Peeing over the side of the litter box

[Pia]

 I just adopted freckles three days ago.  He is a 2-3 year old mini rex, nuetered, and house trained.  The first day I had him he was completely fine, went in the litter box, it was great. The past 2 days he has been peeing over the side of his litter box.  I thought that maybe the little corner box was too small for him, so I went and bought him a bigger rectangular one.  I just put it in, and when I went back to look saw that he peed right over the side, making a mess of the cage I JUST cleaned, and is now camping out in the new litter box.

Please help.  I feel overwhelmed, overidden with anxiety, I feel like he doesn’ t like me, and never comes out of the cage into the attached pen.  I just want to stop having to deal with a urine-soaked cage 

Feeling like things are never going to get better…

[Elrohwen]

Aww, it’s so common to have new bunny-parent nerves!

First, peeing over the litter box is common if the sides are low enough for them to do it. They think they’re doing the right thing by backing up in the corner of the box, but then they go right over. I would look for a litter box with high sides.

As for the other stuff, yes, it will get better! Rabbits are prey animals and tend to be very nervous in new environments. From the picture he looks very comfortable and relaxed! I’m sure he just needs time to come out of his shell and sitting with him quietly will help him get used to you.

I noticed your floors are wood and he might not likely the slippery feeling – try putting down a rug or something with traction and see if that changes his behavior at all. One of my pair acts like the wood floor is lava and would never come out if it weren’t for rugs.

[jerseygirl]

Welcome Pia and Freckles

You and he are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed this early on but it will get better! : )

What type of litter are you using? Do you use a lot or just a layer in the bottom. Does the rectangular box have higher sides then standard cat boxes.

With him venturing out into the pen, it might just take him a while to feel secure and confident. I notice the wood floors. How does he go walking on them? Sometimes putting down a mat helps them get around better and make going from cage to floor less scary.

Edit to add: sorry for the repeated suggestions. I hadn’t seen Elrohwens post before submitting mine.

[Pia]

 I have an area rug in my room, I was afraid to put him on it because I didn’t want him to have an accident.  Do you think that will be a problem? I put his old litter box in his play area so he has one in the cage and one outside.

 

@jersey girl:  I am using carefresh.  The woman who was fostering him before I adopted him tried other litters and that was the only one he used he litter box with.  im not using it sparsley in the box, but I am not filling it to the top either.  There were small cat litter pans to chose from, I chose the one with higher sides.

 

Also, he seems to walk fine on the hard wood when I’ve had him out of the cage (and close the door) and in the pen.  If I keep the cage door open he wants to hop back in. 

[Elrohwen]

Definitely let him on the rug and see how he does. He might feel a need to mark his territory and leave a little pee there, but if he’s not purposefully peeing in his pen, he probably won’t (and if he does, it’s easy enough to clean up if you’re standing right there). Just make sure he has a way to get back to his pen so he can use the litter box if he needs to.

[Lindsay]

Monty always had issues with this – I ended up buying him one of those covered litter boxes where they go through a door to get in. That way there’s no sides to back up over, and he likes the privacy as well.

[Pia]

 Lindsay,

Did you keep that outside of his cage area?

[jerseygirl]

You could also experiment with less litter to see if that helps. The litter may be raising him too high in the box. Have you seen him pee over the edge or do you think he might be peeing next to it while on the outside of the tray?

[Pia]

 I saw him pee over the edge last night.  I think he may have gotten scared, he was already in his litter box and I was folding up his pen for bed so that noise may have startled him, and he peed thinking he was totally in the box.  I’m hoping this bigger box solves the problem.  I moved it over against the side of the cage where the incident occured.  I’ve also been cleaning the box with white vinegar to try to eliminate odor.  Should I not be doing that so he could get a sense of what his box should smell like.

[Elrohwen]

I don’t think that cleaning the box will help or hurt – he obviously know where he should be going, he’s just having trouble keeping it where it should be. As far as he’s concerned, he’s doing everything correctly. I would just try less litter or a box with higher sides – eventually he just won’t be able to pee over the side and it will be problem solved.

[mocha200]

When I was having problems with my buns peeing over the edge, I used a box just like this. Its from petco

 

I found this litter box at Walmart . com

[mint]

OMG he is absolutely adorable. I can’t stand it. he reminds me of my heart bunny, the love of my bunny life.

Well Paya used to pee all over the sofa, on me, all over the carpeted stairs, on my bed, everywhere. In the box too occasionally, and over the edge. It will get better. He’s just a baby.

I used to tell my husband, whenever Paya did something he didn’t like, “Paya can do whatever he wants.” And he really could, I adored him that much (except for dangerous things). It got better and better though. Definitely get a box with high sides.

[Pia]

The bigger box seems like it did the trick! Had him outside of the cage in the pen to try to bribe him to like me with parsley, and he went for the old box and almost missed again! I had to turn his body so he wouldn’t miss. I watched him until he went back in the cage, ate again, and then hopped in to the NEW bigger litter box with no problem. Keeping my fingers crossed that he keeps doing well! Now I’ll have to buy a bigger box for outside the cage too!

[TriBun]

Glad the litter box thing is going better But how are you doing with the “he hates me” thing? I’m sad you’re having such anxiety. I have a couple things you could try. I’m no bunny expert, and every bunny is different, but I know what worked for me.

First, try the hands-off approach. Spend a lot of time on the floor with him, but pretend you’re not interested in him (this is when I get some good reading time in). Let him come to you, and he will, they are just too curious When he comes close, watch him, but don’t touch. This is important. He needs to know you’re not gonna lunge for him every time he’s near you. Rabbits need a relationship of trust.

After a few sessions of this you can start approaching HIM. I get close to my bunny on my hands and when I’m about 1-2 feet away I just lay down and start playing with my hair. I’m just another bunny grooming myself (I learned that from the House Rabbit Society). It works. They sit and watch or groom too, sometimes they come right over, and if you’re REALLY lucky they help you groom. Still no touching though.

When you give him his greens or some treats that’s when you should pet him. That way he associates your hand with happy things. And when you reach for him always reach where he can see your hand coming (ie; don’t sneak up behind him). Trust. It’s all about trust. Rosy’s got to the point where I can run up to her and shout baby names and she just binkies happily because she knows I’m not going to hurt her. If my daughter does that, she’s off like a rocket.

Hang in there, it’s a slow process, but he’ll love you soon enough

[Lindsay]

Sorry, I never saw your reply. I should have mentioned Monty has a room rather than a cage. The covered litter tray would never have fit in the cage he used to have!

[Zap]

Remmy had a problem where he was peeing over the litterbox even though he is littertained.  What worked for him was getting those triangular superpet litterboxes so that when he pees it went inside the box anyway. 

[KatnipCrzy]

Zap- most members have had not had any luck with petstore bunny litterboxes- most bunnies are too big to comfortably and reliably pee into the box. I recommend shopping for bunny litter boxes in the CAT aisle. There you can find litterboxes that are bigger, have higher sides if needed, etc.

[Bones]

I had that problem to with my last rabbit. I got a plastic Rubbermaid tote that is 8 inches tall and it worked great.

[Author]

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