Help With Bad Litter Box Habits??

[HeidiofTulips]

Our female Netherland Dwarf is about 3 yrs. old & spayed. We adopted her from another family this past winter & I think she's just always been allowed to have these litter habits.

Before we had her, she had a litter box that she usd, but also used the floor of the cage, so they always just put litter on the cage floor also. I had hopes of getting her to use the box more, so we use Care Fresh in the litter box & spread newspapers on the cage floor. We've also tried leaving the cage floor bare. (But this way ruins the plastic when she pees.)Well, she uses the box some, also lays in it, but leaves puddles all over the cage floor, poops in the puddles, so of course, this is a big mess, not having the chance to clean up behind her every time she makes a mess. She pees on her marble slab, & on her fleece blankets.She and our Hotot share a cage at night & the Hotot is starting to folow in the Nethie's footsteps with going in the cage. The Hotot doesn't pee outside the cage, but the Nethie does. She has found a carpetedcorner that she marks. Luckily, I have found a carpet cleaner that cleans this very well. I haven't tried putting another litter box there, but will.

Any ideas for breaking the habit of peeing outside the box, in the cage?? I'm going to try changing the papers as much as possible & putting them into the litter box. I've also thought of trying a box with a grate, especially since she likes to lay in it.

Thanks for any tips/ideas you may have!!



Heidi

 

[kirbyultra]

She sounds pretty ingrained in her behavior already. Girls are prone to be more territorial than males, even spayed, as it is their natural instinct. She may never stop peeing in that carpeted corner so putting extra litter box there is your best bet. And some bunnies just *love* sitting in their litter boxes because it's a safe place with their scent on it. Carefresh is such a fluffy and soft litter as well, why wouldn't they sleep on it?

Have you thought about maybe changing the type of litter and starting over with litter training? As it is, I doubt she's going to see that there is fault in what she's doing so perhaps some significant change is in order.

How big is the cage? How many litter boxes can you fit in there? If you can fit extra one or two, try that. Sometimes covering the place with more litter boxes than the bun can possibly use forces them to go into *a* litter box, not given them much of an option. Eventually she may favor one over others and you can slowly start to remove the extras. I suggested a change in the type of litter because it will smell different and we want the bunny to associate the smell of the litter with the "place she needs to go" to poop and pee. Monitor her as much as possible during this time and wipe up any urine she leaves on the floor, then throw the soiled paper towel into the litter box. Pick up any stray poops and throw them in the litter box. Remove any flooring you have on the floor, including newspaper and blankets for now. The only place that should have bedding/litter and her output is inside the litter box(es). Throw some hay on top of the litter inside of the litter boxes so she can chew hay while pooping

Hmm I hope that helps. I know how frustrating it can be when a bunny makes a mess.

 

[missyscove]

I'd also recommend at least one more litter box. One of my rabbits, Timmy needs 2 boxes - he likes to sleep in one and pee in the other. If we take out either of the boxes, he'll just use the remaining one to sleep in and pee on the floor. It took us a while to figure that out and yes it gives him slightly less cage space (though I'm not overly concerned about that as he is in a 2 level 2x3 NIC) but I'm just happy that we finally got him using a box.

 

[HeidiofTulips]

I'll have to try the extra box, right over the spot where she likes to pee the most.:biggrin2: