Weird litter question

[Dragonrain]

So I have kind of a strange question...

The other day I ran out of Yesterday's News for my rabbits litter box. I didn't want to use just newspaper because it doesn't soak up all the pee and makes the bunny room smell. It was late and I couldn't run out to the store. Sooo I took a old sheet and folded it up and put it on the bottom of their litter box. I put newspaper on top of that and then their hay on top of the newspaper.

I left their litter box like that and continued with my usual cleaning schedule - I clean out all 3 of their litter boxes every other day. Using the sheet worked surprisingly well. When I went to clean the box I just lifted up the newspaper with the poo and messy hay on top and threw that away. I took out the sheet and rinsed it in the sink, then soaked it in a bucket of vinegar and hot water. After that I just threw it in the washing machine and drier with other pet stuff I needed to wash.

So what I want to know is opinions on weather or not it would be okay for me to continue to do that? I've never had a problem with my rabbits chewing on fabrics, they just chew on the wood I give them. The sheet was completely covered by newspaper anyways and they don't dig in their boxes. It soaked up all the pee well and I don't mind cleaning it, since I already clean a lot of pet laundry as it is.

I was just thinking because I have a lot of old sheets that I could use, and I would save money not having to buy litter. I know it probably sounds kind of gross, but to me cleaning that wasn't any worse then usual. I just want to make sure that it's not somehow bad for the bunnies or something??

 

[RexLovables]

I dont see why it wouldnt be a fine idea :biggrin2:

 

[Stanza]

That sounds fine to me.
Definitely the more green thing to do as well!

 

[tonyshuman]

:yeahthat:
I agree. If it doesn't smell, it's a great thing! I'd be a bit concerned about getting urine deposits in the washing machine, particularly if you already have hard water, but the vinegar pre-soak sounds like it would work. It's like a diaper in their pans! I know some people use fleece like that for guinea pigs too. Let us know how it goes, esp re: smell. It sounds like it would be cheaper and better for the environment for sure, although I don't know what's more energy comsumptive--washing the sheet or throwing away wet paper?

You could use a plastic canvas screen on top of the sheet too instead of newspaper--that can just be rinsed and reused.

 

[Dragonrain]

Thanks for the replies!

Thats a good idea about using a canvas screen instead of newspaper as well. Although the newspaper I've been using is just old mail and fliers and such, so I don't feel like I'm being too wasteful using them for the bunnies instead of recycling them.

I feel good about doing this, because so far it's been working well and I try to do everything I can to be more green. Although this didn't occur to me until I ran out of litter. Don't know about weather or not it conserves more to wash the sheets or throw away paper, but I figure since either way I do about one load of pet laundry a week, it wouldn't make much of a difference to throw the sheets in with everything else. I have to wash my dogs blankets and my rabbits fleece every week to keep my allergies down so I can just put it all in together.

I'll try it for awhile, unless anyone posts and says it's bad somehow, and update with how it works! :biggrin2: