Hi,
My bun Merlin is 3 years old, neutered male. He's never really liked being handled, and was happy for the occasional brief stroke as long as we were not comfortable doing it. If we looked comfortable, he would move a little bit away so that we had to lean, or bend at a funny angle.
The rule of the sofa has always been that if he comes up he's fair game for cuddles and attention, so he never really did. We moved house in May, and he's become more confident since. He's on the sofa being cuddled more often, and over the last week or so he's even been brave enough to venture onto my (and later my husband's) lap for a full-on snuggle session. This is amazing, and makes us really happy.
What doesn't make us happy is that since he's started coming up more often he is now pooping all over the sofa. He's been littered trained from day one, and although he has two loos in his cage he's never had more than the occasional poop catch him off guard outside the cage. (There was a wee incident on the sofa once before, but nothing since he was neutered about two years ago.) It's not like he has picked a corner - it is literally all over the sofa.
Yesterday, he snuggled on my lap for a good long time, and we were all cuddly and loved up together. Then he shook his ears, scratched his face, stood up and peed on me. He wasn't squirmy beforehand, it wasn't a spray and husband thinks he was just being lazy because he was comfortable and didn't want to move all the way across the room to his cage.
Is there a way to stop him pooping all over the sofa? Is there a way to stop him peeing on me without having to turn him away when he comes up for cuddles? Is it possible this behaviour means something I haven't considered?
Thank you for any advice, it's all gratefully received.
My bun Merlin is 3 years old, neutered male. He's never really liked being handled, and was happy for the occasional brief stroke as long as we were not comfortable doing it. If we looked comfortable, he would move a little bit away so that we had to lean, or bend at a funny angle.
The rule of the sofa has always been that if he comes up he's fair game for cuddles and attention, so he never really did. We moved house in May, and he's become more confident since. He's on the sofa being cuddled more often, and over the last week or so he's even been brave enough to venture onto my (and later my husband's) lap for a full-on snuggle session. This is amazing, and makes us really happy.
What doesn't make us happy is that since he's started coming up more often he is now pooping all over the sofa. He's been littered trained from day one, and although he has two loos in his cage he's never had more than the occasional poop catch him off guard outside the cage. (There was a wee incident on the sofa once before, but nothing since he was neutered about two years ago.) It's not like he has picked a corner - it is literally all over the sofa.
Yesterday, he snuggled on my lap for a good long time, and we were all cuddly and loved up together. Then he shook his ears, scratched his face, stood up and peed on me. He wasn't squirmy beforehand, it wasn't a spray and husband thinks he was just being lazy because he was comfortable and didn't want to move all the way across the room to his cage.
Is there a way to stop him pooping all over the sofa? Is there a way to stop him peeing on me without having to turn him away when he comes up for cuddles? Is it possible this behaviour means something I haven't considered?
Thank you for any advice, it's all gratefully received.
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