Rabbit urinating while circling

[ki18]

My 10 year old rabbit who is free to run around the house, chases me in the kitchen, runs around me and sprays urine on the floor? He seems to do it only in/near the kitchen, so I'm thinking its about food. The only way to stop him is to give him some vegetables! Anyone else ever had this issue? He does most of his business in his cage (which is open all the time). Although, the last few years he's left his droppings just outside the cage? He use to be really good about doing ALL his business in his cage. Anyway to retrain an older guy like this?

PS One more thing, he chases my feet (I usually have socks on) from under the table and tries to hump them? He was fixed when we first got him, but this issue came back a few years ago. Our vet said not to be concerned about this issue. Any help please..

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

You might want to stop rewarding him for the behaviour. In his mind, he runs circles, sprays and gets some veggies. Stop giving the veggie when he does it. You can also tell him No and put him back into his cage or somewhere he does not like. You can give the veggies in the cage after he has calmed down a bit. This is pretty unusual behaviour for a neutered male, especially the spraying.

Leaving the poops around is a territorial thing. It could be caused by a new animal or ever person in the house. He is saying that the cage area is his and that others should stay off his turf. You can try putting the poops into his litter box and cleaning the area around the cage really well. Moving the cage a bit might also be good, but it may take some time for him to really get that it has moved and use it in the new area.

Humping can be a dominance activity, especially with neutered rabbits and females. I would stop him from doing it and redirect him to do something else.

 

[plasticbunny]

Yup, it's a sexual/dominant behavior. I had a female who did this to her sister once. As far as I know, there's no way to change it.

 

[lagomorph]

Hmm. You say your neutered rabbit is 10 yrs old, and the humping and spraying just appeared a few years ago? Seems odd. Why would a hormonal surge suddenly appear in an older, neutered animal? Humans can get sex hormone secreting tumors of the adrenal glands (either benign or malignant), and this makes me wonder if rabbits can, too. If he does have such a tumor causing these behaviors, then it must be benign, since it has been going on for a few years and he is not ill, so I would not worry about his health. It would mean, however, that there is nothing you can do behaviorally to make him stop.