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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Bunny Bathroom Problems

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    • JLedger
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         I could really use some advice.  We have two large french lop rabbits – brothers.  They are two years old, get along well, and are generally very nice pets.  They appear happy and unstressed.  However, one of them has developed a very bad habit regarding urination.  He often put his front paws into the litter pan – with his hind section sitting on the floor outside of it – and then pees and defecates.  He then often sits in and runs through his own pee, soiling himself and flicking pee everywhere.  This quickly turns him and the whole room around his litter pan into a stenchful disaster.   We have taken him to the vets.  He does not have any infections or crystals in his urine.  He has been neutered.  He does not have a mobility problem – in fact he can leap over an entire litter pan when he wants to.   We’ve moved the liter pan all over his enclosure looking for his preferred spot, bought multiple litter pans, and tried various litters but nothing stops this behavior.  Does anyone have any advice?  This problem is becoming serious for us.   Even tho I’d miss them, If we can’t correct this problem we’re going to have to put these guys up for adoption.  Can anyone suggest anything??


      • Sarita
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          Are you using the largest litter pan possible for him?


        • JLedger
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             We’ve gone beyond litter pans.  We’re using the low-style tupperware storage containers.  His current litter pan is 25 by 18 inches and 3.5 inches in hight.  There is a second litter pan thats slightly smaller but still large enough for him to lie down in.  


          • JLedger
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              I should also mention his brother has no problems using the litter pans and has never exhibited this behavior.


            • KatnipCrzy
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                When Griffin was younger he was so awful about using the litter box and he peed in his crate a lot- I finally put in another huge litterbox so his crate floor was 75% litterbox and that finally helped. Now he is great with the litterbox- but I thought I would never have him trained. He made such a pee mess and got it all over- I think my husband would have gotten rid of him. Now he is the mellowest, coolest bunny ever as the bigger rabbits tend to be.


              • JLedger
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                   Was there anything special that you did to encourage the transition for Griffin?  We’ve been trying to hard to understand and fix the problem.  We’ve tried multiple litter pans.  Tried finding pans with lower edges to make it easier for him to get in and out of.    We’ve tried introducing toys in case it was boredom.  So far it hasn’t changed the behavior.   

                  What age did you notice a change in Griffins bathroom problems?


                • Emmie
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                    Have you put his hay and food in the tray?


                  • KatnipCrzy
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                      I made it as inconvenient as possible for him not to use the litter pan. He was poorly littertrained from 8-9 weeks old (when I got him) to about 8 months old or so. I tried everything else first- blanket, newspapers on crate floor, nothing on crate floor. It was like he did not care what a huge mess he was making.


                    • JLedger
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                         Bacchus (our problem bunny) was good at using the liter pans up until a couple months ago.   They’re coming up on two years now, so I guess he was about a year and 10 months when he started having problems.  Maybe your bunny improved as he matured.  I think perhaps our bunny started peeing outside his box in response to some kind of change, but then built a habit from it.  It’s strange.  We see him walk up and put his front paws into a liter pan and then go.  It’s like he figures that as long as his front paws are in then that’s good enough.  Unfortunately it isn’t.  We have a vinyl floor so he ends up just soaking himself.  It seems like this is a voluntary behavior but I’ve never seen a healthy bunny tolerate soiling himself.  Our vet insists Bacchus is in good health so this is a mystery.  My concern is that the ongoing mess is really getting to my husband.  If we cant solve this soon I think we may have to find a new home for our bunnies. 


                      • Sarita
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                          Have you had Bacchus in for a checkup to make sure the problem isn’t medical like a urinary tract infection?


                        • JLedger
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                             Yes.  We took Bacchus in for an examination.  We also took a urine sample.  The vet found no sign of any infection or any crystals in his urine.  We also tried a course of antibiotics just to be safe.  There was no change.  The vet feels the problem is behavioral, but hasn’t been able to suggest anything. 


                          • Emmie
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                              What way have you got the litter box set up? Maybe put something nice in it that he can eat/nibble on?


                            • JLedger
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                                Currently our two bunnies are in a 6×8 foot pen.  There are two large litter boxes in it.  Currently one is at each end of the pen.  We have shuffled them back and forth trying to make sure one is where Bacchus has chosen to pee.  However, if a litter box is moved into where he has peed on the floor he just pees on the floor in a new location.    We have tried putting food, treats, toys, even a water bowl into the litter pan.  He’s quite capable of hopping into the pan for something and does sometimes pee in the pan.  But at least a few times a day he pees outside of them in a random ever-changing location. 


                              • Kate Monster
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                                  Has he been hopping up on things normally? Maybe his hips are sore or weak and hopping all the way in is uncomfortable? Can he reach his hay or food by standing that way in the litter box? If so you could try moving it to the other end so he has to get in to reach it. Another idea might be to put the litter box inside something else, a big box or something and maybe that will catch any accidents or force him all the way in. Like a nesting doll of litter boxes, lol. Good luck!


                                • Sarita
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                                    How about putting the 2 litter pans together and putting the hay in only one…it’s worth a try since he seems to sit on the side and eat the hay that way. Also put some carpets next to the litter boxes that can be washed and air dried as needed.


                                  • JLedger
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                                      Thank you!  I’ve taken your advice and gone one step further.  I’ve put a really BIG litter box in the middle and used the three to essentially barricade the food and water with litter boxes.  Theoretically there is now no way for them to eat, drink, or get treats without sitting in a litter box.  I also added small washable carpets on the floor that is not covered in litter boxes.  At first both rabbits avoided the carpets and squished onto the tiny amount of remaining uncovered vinyl floor, but now they seem to have realized the carpets are nicer to sit on.  In the very least this should provide a more absorbent surface then the vinyl floor and should lead to less spray and mess if Bacchus insists on peeing outside of the liter pans.  I’ll let you know how it goes.


                                    • BinkyBunny
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                                        Posted By JLedger on 04/20/2011 10:39 AM

                                         We see him walk up and put his front paws into a liter pan and then go.  It’s like he figures that as long as his front paws are in then that’s good enough.

                                        Jack got into a habit of this as well.  I understood why Jack did because he has arthritis in his front paw and spine, but even when I made it easier and cushier, he had just gotten into the habit of putting his front paws in, eating hay, and the peeing outside of the box.  I do have plastic runners just outside of the boxes for stray poos and hay, but it came in handy with this new half in/half out habit. 

                                        This actually just happened recently, and last week I did some retraining and fixed it.  It takes commitment and persistance.    Jack’s mishaps always happened in the evenings.  I don’t know why, but it was convenient for me because I would just go sit in the bunny room with a book or the laptop and hang out and when Jack would go do his half in half out move, regardless if he peed or not, I would get a treat and lure him in alll the way.  As soon as he went in, he’d get the treat. While I am doing that I repeat “Litterbox”.  Which he already knows from previous training.  Soon I was able to say “litterbox” and he would go all the way in.  I took out the treats and I just gave him praise and a head rub.  He actually got it very quickly and he was retrained in a week.      Some bunnies are more stubborn, and it can take persistance for many weeks. 

                                         With larger breeds too he might being having joint issues — so just keep an eye on how well he moves around otherwise to make sure he’s not dealing with pain issues. 


                                      • JLedger
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                                           I tried your suggestion, and it worked.   I ended up getting a third litter pan.  I positioned their food and water against one wall of their pen with the litter pans around them.  This way they had to sit in a litter pan to get to their food, water, and treats.  I also scattered a few small carpets into their pen in the area outside of the litter pans.  This has worked!  Since I did that Bucchus has not peed outside of the pans even once.  The urination problem has been solved.   Thank you very much!!   I really appreciate everyones helpful suggestions and advice!  

                                           

                                           

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                                      Forum BEHAVIOR Bunny Bathroom Problems