Food/ Behavioral Question

[Jenk]

Emma's hay manger hangs on the inside wall of her high-backed litter box,so she caneat clean hay and potty in one spot. She pees/poops in the rear corner of her box that's situated beneaththe manger. (An odd choice, but she's always done this.)

This setup worked for her:She'd pig out on the hay each night, eating down the pile untilit was flush with the manger's top (or even below it).

Since feeding her a hay brand that she didn't like much, she's nearly stopped eating hay from her manger--even though she's now back on her previous hay brand, which she likes. She'll eat some hay in her cage at night, but it's still piled high in her manger each morning. Yet she'll eat quite a bit of hayplacedoutside of her cage (either on the floor or inside of her "outdoor" litter box).

I'm considering moving her "indoor" litter box to the opposite side of her cage, so that her butt faces her "favorite" corner as she faces her manger. But I'm not certain that she'll likehaving her box moved from the left-handto theright-hand corner of her cage.

Any thoughts on this (seemingly bizarre) situation?

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[juliew19673]

Baxter! "told" me this morning that he would like to move his litter box - its been in the left rear corner of his pen for 2 months but today - he started rearranging - so now its in the center back.. I think he wanted more room on the left side of his pen to lay down and stretch out.. He also will now only eat hispellets from the floor - he decided that he dislikes food dishes (go figure)..

Strange lil creatures aren't they?

 

[Jenk]

juliew19673 wrote:

Strange lil creatures aren't they?

True. But such strange behavior can provedangerous. Example: I believe Emma's current GI stasis is, in large part, caused bydecreasedhay consumption (at night) and the re-introduction of pellets to her diet. These combined changesmay be causing not only her stasis, but possibly a bout with coccidiosis, as well. (I won't know until she sees the vet--hopefully tomorrow.)

All I can do is try moving her box and see if she still eats at least some hay in it. *fingers crossed*

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

You could try putting hay in a toilet paper tube and laying that in her cage and see if she'll eat it more that way. When you litter trained her, did she choose the spot the pan is in now? I'm thinking if you move it, her litter habits may change for the worse.

 

[Jenk]

AngelnSnuffy wrote:

You could try putting hay in a toilet paper tube and laying that in her cage and see if she'll eat it more that way. When you litter trained her, did she choose the spot the pan is in now? I'm thinking if you move it, her litter habits may change for the worse.

I think that we chose the spot for her litter box;she's always beenvery fastidious about using it. On a few occasions, we moved her "outside" (x-pen) litter box, which she alwaysused regardless of location.

I should mention that she doesn't like pottying in her cage litter box. She does poop/pee in it but very little compared to what she leaves in her "outside" (x-pen) litter box. I'm convinced that she holds some of her business at night. She also has a Cuddle-E Cup anda cozybox with a blanket in it to use for sleeping purposes. Still, she doesn't seem to like messing in the box inside of her cage.

It's odd to me that she once sucked down the hay from her manger until we tried her on another hay brand (which was 2nd-cut and didn't thrill her). Since her eating of the other hay (inside of her cage) slowed, she doesn't seem to want to bother with eating from her manger anymore.

As I type this reply, she's inside ofher cage litter box, eating hay that's fallen from the manger. :?