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Forum BEHAVIOR Need help with litter habits

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    • mia
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        One of my buns is notorious for not using her litter box. In their NIC cage (which is housed within their own “room”) she often likes to pee where there is no box. I tried putting additional boxes inside but she’ll find the tiny spot without a box and pee and poo there.

         

        When I am home, I let my buns roam freely. This same bun then picks random corners to pee and poo in. I put a box there and she pees right outside the box and selects another corner to pee in. I’ve cleaned all the spots and put the urine soaked paper towels into the litter box but it’s not improving. I also have a hard time getting her into the box; she’ll put up a huge stink by grunting and stomping away. If there’s food, she’ll just lean in and grab it and eat outside.

         

        It’s just spots with pee but when there’s a million spots, it’s very tiring to clean up. I was told she never had good habits to begin with but it’s just getting worse and worse. I don’t mind pee in the NIC cage since it’s lined with linoleum but all over my carpet… UGH.


      • tanlover14
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          I had this same problem after one of my buns was neutered and lost all his litter box habits. We got to the point where he would really get flustered (as would we) and we had quite some tempers raging in the house. My boy, Fleury, also started getting very aggressive whenever he’d have to pee and we’d notice.

          I used just about every trick in the book to get my bun to go and of course, he kept going on the carpet. I completely understand your frustration. I actually used clicker training to teach him he gets rewarded for going in the litter box. I’m not sure if you’ve ever looked into clicker training but it’s really simple and after about a week my boy caught on and has only had a few accidents over the past 3-4 months.

          To begin — he’d get a click and a treat for stepping IN the litterbox. Sometimes I’d give him a little nudge on the rump in the beginning since he didn’t understand me obviously. Fully inside, not just reaching in. I could eventually say “Fleury, Litter!” and he’d hop in and turn around for a treat. Then I started paying attention (taking a few hours out of my day) to watch and see when he’d get ready to pee (tail up, hunched over position) and I’d quickly say “Fleury, Litter!” Knowing that he was about to get his favorite treat, he’d jump in and I’d keep him there until he peed. After a few times of peeing and THEN getting the treat he began to figure it out. Every so often we give him a treat when he’s going in the litter box to help keep up the good habit. I would try and see if this helps you out!

          If you have any questions about clicker training, you can ask me! I’d be happy to help.

          Also, are you making sure to clean up all the areas so no scent is left? Say with vinegar? Easiest and cheapest solution.

          I also was forced to minimize the space ALL three of my buns occupied to get him back to being almost perfect. Instead of having the whole room, they were kept in a smaller area until he got the hang of the litter box, then I slowly made the area bigger and bigger until there were no more accidents. If he had more accidents in the bigger spot then it was back to the small spot for a few days. I understand that some people don’t feel comfortable not giving their buns the option to roam for a few days though so I understand if thats not the way you’d like to go. We were eventually forced into doing it because as my one bun lost his litter habits, the others began to follow suit and decided to pee all over also. Oy vey!


        • mia
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            Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try though I’m not sure how effective it will be. Her personality is bigger than food/treats and she refuses to eat when she’s angry. The other one isn’t as bright but he loves to eat; bribery turns him into a genius .

            Did you separate them for the training?

            I cleaned with vinegar but it wouldn’t it wouldn’t completely clean out once it became the fun corner to pee in. I had to switch to Nature’s miracle.


          • tanlover14
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              Oh, Natures Miracle is good too! That’s the other one we use for accidents so that should be fine also.

              I only separated my boy for the clicker training portion of working with him. Separating mine seems to stress them out and only make any attempts worse so as soon as I was done, I put him back in with the others. My bun is the SAME way personality/bratness wise. In my experience and from the many articles I’ve read regarding the clicker training topics, the EASIEST buns to train are actually the bratty ones. Brattiness is a big sign or boredom or not enough stimulation mentally so typically they latch on to this new “game” quickly as it allows them to stimulate their minds. Shocking I know. I didn’t believe it until my biggest bratty bun latched on quicker than any of the others and was excelling quite rapidly at anything I have tried doing with him. It’s a great way to help build a bond between bunny and human also!


            • peppypoo
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                Wow, great tips tanlover!

                What are you using for litter? I’ve heard of some bunnies being finicky about what’s used in their litter boxes (mine don’t care at all haha), and if she has such a strong aversion to the boxes it might be worth considering that maybe a change would make her less resistant.


              • mia
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                519 posts Send Private Message

                  I usually use paper based like Yesterday’s News and trying Feline Pine now. No change.

                   

                  Oh, maybe it’s not clear but she actually does use the litter box sometimes, just has bad habits and uses other places too. The boy has great habits and always takes his food back to the litter box.


                • mia
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                    I gave it a go and it’s not doing anything. It’s similar to when I put veges in the box, she just goes and grabs it and then leaves. Don’t get me wrong, she’ll sit in the box and eat if I watch her like a hawk and force her but otherwise off she goes. Beginning to think she does it on purpose. Oftentimes when I clean up and walk away, there’s immediately poo and pee. There is always a bigger puddle when the hay box runs out too.

                    I realize it’s only been a few days but she’ll really smart and has already began to walk away from the “training.” Just like when she finished all levels of the Living World Teach and Treat in a few mins and then walked away.

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                Forum BEHAVIOR Need help with litter habits