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My Bunny Urinates on the Sofa, Mum threatening to give her away

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BunnyBooBoo

Young Bun
So my French Lop, Lola, has started peeing on the sofas since the past three days. I got her about two weeks ago, and I thought I'd successfully potty trained her because whenever she needs to produce feces she goes to her hutch.

Anyway, long story short, my mum is now threatening to give her away. :( I don't want to give her away because I'm quite attached to her now, but most importantly because I know how difficult it can be to find rabbits a safe, happy home/environment.

She is about 11 weeks old. Do you think she is sexually maturing already? I was planning on getting her spayed but I didn't realise she'd hit puberty this quickly.

What can I do about this problem? Any tips on how you guys dealt with similar issues? Please help. All suggestions are welcome.
 
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I am sure people will be along with suggestions.
Do you have a bedroom you could bunny-proof and confine her there? That would take the strain off your mum, if you kept the room clean and smelling fresh.

I think your litter-training journey is only just beginning!
 
The sofa is nice and soft for her to pee on. 1. Don't let her on it. 2. If you do let her on it, put her on her tray as soon as she starts lifting her tail. This is a common problem - bunnies like to pee on soft things (sofas, duvets, rugs).

She'll likely be scent-marking. Have other animals been on the sofa, perhaps? It now smells of her, so officially it belongs to her.

You'll have to wait until she's around 6 months for spaying, so you have quite a while to go...

When our Poppet was maturing, she managed to run and pee at the same time - I got sprayed more than once!
 
I had a stage where this happened with mine - it drove me insane and completley ruined the cushions. It took a little while to stop it but I picked them up and put them in the litter tray when they started about to wee (the tail lifted), tried to make sure the litter tray had a little wee in so they knew where to go and I think I stopped them coming on the couch at one point.
 
My old bun used to do this...You also have to remember she's only 11 weeks old so it may be she hasn't fully caught on yet :) Would you expect an 11 week old puppy to be fully potty trained already? Just use patience and be really on the ball about scooping her up and putting her in the litter box the second you notice her peeing and put the pee in the box with her...It also helped mine if I made sure I kept everything REALLY clean and sanitary and there was never any smell of urine/poop/other animals EXCEPT where I wanted them to go :) Hope your bun catches on soon!!!
 
also keeping her off of the couch sounds like a good idea as well...I had to do that with Triss when she wouldn't stop peeing on my bed :evil:!
 
Mine did this when he was a baby despite being completly litter trained the rest of the time, but as soon as he was neutered he stoppped
 
My Toby does this but only ever on the side I sit so think he can smell me and is marking my side. Bella then did it as well for the first time but probably because she could smell he had been there first. They are both not allowed on the sofa now.
 
I would recommend spraying the area she has wee'd on with diluted white/distilled vinegar. This neutralises the smell of the wee so Lola won't be able to smell the wee so she it less likely to wee in that spot again.
 
Sofas can be hot spots for even well trained rabbits - I expect because to them they smell quite strongly of us as we spend a lot of time sat on them.

Keeping her off it if possible would be the best solution until after spaying. Other wise you could pop something protective over it - eg a plastic backed blanket. Putting a litter tray on the seat of the sofa and then moving it gradually once she's using it is a good way to retrain - but I don't know how keen your mum would be on that.
 
My rabbit used to pee on me before I had him neutered! He doesn't pee on the bed or sofa, but he does pee in and around his feed.
 
Hi, I went though the same thing with my bun when he arrived, he loved to pee on the sofa and on the bed...it's tricky to keep them off if they are a free range house buns(like mine) so the suggestion of covering the sofa temporarily in a plastic covering is such a good idea as my sofa still bares the marks of being constantly peed on!! It was a battle of wills for about the 1st 6 months and I spent most evenings scrubing the sofa clean only for him to jump back on it and do it again (I'm sure he was laughing at me!) and I thought I'd never cope with it....but at last it stopped and now he jumps all over the funiture and never pees on it, just keep going your bunny is worth it!! :wave:
 
Thank you for all the responses you guys. Truly appreciated.

The good news is that she hasn't peed on the sofas for a few days now... after I used some of the suggestions you guys gave. Let's hope it stays this way. :)
 
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