Litter Training Q

[Orchid]

I have two small size cat litter pans. Since he has been sick I have kept the litter I have (Yesterdays News) out of them and used some of the hay I think is too old. I dump that every morning and clean the pan. New pan goes in with fresh hay.
Since the day we went to the vet he has been using the pan while in his cage. He seems to have stopped peeing anywhere else in there and just uses the pan. He does leave random poops around his cage, but not many. I read somewhere that is rather normal that there are some poops as he is marking the cage as his.
This is all very encouraging and I am very happy about it..but

When he is out in the pen running and playing, he seems to poop and pee anywhere he wants. I think I might have seen him run back a time or two to pee in the box, but I am not sure. Tonight when I had him out he peed three times on the blanket I had on my lap and pooped left and right.

My question is what can I do to get him using his litter pan all the time and not just in the cage?

Thanks in advance..


Em

 

[aurora369]

It is very encouraging that he's using his litter box in his cage at this age.

I find that as they get older, they can go farther away from the cage with out peeing where they shouldn't. They develope more bladder control and the urge to pee everywhere should dissipate when neutered.

You can try restricting him to a small area attached to the cage. Once he gets the idea, you can expand the pen a little bit. Or you can try putting out extra litter boxes in his play area. You should clean up any accidents immediatly with vinegar and leave some pee soaked paper towel in the litter box.

Putting hay in the litter box helps to encourage the buns to get in the litter box. It's like a bunny newspaper, gives them something to do when going potty. They also like to eat and poop at the same time.

I put a layer of litter at the bottom of my litter box, then I put a nice big handful of hay in the box.

A good thing to try to do is to keep the litter boxes smelling like the potty area and to keep the rest of the area clean. I use a 50/50 vinegar/water mix to clean the pee up. I wipe up the puddle with paper towel, then mist the area down with vinegar water and then after letting it sit for a minute, wipe that up too.

--Dawn

 

[Orchid]

Thanks for the advice and knowledge...

I will give some of that a try and see how things go...I would love to stop getting peed on..lol

 

[LadyBug]

i found the idea of my baby eating some thing he's pooping/tinkling on gross. he said that he likes to eat and poop at the same time, thank you very much! so we reached a compromise.because when i first set up the cage the food/water/hay was on one side and the litter box on the otherside because most animals that i've read about like to have their food away from where they go potty. so i moved it all so that it was right by the corner box(corner litter boxes with cage clips are your best friends. no matter how much he jumps on and out it still stays in the same place. i think i got it in the ferret section at Petsmart). he's been as happy as a clam ever since and his potty training speed up remarkably! hope this helps, and i wish you good luck with your continued potty training!

Anna