She also pees the moment she gets on my bed but thankfully I'm able to close the bedroom door and keep her out so it's not as frustrating. I desperately want her to be able to continue free roaming during the day without constant supervision but I'm getting really discouraged. At night she has an XL dog crate with custom made litter area and additional 26" vinyl and fleece "shelf" that she loves-she refuses to pee in her space and makes a mad dash for her other litter box in the morning so it's not as though she doesn't grasp the concept lol. I've tried weeks of putting her in her "house" as a time out for couch peeing, soaking up the urine and putting it in her litter box to reinforce where she should go, and everything else I can think of all to no avail. Any help will be immensely appreciated!!!

 

[John Wick]

She's definitely at the age where her hormones are developing. For rabbits, hormones shout two messages: 1) secure territory and 2) mate. Right now, it sounds like secure territory is happening loud and clear, based on your observation of her wanting to cover your scent with her own.

Because this is so biological for her, time outs will not help -- if anything, it may increase her frustration since she's getting restricted from what she believes is her territory, maybe pushing her to try and mark even more once she's out of the time out. For a lot of animals, like rabbits, having the territory smell like them gives them a sense of security.

The main remedy for this is having her spayed. While that can seem dangerous, it's a very routine procedure for rabbits now, because people have realized the benefits in not only domestic pet behavior (generally less aggressive/destructive tendencies), but also it eliminates the rate of cancer in females, which is somewhere between 40-80% of a chance, depending on where you look. You also will prevent the stress of her potentially going through false pregnancies. You will want to speak with a rabbit-experienced vet, typically categorized as an exotic vet, though some are exotic and avian vets. Regular vets (dog and cat primarily) cannot see rabbits, and some who say they can may have the best intentions, but the formal training is not there and I've heard many times that it leads to disaster for the rabbit and his/her owner. If you get an 1) exotic vet who is 2) experienced with spaying, there is very little risk of a spay complication.

A potential remedy in the mean time is having things that smell like her in the environment. I used the "cloth" trick for my rabbit when he was young. I used a cloth that he would always lounge/sleep on and put it on the couch when he wasn't using it. When he'd go on the couch, he'd smell the cloth and it would minimize his desire to mark the couch, since it already smelled like him. Some people say it works enough if you just rub a cloth on the rabbit for a bit, but I think to really get the scent in there, it's good to have the rabbit on there and using it for a while. Perhaps feeding the rabbit everyday on the mat, for example, may be good.

And my rabbit too has the selectiveness to avoid peeing in his indoor, open hutch. I have a litter box right outside of it so it's readily accessible when he needs it. Sometimes the solution can also be putting litter boxes in more spaces. I imagine in a rabbit's mind, a dialogue would be "Why should I go all the way to the other side of the room where you placed this arbitrary box, when I could just pee right here, where there's a corner and I know it's safe...?"

 

[Lori Miller]

John I absolutely love your insight and advice!! I do intend to have her spayed as soon as she's old enough and I can save enough to have it done-single mom and between Penny and my little guy they're quite literally eating/destroying everything as fast as I can replace it lol. Im committed to giving Penny a full and happy life with us and as large and active as she is I don't believe that's possible without allowing her to free roam. Not to mention the fact that her larger than life personality and sass have already won her a permanent place in both our hearts and she's incredibly adept at communicating despite the inability to vocalize her opinions... until I met her I wouldn't have believed a rabbit was capable of pouting!! Thankfully I'm a seamstress by profession so I'll make a few mats with fleece and faux leather backing this evening then let her sleep on them tonight... thanks to you, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day