behavior change

Question
I have a 6 year old mini-lop bunny, fully toilet trained.  Over the last week Honeybee has been urinating both on the floor of his cage (not in litter box) and on the kitchen floor, just outside of his cage.  What could be causing this change in behavior?  Is there any way to reshape it so he will urinate in his litter box once again?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Bob,

I suggest that you take your rabbit to a rabbit savvy vet for an exam.  Things such as UTI's, difficulty seeing and pain can cause a rabbit to stop using the litter box.  Once the rabbit has a clean bill of health you can work on restricting out of cage time until he gets the hang of it again.  Normally if the litter box is cleaned and they are litter trained they prefer to use the box.  That is why it is important to get the bunny examined.  Rabbits will hide their illnesses until they can't hide them anymore.  Often times a small change in behavior is the first clue that there is something wrong.

If you do not have a vet you can try this link:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

Good luck

Pam