smelly litter

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Andrea123

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So I tried Nibbles on Spinach for the first time yesterday. She was a bit reluctant to eat it first, but when I checked her bowl later the few pieces I had in it were gone.

Last night when I went out a couple times to the bathroom, the smell from the litter was INSANE through the house! I found it very odd as I change her litter twice a day (I have a small litter box as its all that will fit properly in her cage but she seems content with it). Its changed in the morning and then again after supper.

She eats other greens for breakfast in the morning. She eats romaine, kale, basil, and a sprig or two of parsley for garnishing lol. She LOVES her greens for breakfast and there is never a problem with door. But last night the litter smell was beyond stinky! I checked her cage this morning during our daily cage clean out to see if she peed somewhere else other than the litter box and everything was dry and normal.

Could the spinach have been the litter smelling culprit? Its the only thing that was different in her day. I'm not giving her spinach today to see if that might have been the problem.

Anyone else out there had that problem?

Andrea and Nibbles
 
I've not heard of spinach causing such a problem. However spinach, along with kale and parsley, are all high in calcium. It isn't recommended to feed those greens every day -- maybe just once or twice per week. Some rabbits will get a build up of calcium if they eat it too often. This, in turn, causes bladder sludge. That is noticeable by white, chalky stuff in the urine.

I would encourage you to get a large litter box (and a cage that is large enough to easily hold a large litter box). The larger boxes are preferred by rabbits and make it easier for you. [If the cage is too small for a decent size litter box, then the cage is too small.]
 
Here is an example of a larger litter box. It can go a full week between clean outs -- no odor whatsoever! You can see from the photo of the week-old box that it isn't like the rabbit is stepping in wetness or yuckiness.

I add hay to the litter box twice per day to keep it fresh.

litter box 1 week low res.jpg
 
I give spinach occasionnally and I have never noticed any odd smell. What do you use as litter? As a side note, if a normal litterbox won't fit into the cage, your cage is probably too small for a rabbit. Getting a bigger space and litterbox would be more comfortable also - I really can't imagine having to change the litter twice a day... I have two rabbits and only do it once every 3 days or so. Also, blue eyes is right about the calcium. It's not very wise to give the same greens everyday because you are risking to cause dietary deficiencies or to give too much oxalates / calcium (it can lead to urinary problems or even bladder stones if you are unlucky). I would introduce chicory, curly endive, batavia and some root vegetables to give her more variety... especially since things like basil and parsley won't be in season pretty soon.
 
UPDATE:
Buns is fine and the smell was not from her litter. I realized the last day or two the smell was still there and was getting a lot of the scent from the kitchen. That's when the lights came on in my head!!! I hung my fresh herbs that I grew to dry. The combination of several herbs in close proximity was giving off the bad odour. Nibbles is doing fine and she is happy and healthy in the environment she is in. She is not a big fan of change and she loves just hanging out in her cage even when the door is open and she has full range of the house to exercise and stretch her legs.

Thanks for all the advice. Certainly good things to consider. Unfortunately I don't have the room to make her cage any bigger as the only space I have for her is a corner of my living room for her 2 floor cage. She is around myself and my son daily and gets a lot of love and attention and tons of nose rubs and ear scratches which she LOVES!

As for changing her litter twice a day, I have no trouble with it. And prefer to keep down on the buttons since I can only use a small litter in her cage. She seems content with it so why change it!

cheers
 
I'm sure Nibbles was thinking 'yeah sure, blame the rabbit' :p Glad you figured it out and it wasn't the bun or the spinach.

As long as she's happy with her living arrangements, that's all that matters.
 
For the 'hard' vegetables (about 1/3 of the portion everyday) I mainly give : Carrot(a small piece! ^^), celery (branch, celeriac), turnip (white and yellow), fennel, parsnip, pepper, rutabaga, Jerusalem artichoke... The hard vegetables seem to be tastier, as my rabbits will always eat those first whereas leafy greens are eaten but with less enthusiasm (chard is definitely the thing they like the less, if I give it for several days in a raw there will be left overs, especially the white part).
 
For the 'hard' vegetables (about 1/3 of the portion everyday) I mainly give : Carrot(a small piece! ^^), celery (branch, celeriac), turnip (white and yellow), fennel, parsnip, pepper, rutabaga, Jerusalem artichoke... The hard vegetables seem to be tastier, as my rabbits will always eat those first whereas leafy greens are eaten but with less enthusiasm (chard is definitely the thing they like the less, if I give it for several days in a raw there will be left overs, especially the white part).

So a 1/3 cup of hard root veggies every day is good.. okay. I need to run to the farmer's market this afternoon. I have some celery here now and added that to her dish then. she is inhaling it lol Will pick up some turnip, pepper (red, green, yellow any particular one better??), parsnip and see how that goes.

Thanks Aki!
 
No problem. All colors are good for pepper and it's a very good source of vitamin C. My rabbits love celery and the smell tends to really permeate the fur - they smell very celery-ish the day after eating some XD. I'd say parsnip is their favorite overall. Shopping at the market for the rabbits is always a good opportunity for me too, I don't think I would have ever discovered how good Jerusalem artichoke cream soup is if I didn't buy some for them XD.
 

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