This is a long story but the details are important..
My mini lop has always been PERFECT with his litter box…. he originally had one of those HUGE corner trays with the grate over it, and then i started giving him more run room during the day as he was so good…
Then he discovered my cat’s litter box (I KNOW it’s not the most ideal situation…).. and he was only using it when he was out and I watched him carefully. My vet said as long as he wasn’t digging in it or anything it was fine–he did nothing but hop in, use it, then leave.
THEN I don’t know if it’s because he hated pooping in his condo or what, but then he stopped using HIS box altogether and entirely using the cat’s box.. I dealt with this just cleaned it every morning and night, fine with me.
Now he recently has started slacking on his litter box habits–he started hopping out of the cat’s box mid-poop leaving a poop running trail… It got to the point it was gross and my apartment is tiny so there isn’t much I can do regarding the placement of the cat’s box.
I tried to “re-train” him to use his own box, loaded a big cat box with hay and rabbit litter, and put it and him in his condo… he got PISSED at being locked up and not only dug out the entire box and made a major mess, but also pooped ALL over the condo–point made bunny, you’re mad at me
So I tried to compromise–I moved the cat’s litter box into his condo (leaving the door open so the cat could use the box too) and thought hey at least his “mid-running out” poops would be contained and they could both still share a box like they’re so adamant about, right?
NOPE. Not only did Charlie dig out the entire cat’s litter box (just cleaned so no poop thank god) but he also ran back to the spot where the litter box USED to be and pooped ALL OVER–it was a massacre.
I’m completely stumped I think I’m running out of options! He digs like HELL if you give him his own box and destroys it, refuses to use his grated litter box whatsoever anymore (will poop in front of it instead) and if you move the cat’s box he destroys that too (mind you he never once dug in the cat’s box when it was in it’s original spot)
He is ENTIRELY too smart and stubborn for his own good. He’s pissed he’s not free roam and pissed I switched up the routine, which I get… but he’s running out of the box mid-poop leaving a mess in my tiny apartment and the box isn’t exactly in a super concealed place… so it’s gross.
I’m really at a loss here… I want him to be free roam and happy as always but also I want him to USE a litter box (any box, I don’t care at this point, even if he uses the cats box I’ll clean it 2x a day again as long as he makes it all IN the box!)
Any suggestions anyone? Either on how to slow him down hopping out of the cat’s box or to get him to use his own litter box? Like I said I want him to be able to free roam like always as long as he uses A box ANYWHERE it’s fine with me… Even if I move the cats box (although I really have nowhere I can move it to that it’ll fit and he can’t get to it) he still poops there like there is a box to poop in, I’m SO CONFUSED!
I’m getting desperate here