Housetraining woes

[KatnipCrzy]

  I have had Cotton for a little over a month now- she is approx 3 1/2 month old Mini Lop.  She will be spayed when she is old enough.  She lives in a cage that has a bottom grate- but over 2/3 of the bottom is now covered with Coroplast and on one end I added  low sides to try to keep the hay from making such a mess.  The cage is not an issue at all- she uses the small portion she decided was her potty area- and I line the tray underneath with newspaper and wood stove pellets.

  The issue is when she is OUT of the cage.  In our bathroom she is allowed on the floor free run for short periods of time and she is fine.  The first day or 2 she left some poops and once a puddle.  But since then- good as gold in the bathroom.  On the desk- she is really good while I am on the computer- lays there to be petted and munches treats- except for once she squeezed behind the computer screen and peed over the edge of the desk before I could slide her back out (I am really glad my husband does not read this forum!).   Other than that one time she gets treats and lots of love when she is out- so she is a perfect angel.

Now the couch is a completely different story.  Thank Goodness we already have a microfiber/ water resistant slipcover on our microfiber/ water resistant couch.  LOL- yes, overkill- but with 2 active dogs and 3 cats- it does not seem like overkill at all.  In fact we have 2 slipcovers that we alternate so there is always one on the couch while the other is being cleaned.  Most of the time when Cotton is on the couch I am able to keep her on a washable “blue pad”- they are like puppy pee pads but are washable- I guess they use them at Nursing Homes alot- as my hubby is a paramedic and was able to snag 2 from work.  They are absorbent on one side and will not leak thru to the other- but they are not plastic at all.  75% of the time when she is on the couch for our TV cuddle time- she pees.  Usually able to keep her on the pad- and it absorbs it right away- I told her “no” and moved her butt to stop her- but sometimes I just leave her out with us as she has already peed- so does not do it again.  Should I be putting her back in her cage after she pees on the couch?  I have tried giving breaks- that does not work- she can pee on the couch after just coming off a 10 min cage break.  She can not get to the cage herself from the couch.  I feel she is too little to jump down and navigate the steps.  In fact, I most likely will rarely have her navigate steps by herself.  We live in a quad level house- and have 2 active dogs that run up and down the stairs.  i would be afraid they would step on her by accident and hurt her.  They are great with her otherwise.  She leaves poops on the couch- but that does not bother me like the peeing does!  She loves to cuddle and will sometimes sleep in my arms while I pet her feet, ears, etc.  Sometimes she does crazy binkies back and forth between me and my husband.  Soemtimes she cuddles with the cats on the couch (I previously posted pics of this).  Part of me wonders if she does not like my husband.  I know that she prefers me to him- as I am the one that cuddles her, kisses her, massages her, etc.  He just does not “get” bunnies like I do.  He likes her and will pet her.  But if I was not home he would never take her out just to cuddle I am sure.  Why does she have such bad couch manners?  I keep telling my husband that she is just a baby and spaying will help when she is old enough.  But I am starting to wonder if I am not handling the situation appropriately when I catch her in the act???   How long can I expect her to hold her bladder?  Am I reinforcing bad habits by allowing her places that I am pretty sure she is gonna pee?

I have some NIC cubes to build a pen around her cage and I am going to build her a ramp to get in and out of her raised cage.  Even though I am going to cover the carpet with plastic I am worried that I will be giving her too much freedom too soon and she will learn bad potty habits in ther environment then.  Any suggestions?

Thanks-

Julie

 

[bunnytowne]

gosh your cotton is having a wee problem too whats up with the cottons this month heeheeeee

[MarkBun]

I wouldn’t worry about the peeing in a cage/NIC area combo as she will more than likely hop back to the potty to potty. As for the couch, it could be that she doesn’t like the scent. My g/f’s bun will always hop up onto the couch and give a small tinkle everytime the cover is cleaned. She needs to let us all know it is hers. It is an issue the gf has learned to deal with (this hasn’t lessened with the altering either). A bun can hold their bladders for some time (a couple hours at least). My girl Maryann is such a neat freak, I have seen her hold her pee for upwards of 6 hours.

[brook]

yes the couch is definitely a territorial thing. Our bun would do this too, it’s like he knew it was our area because we were always there when we were in the room with him, so he wanted to be a part of it. He was not a lap bunny, so as long as we were in the room he stopped jumping up there, but then it became a coffee table thing, I guess it was as close as he could get to mark his territory and he would everytime he was out, I even put litterboxes under there and everything but it didnt help. Being spayed or neutered is probably the only thing that will help things, except for offering a litterbox in every spot that he tries to mark his territory. Good luck, it can be very frustrating!!

[Gravehearted]

I agree – that the couch is a big territory thing, especially considering all the other pets you have. Spaying is likely to really help, but it may be that you need to make the couch a bunny free zone. I think if you are going to let her on the couch, the pee-pee pads will help for sure.

[babybunsmum]

since my bun will never join me on the couch – i’ve tried… not even when she’s all snuggly from lots of head pets will she stay up there with me – but only goes up there to wee when it’s free, i’ve banned her from it.   i did have a cuddle bun once that loved to be there with me but would always pee once the head pets started.  i just put him on a designated pee towel to save the couch since he was so predictable.

[notjulesverne]

Ahh I know how frustrating this is! As soon as my back is turned he jumps up and pees on the couch…I’ve even tried to block it off with pillows and that doesn’t stop him. He will be getting neutered soon, I hope that helps…Luckily it has a cover that can be washed! grr…

[KatnipCrzy]

I am pretty careful now when she is on the couch- we sit on opposite ends of the couch and have the pee pad between us.  If she jumps on my lap to snuggle I put one hand on her bottom and pet her with the other- that way I know her tail is down- and if her tail is down she will not pee as she would have to pee on her own tail.  As long as I can keep her from peeing on my blanket that I use on the couch and keep it on the pee pad I guess I will have to settle for that.

It is nice because the pad soaks it up and does not stay wet- she was zooming back and forth between me and hubby binking.  It was sooo cute except it kinda hurt a little as her nails are short but sharp.  She started on my lap- and in a blink of an eye ran over to Chad, turned around in his lap and launched herself back into my lap.

And that does make me wonder then about the effect of the other pets on her.  The dogs are allowed on the couch if the bunny is not there- and the cats still hang out on the couch when the bunny is there.  So I am sure she smells them on the couch too.

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