Tucker Bunny -urination outside box

Question
QUESTION: Hi Dana!
Tucker Bunny is doing well after his 2nd bout with EC in December. He is now 6 years old (dwarf male neutered). He has started to urinate and leaves pellets wherever he hangs out now, which sometimes is on my carpet! Could this be from his last bout of EC leaving him a little more incontinent, or is there something we can do to retrain him not to go anywhere but in his box? I can't bear to keep him in his cage after he has had free reign of the house for all these years. Thanks!

ANSWER: Dear Jill,

This could be related to the E. cuniculi.  Hind limb weakness can make him less willing to jump into his box.  You can try cutting down the side of the box where he usually enters it, and encourage him to sit in the box by putting a nice, fresh bunch of hay in the corner so he can sit and "read the paper" while he does his business.  :)

But don't let the E. cuniculi be a Red Herring.  There are other reasons for incontinence, including various urinary tract problems, as you can read here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

It would be a good idea to get him to your rabbit-savvy vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to check for any such problems, and also to perhaps take radiographs of his lower skeleton to see if arthritis or disc problems could be contributing to this new behavior.  If so, judicious use of NSAIDs could help put him back on track.

Hope this helps.

Dana



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Dana. We got him a new cage that he can just walk in and out of, which seems to help a lot. He can't keep his footing on the hardwood floor anymore, so he just stays on the carpeting. If he ventures onto the hardwood, he flails around and can't right himself. So you think that might be an issue with hind leg weakness and a possible link to his incontinence?

Answer
Dear Jill,

If you need to allow him to navigate across the hardwood, you might consider purchasing some traction-backed runners to lay over the areas where he likes to go.  We have them all over our tile floors, and it's like a little bunny airport.  :)  

You can get very reasonably priced mats and runners at places like Target and Marshall's (especially the latter, though you never know what you'll find).  Stick with 100% cotton if your bunnies are chewers, or at least if you pick synthetic runners, get the ones with very short, difficult-to-chew nap.

And yes, the hind limb paresis and the incontinence could be related.  I hope the drugs you're using will help.  But do ask the vet about combining the fenbendazole and ponazuril. We've had excellent results doing that.

Dana