Why does my bunny pee on me?
It’s expected that your bunny will take some time to adjust to the new environment when you first bring him or her home.
However, despite litter training, you may notice abnormal urination patterns that are often inappropriate, annoying, and if we’re being honest, pretty disgusting.
My two mini rex rabbits often had little accidents, especially when they were young. We also had some trouble with them spraying.
However, nowadays it no longer happens at all. It’s been many years since the last time.
Here are some of the reasons your rabbit might pee or spray on you.
Why Does My Bunny Pee On Me?
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Although it’s normal for bunnies to accidentally urinate on their owners every once in a while, a rabbit that regularly pees on you isn’t acceptable or common behavior.
It’s important that you understand why this is happening so you can resolve the issue correctly.
Here are the possible reasons your bunny is peeing on you:
- Fear
- Needs training
- Trauma
- Medical problem
- Marking territory
Let’s take a closer look at these reasons your rabbit might pee on you or in other unusual places.
1. Fear
Rabbits are sensitive prey animals by nature, which causes them to scare easily.
This is especially true if they’re not used to socializing with people or other animals.
As a result, one of the main reasons your bunny pees on you when you pick them up can be out of fear.
Yes, your rabbit may be afraid of you, perhaps because you’re yet to earn their trust. This may also be due to rough handling, particularly when taking them out of their bunny hutch.
The rabbit feels scared or concerned, then once they settle in your arms, they pee involuntarily because they don’t know what will happen.
2. Trauma
Similar to fear, your bunny may be traumatized by a negative experience they’ve had when being picked up in the past.
So, when you pick them up, they might feel scared of repeating the trauma and pee as a result.
While this shouldn’t stop you from taking them home or keeping them once they’re home, it’s a good idea to find out the history of your rabbit, whatever age they are when you get them.
3. Needs To Be Trained
A simple reason your bunny pees on you might be that they just don’t know it’s wrong.
If your rabbit hasn’t been taught to urinate in a certain spot, they can easily pick up bad habits such as peeing on their guardian.
We place a litter box filled with rabbit bedding material in the corner of our rabbit’s room and she will only ever pee in there.
It didn’t take any work on our behalf to train her, but rabbits are extremely clean animals and prefer going in one spot.
If you give them a comfortable spot to go in, they will make the most of it.
4. A Medical Condition
If your rabbit is peeing on you, they might be feeling unwell.
Inappropriate urination is a common symptom of several health issues including urinary infections, kidney disease, and diabetes.
If the unwanted peeing is coupled with rabbit diarrhea then it’s important to take your pet to the vet asap.
The problem may even be psychological. For example, if your bunny is stressed or frustrated.
5. Marking Territory
Lastly, your bunny peeing on you might be territorial or sexual behavior.
This is called spraying, where rabbits voluntarily urinate on other rabbits, objects, or people to mark as their own.
You can tell if your bunny is spraying by the strong odor of the urine that’s way more pungent than usual peeing.
Additionally, bunnies tend to spray on vertical surfaces, while normal urination is usually directed at the horizontal ground.
One of our male rabbits in particular was extremely bad with spraying.
The wee is red and somehow he managed to get it everywhere, even spraying vertically up the walls.
Thankfully this phase only lasted a number of weeks while he was going through puberty.
How To Stop Unwanted Rabbit Peeing
Now that you have an idea of why your rabbit might be peeing on you, you’re probably wondering how you can prevent it from happening?
Here are a few ways you can resolve the problem, but check out these portable carpet cleaners if you need a way to clean up in the meantime.
Establish Trust
If your bunny pees on you because they’re scared when you pick them up, you should try to ease their fear and earn their trust.
Let them know you want to be friends and reward them every time they willingly get close to you.
Train Them
If your bunny is poorly educated on where to go toilet, your mission is to properly litter train them so they learn to pee in one place.
It shouldn’t take much work – it never has been in my experience – but all rabbits are different.
Some of the products we listed in the table above could help.
Get Them Neutered
If the problem is excessive spraying due to sexual habits, sterilization might be the solution.
As you can see, there are several answers to the question ‘why did my rabbit pee on me?’.
Remember, if you suspect that your rabbit’s behavior is due to an illness, pay your vet a visit to treat the cause before complications arise.
You could also learn more about different rabbit breeds to see if that has some connection to your problem!
My 10 year old house rabbit sprays our lhasa apso dog at least 10 times a day 🙁 Hes not scared has been neutered so I definitely think its a dominance thing. I am demented with him as I am constantly cleaning my tiles and also my poor dog (who just lets him) We’ve did everything to try and stop him like lock him in kitchen, give him into trouble move him away etc but nothing helps. Is there anything I can buy or do to stop this? Thanks in advance
Our rabbits did this a lot when they were younger. It was very disgusting, especially with the pee being red most of the time. We separated them so that they couldn’t see each other and it stopped. We kept them apart for about 6 months and when we brought them back together they were fine. They were (one has since died) both males and actually brothers who were also neutered. I can only recommend separating your animals for a time and try to bring them back together in the future.
My 8 week old mini rex rabbit has peed on me for the last two times I pick her up. I pick her up and then set her in my lap, and she still does it. This confuses me because she fell asleep on me the other day. She does not pee on the floor when I let her out, and we have been trying to litter train her since we got her at 7 weeks old. Thanks for your help!
My bunny keeps peeing on the furniture and on a person. It’s his favorite person so I think this is a marking behavior. He recently had a vet check up and is perfectly healthy. He’s always been a well trained bunny with the litter box but this is new. Any suggestions of how to break him of this habit? He’s neutered and almost 4 years old. Basically he’ll be cuddling with his favorite person and then pee on him randomly. As for the couch, he’s no longer allowed on the couch for any reason. He pees in the same two places on the couch. Also pees in the same place on the person.
My 6 month bunny has started peeing on me when I’m asleep on the couch around the early morning. I’m in my 3rd trimester and fall asleep on the couch randomly. She has just started jumping up on the couch a 2 months ago and started peeing on or near me about a month ago. I don’t know if it’s because she likes the sheets on the couch, or she gets up there and doesn’t want to get down and pee. She’ll do it while grooming me when I’m sleep, or, when she’s digging in the sheets while I’m sleep. It’s only on the couch, that we know of. She also has access to sleep with our toddler in her bed and she doesn’t pee there when she digs on her sheets or grooms her when she’s sleeping. She doesn’t do it to my husband when he falls asleep on the couch. It’s only me. She isn’t fixed, yet. She’s a good bunny and we don’t have issues with her besides normal bunny attitudes when we don’t follow her routine or do what she wants. She’s very caring and sweet too.
My rabbit pee’d on my dog last night and on me the last few nights. I am confused. I guess it is territorial. It is hard though cuz he is finally coming out of his shell and venturing in and out of his cage on his own and even snuggling with me at night playing a little game we play. I feel bad for the dog who got pee’d on. Although she didn’t seem to care. Another thing, our cat likes to bat at the cage and get the rabbit running around. I thought it was cute at first but am thinking she is instigating this new behavior. I believe I am going to try to gate the cat out of the room where the rabbit cage is at night time and see if things get any better. The dogs don’t bother with the rabbit at all.
My rabbit only pees on me wen we sit on the bed toghter and only once she comes up close wees then walks away. I no I have a good bound with her as she stetches out and often comes n licks n nugges me for strokes ,she poos a little bit but mainly dose her stuff in try WHY
My bunny has started peeing on me, every time I let him out he starts to run in a circle a spray me with pee. Help! I don’t know what to do. It’s been going on for about a month now. I’ve had him for 6 months
Hey Allie, it’s likely just a stage. Our rabbits did that as well, but they didn’t do it for long – maybe only a month. We had two male brothers and it was actually only one of them that did it. Separating them for a time seemed to help.
Our hollandlop is 9 1/2 years old. All of a sudden she is scenting and peeing on us why.? Spayed and potty trained. No other animals