Rabbit Bathroom Habits

Question
My male rabbit leaves his BM all over the place. It seems to be something he does without noticing, so I don't think he'd pay attention if I did anything about it and when He's digging on one of the toys I gave him, he can get so excited that when I touch him he jumps up and sprays his urine everywhere. How do I keep him from doing this?

Answer
Hi,

your male rabbit has reached sexual maturity.  He is marking territory with fecal pellets and he is marking you with his urine.  That's what sexually mature males do.

You need to find a good rabbit vet (not all are) and schedule a neutering procedure.  This isn't a huge deal if a good rabbit vet does it.  They need to do this procedure regularly and with a very high success rate.

The vet needs to make sure to put him on post-op antibiotics (baytril usually) and pain meds (metacam, usually).  For at least 3-5 days.  If he gets a post-op infection you need to get him back and have it cleaned out.  You many need to have the bacteria tested so that a more effective antibiotic can be given that will work against it better.

He will need cage rest about a week - no running hard or jumping.  

Do not fast your rabbit before surgery.  They can't throw up so that isn't a problem.  The vet should not let him come back to you until he is eating and drinking again.  Take along his regular foods and treats so he can have them right away after surgery.

Some vets will let you be there in recovery, if you want to do that, ask ahead.  Then you can watch him more closely when he is coming around.  

This will greatly reduce the markings and the sprayings.  Basically if he does drop a few pellets, it will normally be in the same spot, and you can just put a litterpan down there, and he'll probably just go in the litterpan.  the sprayings should stop.  

Lee