my rabbitt poops all over

Question
My rabbit is liter box trained and does fairly well.  However, lately when we let him out of his cage he poops all over.  He used to only poop on our couch so we kept him off of it.  But now no matter where he is he just poops.  When he is in his cage he is liter box trained but out he doesn't seem to control it. He almost always urinates in his liter box only when he is really excited does he urinate outside of the cage.  Do you think it would help if I had him fixed.  

Answer
Hi Jessica,

He isn't going to the bathroom, what he is doing is marking his territory.  Rabbits use fecal pellets (coated by their scent glands) and sometimes sprays to mark their territory.  But they don't regard it as 'going to the bathroom'.

You bet getting him fixed will reduce the spraying and marking he is doing outside his cage litterpan.  Also, giving him a litterpan while he is out (in the place he tends to mark the most) is also helpful, neutered or not.

Only have a good rabbit vet do this procedure.  Not any old cat and dog vet will do, they must have regular experience with rabbits and have very high success rates.  If they don't I wouldn't use them.  If you don't have a good rabbit vet yet, go to:

www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet in your area.

Make sure they give a pre-op sedative before surgery so that he doesn't fight the gas.  They should use isofluorine gas to put him under.  They should also give you a few days' pain meds you can give him (metacam probably) and antibiotics to prevent infection (baytril, probably).  He definitely needs pain meds so that he will keep eating normally.

Lee