Good Habits followed by Bad Habits

[Wembley]

All my bunnies were litter trained.  Then one died and his bonded buddy immediately stopped using the litterbox.  I finally got him to go on newspapers which he continued to do for 4 years until his passing. The other 3 bunnies still used the 2 litter boxes.  Not too long afterward Rexy started using the papers, Scooter, my only doe, started using the papers too !     Rexy has been gone 9 months and still my doe uses papers or anywhere else for that matter.  It seems I am following her everywhere with a spray bottle of vinegar and paper towels!  So far she is the only one not using the litter boxes.   I am soon going to be adopting a new bunny and would hate for the new one to pick up the bad habit.

I’ve picked her up and put her in the litter boxes and praised her.  Sometimes I am able to spray the vinegar before she is even done and reprimand her with a stern tone and disappointment in my voice but it has no effect on her.  Tonight for the first time, I watched her as she piddled on the papers and just about flipped when she turned around and cleaned it up !  WHAT does THAT mean?? 

If anyone has any suggestions on how to convince her to start reusing the litterbox I would be eternally grateful.  And if anyone has any idea why she would turn around and clean up after herself please clue me in !!   Thank you. 

 

[mocha200]

I would use litter instead of paper because she is probably confused why she can pee on paper sometime but other times can’t. you could try some little like yesterdays news.

[Monkeybun]

You may have to do some retraining, confining her to a smaller area with several litter boxes that she can use with your usual litter in it.

[jerseygirl]

I think I recall you have a bonded group of rabbits? Would you be able to separate her out to do some retraining without jeopardising any bonds?

Do you have the newspaper covering in their area or just in some favoured toileting spots?

Sorry I don’t have much advice to offer. I have a doe with complicated littering issues also. She was good in the 1& 1/2 year but now she litters the rabbit area a lot yet not the rest of the house.
She has also lapped up her own pee. At one point (could still be the case) I thought she was attention peeing but if she timed it wrong (i.e. peed when I wasn’t looking) she’d sometimes try clean it up. She doesn’t do it much now but she certainly still pees on the floor! I have heard of rabbits doing this before but never a concrete reason for it. I do wonder if there’s some salts in the urine that they take a liking too or are craving….????
Could your girl be peeing for praise but not clued in yet that it’s only if in the box?

[Wembley]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I sat her on the desk tonight and we had a good talk (between all the kisses I bestowed on her). I will have to think how I can even temporarily separate her from her buddy and start from scratch. I have newspaper on the floor right in front of TWO litterboxes and she will pee there most times. But she also pees in the livingroom area where they have their blankie, a bit of hay and chew toys. Sometimes she will even pee on the blankie. At one time I wondered if she was just lazy and didn’t want to go down the hall to the litterboxes. She does not pee in any “human” area such as the livingroom rug or hallway runner, etc. Just preferred bunny areas. I don’t think she started bad toilet habits due to lack of attention. It all started when one of my other rabbits lost his preferred buddy and all of a sudden started peeing on the floor. Shortly after he started, she started. She was not that attached to the one that died so I don’t think she started for the same reason. At the time I figured she started to do it because Rexy did.
I might have to bring up the large rabbit cage that I had with my first ever bunny and confine her with a litter box but it might just break my heart to see her in there . . .

I am glad to hear she isn’t alone in the peeing and cleaning it up habit. That really threw me.
And to cover all the bases, I think I might just take her for a drive to the vet’s.

Again, thank you all for your valuable input. Take care.
w

[jerseygirl]

Could she have done it to “over mark” i.e. she saw Rexy peeing floor as a claim of a spot so she marked it as a territorial behaviour? Does are very territorial as you likely know. They do use pee as a signature of sorts.

Did you bring in another new rabbit after Rexy’s mate passed by any chance?

I don’t think she started bad toilet habits due to lack of attention

Oh, i don’t mean because she was lacking attention. It’s hard to explain….I might have to come back to that when my brains working better.
I have tended to overthink on this particular subject (the loss of good habits) and often end up in a muddle. I completely understand your frustration in all this. I wish we could read their minds.

[jerseygirl]

I meant to ask…
Have you tried removing the newspaper altogether?  If it was an allowed potty spot for one rabbit it’s likely she thinks of it as an appropriate spot period. It would be hard to undo that habit.  I’m thinking maybe don’t use paper on the floor because for her, paper = toilet.

Does she only pee on paper or sometimes use the boxes? You could try using a larger litterbox over the place of the current box+paper setup.
What litter do you use? Do you think a layer of newspaper under the litter material might help? Or if she’s not a fan of the litter, pile hay or straw on top.

[Wembley]

Hello again. No, no new bunnies after Rexy died. There’s just her and Casey a 4 year old neutered boy. When Rexy died I immediately lifted the papers.
I lifted the papers right after Rexy died. She either didn’t notice the papers were gone or she didn’t care. They have a hang out place between the living room and dining room where there are no papers and she’ll piddle there too which made me think she was just lazy. I tried moving one of the litter boxes up to the hang out place but it made no difference to her. I’ve tried a couple of times to not have papers down at all but then they run in it and get their feet wet.
Last night I cleaned up the office, swept all the loose hay up, mopped the floor and laid down clean fleece blankies after cutting the room in half with an xpen. After the new set up was arranged she ran down and I followed right behind her and before I could get there she had piddled on the floor. I immediately picked her up and put her in one of the litter boxes and then cleaned up the piddle. A couple of hours later when I checked she had piddled again on the floor. Haven’t been in there this morning yet but I suspect I will have some cleaning up to do. I think she is going to be a tough nut to crack but I love her anyway.
It is so nice to be able to talk to other like minded people about a subject we all love – bunnies.

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