Sherbotsky is acting weird...

Our mini lop Sherbotsky is an 11 month old doe. She's litter box trained but recently has been peeing small amounts outside the box while eating. Her hay bucket is right next to her litter box. Tonight she was also acting strange, hopping all over my husband while he was on the couch and then following me around the living room. Usually when we shake her treat bag she gets really excited and runs circles around our feet. She'll walk on her back legs a few steps if we hold up the treat and then grabs it pretty hard when she's done doing her trick. Tonight when I did it she hardly moved around me at all and when I held out the treat she took it very carefully. Also she typically does NOT like to be picked up but did not struggle at all both times my husband picked her up tonight. While she was hopping all over him he could hear a type of wheeze/grunt/purring noise when she was close to his face. I tried to listen to it also but she nipped at my forearm while I was leaning down next to her. She also nipped at my husband when he picked her up the second time and had her in his lap. Hubby put her in her cage and she thumped when he went to check on her a few minutes later. But then just a minute after that she dead bunny flopped.

She gets pellets and hay in the morning and more hay and veggies at night. We had been giving her a spring mix of lettuce from the grocery store but this week I switched to romaine leaves. The spring mix had some red type of veggie that was making her pee a weird orange-ish color. Her pee today and the last two days has been a normal color. I've read other times that red or orange foods (lettuce or carrots) can change the color of the urine but it isn't harmful.

Sherbotsky is not spayed though we have plans to do that in the near future.

We're very mystified by her behavior tonight. Any thoughts?

Could be a possible urinary tract infection. That can cause a rabbit to have pee accidents when it normally won't. With her also not acting like her normal self, it's a definite possibility. If she's still having pee accidents tomorrow and acting strangely, you may want to take her to the vet to get checked out. Also keep an eye on her eating and pooping. If there is a dramatic decrease in her food intake or she stops altogether, get her into the vet right away.

Thanks, JBun. We'll keep a close eye on her tomorrow while we're both home from work. We went out this evening for a couple hours and when we got home she thumped when my husband reached in to pet her and also tried nipping again. It wasn't a hard bite but definitely different than her normal self. :confused2:

Sounds like someone in need of a neutering.

Nancy, Yeah we're pretty sure that's what it is, though spaying in this case. Hubby looked up information on other sites earlier today and had the same conclusion. Just now she tried humping my hubby's arm while he was playing video games. She ate just fine last night and this morning and had normal looking poop and urine in her box. She's still making the odd humming sound according to my hubby.

So I'm pretty sure we have a hormonal rabbit. :inlove: Any advice on how to handle things in the meantime until she gets spayed?

Ok, yeah they'll do that honking or humming when they're hormonal and get a little excited. She's saying she really likes someone. Often it is occompanied with feet circling as well.

I don't think there' s much that can be done while you're waiting for the spay to happen, but the spay will definitely help.

We got an appointment for a spay for a week from Wednesday. Unfortunately she is very ambitious about getting near my hubby as he is the object of her affections. Anything he can do to to avert/discourage her attentions?

KaliQ wrote:

We got an appointment for a spay for a week from Wednesday. Unfortunately she is very ambitious about getting near my hubby as he is the object of her affections. Anything he can do to to avert/discourage her attentions?

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Seriously, once a bun has its hormones set on a particular someone, they can be pretty determined and not much will distract them.

Ahhhh. I think that's so cute. Your husband should be flattered. lol!!

One of my little bunnies has bladder stones/sludge. she makes little puddles outside the litter box. If that doesn't change, let me know. I can tell you what to expect and the protocol my vet has her on. She also would strain trying to go to the bathroom.

MarilynBUNNroe, Thanks for that info! The peeing outside her litter box has actually stopped so I think we're okay there, but we'll definitely keep an eye on it.

Tell her your hubby is all yours lol. Personally, I think that's funny. Just laugh about it, soon enough she'll be spayed and it won't be a problem anymore.