Bunnies like most pets want to establish their place in our homes, they are territorial and one of the ways they will establish their place in a room, especially if it's a long way from their litter tray, is by marking it with their scent.
Urinary Incontinence in Rabbits. Urinary incontinence is clinically described as a condition in which there is loss of voluntary control of urination, usually observed as accidental urine leakage. This is often caused by a loss of bladder tone (normal tension and sensitivity) or an obstruction of the bladder.
Marking: Spraying Urine & Scattering Droppings
The onset of sexual maturity is the trigger for a rabbit to begin marking his or her territory. If you've had your rabbit from a young age, this often means your perfectly litter-trained baby rabbit will suddenly start leaving poop and urine all over the place.
Rabbits commonly spray urine to mark their territory. If your rabbit is urinating on you, he or she may be attempting to claim you as part of their territory!
Bunnies like most pets want to establish their place in our homes, they are territorial when it comes to competing for the things they want and one of the ways they will establish their place on the couch is by marking it with their scent.
Fear or Trauma
If a rabbit has experienced injury or trauma while being picked up, he might be peeing on you out of fear. It's a common fear and trauma response for animals that can take a long time to heal.
Private space. Apart from eating these droppings, rabbits are extremely clean animals and like to have their own 'bunny bathrooms' - dedicated areas in their hutch for sleeping, eating and toileting.
Your rabbit's potty habits can be thrown off by a change in routine, new scenery, unfamiliar humans or animals, an issue with the litter box itself, a medical problem, or even a new life stage.
This is because buns like to mark their territory, and if a space smells unfamiliar, they claim this space by 'marking' it - i.e. leaving their scent in the form of their pee and poop.
It is important to distinguish between urine spraying and inappropriate urination due to environmental or medical factors. When rabbits spray urine, they tend to spray on vertical surfaces; however, rabbits displaying inappropriate urination will generally urinate on horizontal surfaces.
Signs of pain include: > grinding teeth > rapid and shallow breathing > pulling hair > decreased grooming > hunched posture > lethargy > increased thirst and urination > a reluctance to move > bulging, strained, staring, or unfocused eyes.
Rabbit pee can have a strong smell, and unaltered rabbits (especially males) will sometimes emit a skunk-like smell during mating season. A sick or disabled rabbit will also need a little extra care to keep them clean and smelling good.
Nearly all the smell produced by rabbits comes from the urine. It has a distinctive ammonia-tinged odor that is especially strong right after urination and can be quite strong. The urine from a buck tends to have a stronger smell than that from a doe.
The beauty of it is that rabbit urine has no expiry date as long as it is kept covered after harvesting to preserve ammonia.
Urine from a healthy pet, or any animal, shouldn't be harmful. However, if the animal is infected with an illness or bug, it can be dangerous. A common bug that pet rabbits suffer from is Encephalitozoon cuniculi – a microorganism that can cause neurological disease.
Your rabbit may show signs of wanting attention from you by nudging you, softly biting or even making digging notions directly on you. On the other hand, they may show signs of withdrawing from you, refusing interaction and not responding when you try to pet or play. A lonely rabbit may become hyperactive and angry.
As their twitching noses indicate, rabbits sniff a lot. Try sprinkling dried sulfur around or on your plants. Rabbits also dislike the smell of onions, so try planting these around your garden to further deter the furry creatures. To discourage pesky rabbits, try dusting your plants with plain talcum powder.
Pulling at their fur and over-grooming - or not grooming at all. A change in feeding or toilet habits. Drinking a lot more. Repeated circling or pacing up and down.
Rabbits that become depressed will usually sit around for most of the day. They will often lose interest in eating, grooming, or even socializing. Some rabbits who become depressed will even resort to aggressive behaviors, such as biting and swatting.
When a rabbit nibbles or bites you softly it is often accompanied with licking, which is a sign of love. He is trying to groom you and is simulating the grooming process (however, you have no fur to build up knots in so it results in just a little nibble of the skin).
Normal rabbit urine will vary from a pale yellow or clear colour, through various orange and brown colours, right up to a deep red colour. Rabbit urine may also look cloudy due to the presence of calcium carbonate being excreted within the urine.