Litter kicker :(

[elleecrawford]

Ashen always kicks litter out of his litter box or tips is over. He is fully litter trained but it makes his cage look like he's not. I have tried attaching the box to the side of the cage but he pulls it out. His cage has two floors, and the section of his cage that is litter box is seems to be not tall enough for a covered litter box. I tried three kinds of litter and he eventually kicks them all. I'm considering trying to put a cookie rack type of grate in it. Any advice?? :litterhealthy:

 

[PaGal]

I'm not sure if this would work for you or not but Thumper would move his litter box. So what I did that has fixed the problem is to drill two holes on each end of his litter box for a total of four holes. I then put a zip tie through each set of two holes so a total od two zip ties. I then hooked a shower curtain hook through each zip tie. I then attach the shower curtain hook to the side of his cage. It only takes a moment to attach or unattach it. He now cannot move his box. I got a pack of ten or so shower curtain hooks for $2-3.

For the digging you could try a plastic storage box. Get one that has high sides and simply cut one side short enough and wide enough for your bun to get in or out. He still may dig but the mess shouldn't be as bad. I did this for my two bonded females. I did make the mistake of making the opening too wide IMO because I wanted to make sure they could both get in and out at the same time. If I had to do it again I would have just cut an opening big enough for one bun.

If pics would help on either set up I can provide them.

 

[Imbrium]

Great grid system (though cookie racks can also work) - http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=53690&forum_id=93 (check 1/3 of the way down the first page); it thwarts digging and prevents them from having to stand in soiled litter box substrate.

I used carabiners instead of shower curtain hooks when my girls were moving their litter box around the condo and I used a scratch awl because I didn't own a drill at the time, but other than that, my method was the same as PaGal's - I put two holes per side in two sides (I did one end/one side since I had the litter box in a corner) and used zipties to attach the carabiners so that I didn't have to snip/replace zipties every time I took out the litter box.

If he manages to thwart whatever grid set-up you use, zipties can solve that problem as well (they're like duct tape - the solution to a *wide* variety of issues!).

I've got a HUGE plastic storage box as my bunnies' litter box right now, actually - not because they dig, but because they kept peeing over the side of their old one (even though it was quite roomy) and I wanted something even bigger. I took an old bin cage made for a hamster that had a window about 6'' high and 17'' long cut out of the middle of one of the long sides - I just removed the hardware cloth that I had bolted to the window and it was ready to go . (Oh, and with a fairly large box and wood pellets as substrate, I've found that it's too heavy for them to push around, let alone flip on its side so I no longer have to tie the box down.)

One option for a large box that's fairly deep but wouldn't be overly tall like a storage box or a covered litter box is an "organizer tray" for an 18 gallon storage tub - Walmart sells them for $3, which is cheaper than a large cat litter box.

 

[degrassi]

I use a rubber bungie cord to hold my litter box in place against the NIC sides. I tried zip tying it but my bun then just took to biting and pulling at the box as it still moved a little bit. With the bungie cord it doesn't move at all and is easy to slip the box out when I clean it.

I also use "egg crate"(fluorescent light diffuser) as a grate over my litter box so he doesn't actually sit in the litter.

 

[Bville]

This wouldn't help with the kicking, but might help with the tipping over. Pepper was grabbing her litter box in her teeth and tossing it around so we had to build this frame for it. It just slides over the litter box and holds it down so she can't pick it up and toss it around anymore. If you are handy or know someone who is, you could make something like this and also try a grid for over the litter to stop the digging.

 

[Imbrium]

This wouldn't help with the kicking, but might help with the tipping over. Pepper was grabbing her litter box in her teeth and tossing it around so we had to build this frame for it. It just slides over the litter box and holds it down so she can't pick it up and toss it around anymore. If you are handy or know someone who is, you could make something like this and also try a grid for over the litter to stop the digging.

LOL... I see I'm not the only one who ghetto-rigs cheap thwartation devices out of lumber! Your litter box holder reminds me of what I did to defend our trash .

Our older cat figured out how to knock over the kitchen trashcan and it immediately became his favorite game EVER... nothing deterred him and it finally pissed me off one too many times:

Roo hates my creation, but Jay and I love it. We mock Roo about not being able to make a mess with the trash any more; he stakes out the trashcan like he's trying to figure out how to overcome the thwartation device.

 

[yannikin]

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f69/stormhaven-litter-system-step-step-instructions-48510/

I don't use the hay feeder system they have but I use the flourescent crate. You can get it at a plastics store or a lighting store for very cheap.