Super Pee King

Question
QUESTION: Hello, my husband and I adopted a male Holland Lop about two months back that has been rescued and fixed. He is litter trained and uses his box really well in the first week after we got him. Thereafter, he starts to pee outside his litter pan in the evening, between 10 and 11 PM (and yes, it's like clockwork), and in the morning before we wake up. The rest of the time, he pees and poops in his litter pan. He has been doing so consistently for 6 weeks now. We cannot figure out what he's trying to tell us. He was kept in a 4-piece pen area for the first 2 weeks and the area was then increased to a 6-piece pen (because the pet shop didn't have enough pieces). He gets to run around a larger space when we're home, in addition to his usual playtime of about 2-3 hours everyday. The hay is also in his litter pan, but he hasn't eaten hay from Day 1 since we got him (we give him APD second cut Timothy Hay and Oxbow pellets). He is also a compulsive eater and can eat huge portions of veggie (so much that it's unbelievable) and loves his pellets, which we limit to one tablespoon in the morning, and another at night. We have since been advised by the local HRS, where we got the bunny, to increase both veggie and pellets, in a bid to pacify him. He has stopped his endless begging but the peeing habit hasn't changed. In the past 2 weeks, he has also been leaving piles of his poop (a cluster of about 8-10 balls) outside the litter pan (and during 10-11 PM at night and in the mornings) in addition to the peeing. Since his peeing behavior started, we have been told by various experts, including HRS, to limit his space back to the 4-piece pen. Nothing changed.

After a few weeks of trial and error and monitoring his poop and pee, we also find that there is nothing to suggest any underlying medical problems, a view HRS shares (bec he was there for 5 days while we were on holiday). He also knows that we hate him peeing outside because we used to watch him like a hawk between 10 and 11 at night and when he does his thing, we would say no and guide him back to his litter pan. We know that he has learned that we hate the pee because these days, when we see him in his pan at around that time of the night, there will be a puddle of pee already deposited outside FOR SURE. We are first time owners and we are getting very tired. He was neutered about 5-6 months ago. Any ideas please?

Lim

ANSWER: Hi Lim,

it's a common question, and as a guy who has two rabbits that do this without any good reason, I can only tell you at this point you can only really compensate for it.  Extra towels or rugs that cover the floorspace of where he pees and drops pellets are what you need.  Every few days wash them and replace.  I have a guy who goes right next to a litterpan, only in his play area.  He won't use it but he'll use the one in his cage.  In his case I believe he's overmarking a former rabbits' markings, but the area's been cleaned so many times and still...

You can always try really cleaning that area he drops pellets and pees in.  If you have a steam cleaner that can really knock out odor of a former animal.  

In the meantime put towels down in the area and see if he'll go on the towel.  It will be easier to deal with.  Try leaving the solied towel there and see if the day after he pees outside again.  If he doesn't he is overmarking some scent, either a former animal, another current animal, a chemical he smells or even you guys possibly.



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

QUESTION: A quick follow up. He also doesn't eat hay. He wasn't trained to even before we got him. Can he do without hay or he MUST have it as part of the diet? Can he just eat veggies? What will happen if he doesn't eat hay? We feed the APD Gold Timothy Hay.

Also, he often appears to be eating something (and it's not his poop). It's like he is grinding his teeth, sometimes silent, sometimes with a slight noise. His urine is clear, poop is normal. Appetite hasn't changed and still as greedy as ever. Should we be concerned?

Answer
Well, you should try to give him hay.  He really does need it to wear his teeth down properly and to push fur through his gi tract.  Just have it available to him, change it/top it off with fresh hay 1-2 times a day.  The key to getting them to like it is to make sure it smells fresh, it's green, and it's not dusty/dry.  He will eat everything he likes first so you might have to scale back on those items in order for him to learn to start to eat it.

Slight grinding like you describe, he is most likely just 'purring' (aka teeth chattering, teeth purring).  It's a thing they do when they ae happy and content.