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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.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Bunny not using litter bin

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    • Marleysmom
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        Hi!

        new forum member here. I’m here out of frustration.

        im the proud mom of a year old indoor (formerly) house trained 17.4 lbs Flemish giant.

        hes a beautiful boy that has full run of our basement. His litter bin has a clumping corn based litter. A few weeks ago he started occasionally pooping beside his bin, and it has increased slowly. As of Christmas Eve he peed beside the bin. It went a couple days and he did it again. Yesterday when I went down to visit him there were two pees. Today, again, there was a hunch of pee. So much that I can’t tell you how many. 

        Nothing has changed. Bin is in the same place. same litter. 

        I’m almost ready to put him in his cage but I feel that’s extremely cruel. He is way to large. It’s only 3 feet long, by 18 inches wide. For a 17 lbs bunny, he needs a cat sized litter bin, which will not fit, so he would essentially lay in his own filth. 

        He’s not destructive. I lay branches around for him to chew. He loves to chew the outside of arbutus branches. 

        I would love to offer him more branches, but don’t know what else to give him.  Fruit trees are out of the question. Bears have destroyed ours, and I don’t know anyone else with any. So I’d love to have another idea for that, but my biggest concern is the litter. 

        I’m frustrated and quite frankly am to busy to be sanitizing the floor every day. 

        Editted to add that I use an all purpose cleaner on the floor, hoping it will remove the smell and stop him from thinking that’s where to go. When I clean the poop off the floor I put it in the bin, unless it’s litter cleaning day (which is every other day)

        im a naturopath and hate using this Lysol crud. The bathroom and now his pee is the only time i use chemicals in my house. Today he ran through the Lysol, which meant I had to wash his feet (no fun, he was as mad as when I pull his butt fluffies out!)


      • Megabunny
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        2041 posts Send Private Message

          My sympathies. I have a Giant Chinchilla that’s only around 12 lbs. I cannot imagine the bladder on yours!! I’ll leave the real advice up tp the experts but I imagine they will wonder if you keep hay in the litter box and I usually see people suggesting white vinegar/water, so don’t know if you should finish with that after disinfecting. But I get the fact that he’s been doing fine and nothing’s changed so that’s a tough one. Best of luck. Hope someone has a good idea for you


        • Peony
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          216 posts Send Private Message

            Did you take him to the vet?
            Also as said, the vinegar/water is used to get rid of their sent for marking and most cleaning products tend to be toxic to rabbits.


          • Marleysmom
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              Really? Vinegar? Ok, awesome, it pretty much all I use in my house I am going to be buying a bird safe cleaner as well, so I will be switching to that at my next bird meeting.
              Yes. He can fill his bin quickly, and that’s why I use the clumping litter, hay does nothing but make soup. It was a disgusting mess, and he tracked urine everywhere. Last winter I had his foodie his cage, which was lined with hay. It was a horrible experience, and smelled TERRIBLE. He had the option of “going” in his cage, but preferred the cat litter. I didn’t like him in the clay litter, due to the dangers, so I put up a baby gate, and gave him his own litter. He has been using that for about nine months. When I first set it up, it had a cover. He didn’t like that, so took the cover off, and he’s been fine.
              I’m not opposed to taking him to the vet, but what would they look for? Would I need a urine sample? I know cats sometimes stop using bins when they get uti’s…
              I was thinking it’s just some weird stubbornness. But if they are like cats and associate the pain to the bin? But why did it start with only poo?


            • Peony
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              216 posts Send Private Message

                Clumping litter? this was a red flag for me, even on this site:

                The “Prepared” Litter Box
                Litter: My favorite litter is compressed paper litter like Yesterday’s News. Don’t use any pine shavings or cedar wood shavings or any clumping litters – all very dangerous. However, dried pine pellets like feline pine or wood stove pellets are okay.

                Include Hay: Make sure there is fresh hay in the box. Bunnies poop and eat at the same time.

                https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/5/PID/940/Default.aspx

                I did a quick search to try to find a successful story of using such litters:

                When I first got my rabbit, Frodo, his former owner surrendered a large container of perfumed, clumping cat litter laced with tiny blue crystals. She explained that she used this litter instead of standard rabbit bedding because it absorbed odors better and was less expensive. I discovered, after talking to several other rabbit owners, that it’s not unusual to favor cat litter over ordinary bedding materials. I’ve even used some types of cat litter for my own bunnies on occasion. But is it really safe to use cat litter for rabbits? Here are some points to consider.

                3. Clumping cat litters can cause fatal blockages. If your bunny eats a clumping cat litter, it can form a large clump in his digestive tract, preventing the passage of gas or feces. If this happens, your rabbit will either experience intense pain for several hours, followed by a difficult, traumatic, life-threatening surgery– or, worse, he’ll die. This does happen to many rabbits who are exposed to clumping litters.

                4. Non-clumping clay litters are still a potential danger. Many clay litters are exceptionally dusty. If your bunny likes to dig, he may kick large amounts of fine particulate matter into the air. When this enters his respiratory tract, it can cause intense irritation, leading to coughing, bronchitis, and even pneumonia. Prolonged exposure to dusty clay litters can cause your bunny to experience life-threatening respiratory damage.

                http://voices.yahoo.com/can-cat-litter-rabbits-10337505.html?cat=53

                (I would read the whole thing but I did want to highlight that to you)

                I am not sure what you mean by soup. I have the wood stove pellets since I was told it absorbed more then paper like newspaper. Put that on the bottom then hay over it and I have a completely dry box. I am not completely sure how it works with a rabbit that big though, most likely it means changing it more often then others while having a bigger box. A bunny that size might do better with a hay rack over the box over then completely stuffing the litterbox with hay.

                uti is a concern with me since most of the time, the ‘normal’ is to have one spot. Even in the litterbox with my rabbit, the poo might be in different places but the pee is in the upper left corner. I tend to put a bit extra litter there from noticing that, and when cleaning it out that corner is the only thing that sticks to the bin after pouring it in the garbage. (clump of wet wood)

                 stray poo like a few here and there (my rabbit does it) seems normal. I mean very few like maybe 1 pellet every few days for mine.I once picked up 5 in a day but i do not know how old some were. I limit the stray hay on the floor in her pen area and i never seen a repeat of that many (Plus I look more carefully day by day)

                Knowing you use that kind of litter too I would strongly suggest to see an exotic vet (Remember normal vets are a no-no)

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            Forum BEHAVIOR Bunny not using litter bin