pees like a dog?

[Nicky Snow]

My 2 year old girl Rue, has been having a toughtime. First we moved, then she got a little sister (who she doesn'tlike), and now i'm trying to switch her very yummy, but bad Bonanaza tojust pellets. Her poops are back to normal, but now she is peeingoutside her cage.

Not one big pee, but a little here, a little there, and i'm wonderingif she is losing her bladder control, or kinda marking her territory.

She seems quite healthy otherwise, she is eating herhay,andpicking out all the Bonanza pellets, (iremovedmost of the treats), then she avoids the other pelletslike they contain the plague. And she drinks a good amount of watereach day.

Could this be revenge for the food and lack of treats, or is she sick?

Any ideas?

Thanks, Nicole

 

[dajeti2]

Rabbits are creatures of habit and routine. Any change in their routine can upset them.

It sounds as though she has a lot of new things happening andshe is rebelling a bit. She may just be marking her area so the otherbunn knows it's her space. It is best to try bonding them a month or soafter they are spayed. Give those hormones plenty of time to settledown. Here is a link about bonding that you may find helpfulhttp://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

How long have you been switching her feed? Generally when Iswitch feed I add a cup of the new feed to about three cups of the oldfeed. Every four days I add more of the new and less of the old. Youcan usually switch them in about two weeks time.

Two seems a bit young for bladder control issues. Keep an eyeon her and if you notice anything really out of the ordinary thenconsult a good rabbit savvy vet.

I hope this helps.

Tina

 

[BunnyLover]

I personally don't think it is a bladder controlissue probably more like a territory issue.Itmightbeshe feelsthreatened by new baby sister and ismarking her territory to say "Hey! Back off, babe, this is my cribyou're crashing in!"It might also be that the new placedoesn't smell like her anymore and she has to claim it before someoneelse comes along. ~But definitely keep an eye on her like Tina said,better to be safe than sorry~

As for the food there are so many threads on that issue. Trying doing asearch and that might give you some more ideas/tricks. Believe meeveryone has gone through a food switch at one time or another.Hopefully she isn't like BlueBelle was."Her RoyalHighness"refused to switch pellets so I had to go back to theother brand I was using. Fortunately it was a good brand and is highlyrecommendedso I'm not that upset even though Ithink it is a little more expensive:disgust:! Not like that mattersthough. We do as bunnies say,right?

Lissa

 

[JimD]

Hi Nicole!

Our S'more did the same thing for a while after we rearranged the bunnies and started litter training.

S'more always uses the same back corner to pee in her litter pan. Everynow and then she would go to the front corner, lift her tail HIGH andpee over the edge of the pan. She stopped after a month or so. I thinkit was her way of reconfirming her territory.

Stick with the food transition. Luckily S'more cooperated with me.Tomorrow we start with 3/4 new and 1/4 old. By next week she should beon all new. YAY!!

~Jim

 

[Nicky Snow]

cool thanks guys. as always, a HUGE help !

i think she is just being rebellious. Today she was fine except i gother a litter pan instead of just having the carefresh on the cagefloor, and she was freaking out moving it and flipping it over, so itook it out and she was fine.

JimD-the food switch is soooo hard! i have been using the formula thatFreddy's mum showed me, but was concerns me the most is that Rue willjust leave the rest of the plain pellets, and i don't know how long ishould keep them in there. after 2 days i'm sure they get stale, so iput a fresh mix in her bowl. and voila! a vicious cycle.

i did introduce pumpkin today and it was a grand success for Rue (whodidn't like the oats) and for Kweli (who will eat anything)

Tina- i have given up on bonding FOR NOW cause the aggresive one is Rueand i am really scared to get her spayed. Because of her age and thatshe gets so stressed, i don't want to risk losing her. They have onlybeen together for a few months, and i'm moving in October. once theyget used to the new place, i might reconsider the spay, and the bonding.

Lissa- you are right bout the "back off my crib". When Rue is out shegoes up to Kweli's cage, and says "hello". However, when Kweli goes upto Rue's cage, Rue goes nuts on her. (the joys of parenthood)

Nicole