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Forum DIET & CARE Litter box ideas for two buns with different needs

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    • MeggoWaffle
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      80 posts Send Private Message

        Hi everyone,

        I have a conundrum and I’m looking to brainstorm for a creative solution.

        Summary: Nona pees outside the box and may or may not respond well to having a super-low edge box, but Piper pees over any edge that doesn’t have a substantial lip.

        Meet Nona: Has good days and bad days where she can’t move around super efficiently. Had left fecals around for months before mobility problems started, which was fine, but has now additionally taken to leaving cecals and occasionally peeing outside the box and/or on herself (her kidneys are fine and pee is clear). FYI the reason Nona wasn’t going in the box was NOT because she was in pain – she poops when she is asleep, but always heads for the litter box if she’s awake (except the three pee incidents have been while she was awake). She’s too mobile to park on an absorbent mat and too feisty for a diaper. Has been given a low-rim box but she still hops into the high-rim box that she’s used to. I want a solution that doesn’t exacerbate her (possible) arthritis.

        Meet Piper: Is used to a litter box with a higher lip but as soon as I added a low-rim box she went to that instead (even though it’s not in her usual corner). She likes to pee over the edge of the low-rimmed boxes… every time.

        So, in trying to help you visualize what they have: for the past several years my buns’ litter box has been a plastic storage drawer (~5 inches tall, ~18×10) with a cooling rack grate (~3 inches tall inside the box) and wood stove pellets. My rabbits have bigger poops than fit through the grates on the store-bought corner litter boxes and they tended to pee over the edge. The cooling rack ensures their poops fall through and the height of the plastic drawer has a tall enough lip (~2 inches higher than grate) that they don’t pee over the edge. Have recently added a screen over the rack – it catches the cecals Nona leaves so that it’s easier to feed them to her.
         I’ve thought about cutting one edge off for Nona but it would still be higher (~3 inches tall if cut at the same height as the grate) than the low-rim box I gave her (~2.5 inches tall), plus Piper would probably pee over the edge as soon as I removed the lip. The low-rimmed box I’ve referenced is just one of those large, triangular boxes from the pet store with a grate.

        I have seen a link around here to a gardening pan that is square, high back, minimal lip on the front, but I need something Piper won’t pee over the edge AND I need a setup that separates them from the actual litter (Nona sometimes sleeps in the box and Piper will eat anything).

        Complicated! Maybe there is a simple solution that hasn’t occurred to me. Thoughts?


      • jerseygirl
        Moderator
        22338 posts Send Private Message

          I’m not sure if this will cover requirements for Nona but I’m thinking you could try ramps up to the litterbox? Or a sort of platform level halfway up height of the box. That way you could keep the deeper box with grate but it still be easy enough to access and exit hopefully.


        • jerseygirl
          Moderator
          22338 posts Send Private Message

            Also, the Marshall lock on litter pan has low entry but doesn’t appear to be as low as the rectangular ferret litter boxes.
            Here’s one with a grate in place. http://www.bunnyrabbit.com/equipmentpix/litterpan_lockOn.jpg
            Perhaps you could modify their current box by cutting one side? Leaving it just high enough that Piper can’t pee over the edge.


          • MeggoWaffle
            Participant
            80 posts Send Private Message

              Well, I think I need to resign myself to the fact that Nona will just pee where she wants. I have left the low-edge box out for her (lower than that Marshall box) and she still just goes wherever. Sometimes she pees in the crate next to the litter box, and sometimes she pees a few feet away from the crate. Kind of at a loss on what to do. I don’t want to lock her in a cage just to make cleanup easier.


            • jerseygirl
              Moderator
              22338 posts Send Private Message

                Do both boxes have a grate? Could that be irritating her hocks perhaps?

                I know it’s terribly frustrating. Jersey has been like this also for almost 4 years. I put old towels and cotton rugs around the box now to help absorb the pee. Lots of washing but at least it’s not being tracked or soaking into her fur too much.

                Is Nona a big water drinker?


              • MeggoWaffle
                Participant
                80 posts Send Private Message

                  They are both big water drinkers, which is partly why they need a grate. Both boxes have a grate but her hocks have been fine. Lately I’ve added a screen on top of the grates to catch her cecals, so that should be even nicer on their feet.

                  I’ve recently started to line the crate holding the litter boxes with a towel to keep her from slipping when she hops in and out, but then sometimes she sleeps on it before I even notice the pee! Yuck.

                  I’m fine changing those towels daily but now she is peeing in the rest of their area. It is really hard to clean the carpet every day and try to block off those spots so it can dry!

                   

                  Edited to add: is expressing her bladder an option? Looks like most people on the forum do it because of sludge but she doesn’t have that. But maybe if I tried it in the morning and before bed that would reduce accidents?

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              Forum DIET & CARE Litter box ideas for two buns with different needs