Litter Training Help

[BajaBunny]

Excuse the long story, this is the gist of it if you don’t want to read all of it: How can I get my bunny to use litter training habits outside of his cage and any tips for getting old urine stains out of carpet?

Hello! I got my stubborn rabbit neutered about a month ago, he is older because when I got him from a guy he was already full grown and now I’ve had him for 3+ years. I tried litter training before but it was always unsuccessful and after a week passed since his surgery I started trying again. I have a large cat pan with either newspaper or a pee pad lined on the bottom and a good layer of wood stove pellets on top, plus hay on top of that with a hay rack filled with hay next to the litter box. When he is in his cage he pees in the box, hops in to eat hay, and occasionally I’ll catch him flop in it and fall asleep. He gets some poops in the box but the ones that don’t make it (I’m guessing territorial poops) he leaves on the floor. But there is quite a bit and its usually after a day of cleaning the litter box, so I’m not sure if he just does it for attention or is telling me to clean the litter box, which doesn’t make much sense since he will still pee, eat, and sleep in his litter box.

Anyways, that’s not my biggest issue. I had a pen attached to his cage so he can stretch and play a bit. My flooring is carpet so I put a rug in the pen, a cardboard box hide house that has cardboard as the flooring, and two tiles to keep him cool. I also bought another cat litter pan and put it in the corner he first goes to pee in when he’s is let out and into the pen. I had a tiny corner space of rug showing and he peed right there. So I put a grass mat and he will either toss it to the side or pee on it. Sometimes I’ll put a fairly big extra water dish so he doesn’t have room to pee there. There’s also another corner that he sometimes pees in. But if I block off entry to the pen, leaving him in the cage, he will always go pee in the litter box. I want to let him run around the pen and eventually my whole room, but he just forgets his litter training habits once he is out of his cage. I can’t leave him in his cage all day so he’s outside a lot when its not too hot or sometimes in his own little bunny play room in the basement. Someday’s if I’m in the house all day he gets to be in his cage and pen.

Sorry for the long ramble, but if anyone can help or suggest any ideas on how to keep his litter box habit intact when he’s out of the cage that would be great. Before neutering he was worse, though. He would spray on my dog, my family, and he even sprayed me in my eyes (gross) and everyone is saying that he is more tame and friendlier. But he is still peeing on the carpets. (PS can anybody recommend how to get really old pee stains out, he’s peed multiple times in certain spots and some stains are pretty old, I’ve tried vinegar, water, and baking soda as well as some cheap pet urine/stain removers.)

[Meesh]

Okay first glance I have an answer for you! (Well two)

You can buy the carpet cleaner meant for cats and dogs…… Or… Wait for it… Vinegar.

Vinegar is my life saver. At first we would just pour a little white vinegar on the pee and it would fizz up and you can just rub it down…. But we ran out so quickly, and mixing half water and half vinegar and throwing it in a spray bottle works just as well. I can’t believe how amazing it works. As for litter training, vinegar scent is supposed to deter them from peeing there again, but that doesn’t stop my buns (hopefully it will stop yours!), But I have learned that they don’t always like going “all the way” to their cage to go to the washroom, or they want to “mark territory” in corners and against the walls… I just got another toilet (meant for the corner of cages) to put in the corners, and they use it with no fuss. The odd time I get what I like to call angry pee (because I swear they do it on purpose because they are mad at me), but my only problem now is poop, which is thankfully easy to pick up. Some days they don’t poop on the floor at all, but other days I walk into a minefield.

Good luck!

[Meesh]

Oops, after reading the last part I guess my post is useless. (However you could try pouring the vinegar and leaving it there for 30 minutes, and scrubbing it after)

My rabbits love corners. They do anything to pee in a nice corner. Try putting the litter there. Also, your actual carpet might smell more like your dog, and it might just be a territorial thing… Not that that helps you any… I’ve read that you should just keep picking it up and putting it where it should be (in the litter) rather than the garbage, so your bun knows what you want. It might also be exciting to see there is a different carpet in those corners…. If you are willing to be risky, you could try removing the rug, and having it come out on only the carpet, and see how he reacts (if he pees a lot, clean quickly and abort mission!), But there’s a possibility of no longer having the ability of being mischievous, as you are not blocking him from anything….

Sorry my last post wasn’t so helpful in the end!

Good luck!

[BajaBunny]

Sorry for the late reply. Anyway, thanks, I’ll try leaving vinegar on for 30 minutes this time. I’ll try anything to get rid of the large, ugly stains. I do put the poops in his box but he’ll just poop wherever he wants to again. I heard you should try leaving the poops out instead of cleaning them immediately so the bunny doesn’t feel like he has to continuously mark, I guess. I just bought 3 more litter boxes so I can have one in each corner and in the cage. Although that may take up a bit more room, he should eventually learn to use the litter box provided and I can take out the extra boxes. Thanks again!

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