Still peeing/pooping - what to do?

[EileenH]

I am so upset. I just moved Gulliver's cage to find that he had peed out of his litterbox under the rug - I didn't notice it and it totally ruined my hardwood floor - it's all black and won't come up.

I guess this was the icing on the cake. I know he has to pee in his litter pan, and this was my fault for not catching it.

But he also pees immediately when I let him out. He used to target the kitchen back door (I have parquay flooring that has started to seperate and raise, even though I clean it up the second he does it. I see him running over there & know "the look", so I'm ready with paper towels to clean it up. So, he's banned from the kitchen.
He's already banned from the bedroom because, as we all know, rabbits LOVE to jump on beds and pee on THEM too.

Then he moved on to the living room - the corner by the entertainment center. I clean THAT up immediately too,but now that I see what he did in the dining room, I know I am not getting the little bit that is under the entertainment center leg; it's too heavy for me to pick up. I'm sure the pee seeps under there & it's stained there too.

*sigh*; I've been battling this with him for almost a year. I rescued him last June and he was worse then, but, will he ever stop?

Yes, he is neutered; had that done last July and it didn't help.
No, he doesn't get too much free roam time. He does it as soon as he's out of the pen. I've tried to limit him to one room; at least he only ruined the floor in that room.

It is totally intentional andI know, he's marking, .
I've cleaned the places he targets with vinegar, didn't help at all. I've given up on the couch, I just try to keep up with him so I get him off the couch when he jumps on it, but sometimes he gets there before I do.
But the floors..that is going to be really expensive to fix. I have to replace the boards, and then polyurethane the whole room.
I am going to get linoleum and put it under the whole cage; hindsight is 20/20 for sure.

I had hispenon a 6X8 rug; his litter pan was on top of a square plastic pan, and his cage has an additional rug in it. What he did, was pee outside the pan and it leaked outside the cage, seeped through the rug(s) and I didn't notice in time.

I don't know what advice I am looking for; I guess I am just commiserating.
I love this rabbit to bits, don't worry. But how can I let him out and save my house at the same time? He's a big New Zealand White, so I hate to limit him to just the dining room, which is where his cage is - I know he needs to run around.

A woman at my vet office told me they sometimes outgrow this; he is only about a year and 3 months old (I rescued him last year and he was ~4months old then), and I've had him since June.

Will it ever get better? Any suggestions on what else to do?

--
Edited to add:
You know, when I re-read this post, it sounds like all I am doing is running around trying to clean up what he's done. And BTW - I leave all the poop when he does it, because he gets mad if I pick it up and just runs over and does more - I've never seen anything be able to produce so much poop on demand. But, poop is easily picked up and doesn't hurt anything, so I just clean it all up when I put him back in.

I am just frustrated; if I were you guys, reading this, I'd tell me I am neurotic & maybe he's feeding off of me. But that's not it. I basically leave the poop, and then run around & play with him. He idolizes me; kisses me in the face non-stop, we run around the house and he chases after me. We have a lot of fun, but in between this there is just a LOT of pee & poop. I've been just accepting it, and this post is just the culmination of it.
*sigh*

 

[EileenH]

I can't figure out how to change the topic heading, but it's worth it to say I am not upset that Gulliver is pooping /peeing - just that he's doing it inappropriate places!

 

[juliew19673]

One suggestion that I could make that might help save the floor where his cage is - put down the puppy wee wee pads that have the blue plastic backing on them - under his littler pan, etc.. at least if he "misses" in there it won't soak through to the floor.. I do this in and underBaxters! litter pan (and then put hay on top of that in his litter box) and its really helped me.. For outside his area if he keeps spraying in the same places you could put these up before you let him out..

Good luck and I'm sure someone else will have better suggestions.

 

[EileenH]

Thanks; I have a kitchen trash bag under there for now. I used to have puppy wee wee pads, but if sees them he rips the plastic partup. So have tohide them.

Hey, I love the Baxter!with the !, BTW!

 

[juliew19673]

EileenH wrote:

Hey, I love the Baxter!with the !, BTW!

lol.. thanks.. iBaxter! is my first bun and when I got him he was so skinny he could barely hop about - but after a couple of weeks of good food and asafe home - he was racing around so much (as I think he, for the first time in his life felt good), he would race around and then stop right in front of me with the look on his face like "Tah-dah!" so he seemed to need the "!" in his name, but now that we've been around each other for almost 3 months (and he's been neutored) its more like "Baxter," - lol. ..

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Does he go in the same spots when he is let out or in different ones? The accidents should be cleaned up with vinegar to dispose of his scent. If you're doing that and he's still doing it, what a little turd:?. Especially if there are no other buns around. That's weird he is doing that. I feel for you, I really do. I would limit his space out and maybe add an outside of cage litterbox for when he comes out. Or, take his current box when he comes out, out in the space with him.

 

[aurora369]

Put litter boxes where he likes to pee. If he's running to the same spots, then put litter boxes there. If you can get him going in the litter boxes, then you may be able to slowly move them if the spot is awkward.

Make sure all the spots are cleaned well with vinegar.

I would also consider confining him to a small pen connected to the front of his cage. Can he get in and out of his own cage? If not, that would really help. Then slowly expand the pen as his litter box habits improve.

--Dawn

 

[EileenH]

Thanks guys.

I've already cleaned the areas with vinegar.
At the beginning, I did take his litter pan out & put it where he does it; he peed against the side of the litter box (as close to the spot he likes to pee).

Last night, I blocked off the kitchen with cardboard, and also the area where he pees in the living room. He was confused, let the kitchen ones alone, but the living room (by the entertainment center), he peed right onto the cardboard, again as close as he could to the intended place.

He actually lives in an exercise pen (a good sized Precision) in my dining room. I am going to block off the dining room so that is the only room he has access to and let him only have access there. Then, I can open up the kitchen and see how that goes. I'll also put a few other litter boxes in the targeted areas; I haven't done that since the beginning. Perhaps it will help this time, now that he's a little older.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[trailsend]

I can't offer much more help...I have to watch all my guys carefully now because between a few of them, the PD's and our lamb, my poor husbands new floor is hurting. I hope he will outgrow it, and everything will be fine. I have a few that are neutered and still do mark because they smell the other rabbits... O.K... only two

Just wanted to say great picture! how cute

 

[MsBinky]

When he is in his pen, does he go in the box? I'm guessing you'll need to go back to basics... Start with a small area then gradually expand. I totally sympathize with you though as alllllllllllllllll of mine have completely lost any manners and are driving me mad They were all so clean before :grumpy:Hang in there,we're entitled to some frustrationeven though we love them to bits

 

[EileenH]

I DO love him to bits! It's nice to know it's not just me and mine.

He actually is immaculate in his pen; also on the 6X8 rug outside his pen; it's only when he gets to hardwood floors that the problems begin (which is most of my house - I put down rugs for him so he'd be able to run & binky, as it's hard to do that on hardwood floors.

I will bring it back to basics, and isolate him in the dining room for now as he is very good in there.