Senior Bunny Litter Box

[Hoolia]

Does anyone have any advice on keeping a blind senior rabbit’s living space cleaner? Jackson is quite elderly now and i think he can’t jump into his litter box anymore. He and his partner have an x-pen enclosure now and he stays behind when the door is open. The lip of the x-pen door is about as high as the side of the litter box, i noticed. So im thinking of getting one of those senior litter boxes, with the shorter wall? While I’m trying that out, I may separate him from his mate to focus on litter training him.
A coworker also wants to give me her senior bunny who isnt litter trained either. If I can get Jackson to use a box again, maybe i could train the other old man too.
If the new box doesnt work, does anyone have advice on protecting the floor from pee? He tends to just go wherever he is. Doesnt even lift his tail, he just goes.

 

[Abi :)]

Hi! Does your bun pee randomly around the room or is it in corners or just near his/her litter box? If it is near the litter box you could get a litter box below and also put a large low sided tray beneath it, and that way any pee that happens near the litter box is contained in a tray which can be cleaned easily.

You could also look into puppy pads, but bear in mind that some buns may chew them, in that case another option is waterproof fleece liners, you can buy a custom size from sellers on Etsy and they have a layer of absorbant material and are also able to be machine washed if necessary.

 

[Hoolia]

It’s definitely randomly around the room. I think his bladder just gives out wherever he is and he doesnt have control over it because he doesnt even seem aware that it’s happening. I’ll definitely be looking into waterproof fleece!

 

[Blue eyes]

The fleece isn't waterproof. It actually wicks (absorbs) urine when there is an absorbent material below. So a "fleece liner" is made with the fleece on the top, PUL fabric on the bottom and something like cotton batting or Zorb in the middle. It can all be sewn together to make a "fleece liner." It is washable. The PUL is waterproof (used for outer layer of cloth diapers or as mattress protectors).

What's nice about the liners is that the fleece stays dry on top since it wicks the moisture down below.

If you sew, you can make them yourself to whatever size you like. They are also sold as guinea pig bedspreads to use on piggie cage flooring.

 

[Abi :)]

Ah sorry about that! I had just seen a few things on Etsy that claimed to be waterproof fleece liners with Zorb in the middle and it was also machine washable. Sorry for the mistake

 

[JBun]

If he just goes wherever he pees he may be incontinent now and a low sided litter box may not work. I had a senior bun that had spondylosis and gradually started losing control over her hind legs. For a while she could still make it into a low sided litter box. I basically just took her old litter box and cut the front side down to about 1.5-2 inches high, using a pair of tin snips.

But as she lost most of her control over her hind legs and could no longer stand on them, she couldn't make it into the litter box anymore and I had to start covering the floor of her pen with disposable puppy pee pads(costco 100/$16). This worked well as she didn't try and chew or dig them up, and it would take care of any accidents she had. I would just change each pee pad out as needed when it got too soiled.

She started moving around less and less and was pretty much just in a 2 ft square spot for the last few months of her life. Because she was just peeing in that one spot it got saturated with urine pretty fast. I didn't want to have to change pee pads all day, so I added a few layers of cotton towel, then on top of that I used the sherpa fleece fabric to keep the urine drained down to the absorbent layers and away from her skin. I changed the towels and pee pad out once a day, and the sherpa I changed out every other day. This set up kept her clean and comfortable til she passed from old age. Instead of the sherpa fleece, vet bed works too, it's just thicker and more expensive. That top layer just needs to be non absorbent so it drains down to the absorbent layer below and stays relatively dry on top.


I also have a senior bun now that is blind and can't get into the litter box but can still hop around. So right now I have pee pads on the floor of her enclosure and just change them out once a day.

You might want to check out this link as it has good info and tips on caring for senior and disabled rabbits.
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/seniors.html