bathroom troubles in an adult, litterbox trained, bunny

Question
Hi!

I have a bunny issue that I have trying to solve for about two years. My three-year-old, litterbox-trained, holland lop, Theodore is great about using his litterbox most of the time. He drops pellets outside his box and cage but I've heard that that's normal. It actually doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that for some reason, he's decided that the couch is his second litterbox. He doesn't urinate anywhere else outside his litterbox EXCEPT for the couch. He also drops an inordinate amount of pellets on the couch. I, of course, try to restrict him from the couch, but once in a while he sneaks up there and nearly always urinates. He used to do that with my bed as well so that became a restricted area. He would jump up and literally within 30 seconds would urinate. Initially, I thought maybe there's some sort of scent that he only smells on the couch and the bed - some kind of human scent - and he feels he needs to mark his territory. So I've tried Febreezing the couch. I just can't figure it out. Short of continuing the fight to keep him off the couch is there anything else I can try?

Thanks so much!
Heather

Answer
Dear Heather,

He is, indeed, marking his territory.  Is he neutered?  If not, neutering will help with this, though it might not completely solve the problem.  And to tell you the truth, I have not had any luck dissuading rabbits who have suddenly decided that my pillow is the best toilet in the house.  For tips on litterbox training, you can try this article:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

but I'm not sure how much it will help if he's good everywhere except that couch (which smells like you, so he's adding *his* scent, too, to be part of the tribe).

What you *can* do is take precautions to protect the couch.  We have used a layer of plastic carpet runner (Home Depot or similar store), and then placed over that a rubber-backed, soft, 100% cotton bath mat.  With this in place over the spot where he pees, you can at least protect the couch, and have a washable mat to take the brunt.  I'd buy several, so they can be laundered in turn, never leaving the couch unprotected.

I wish I had a better solution.  But rabbits defeat us sometimes.  

Hope this helps.
Dana