White vinegar and un-doing litter habits in some areas

[Avantika]

I know the leaders would be tired by now to answer questions on litter training. I am really short of time, otherwise I would have gone through the existing posts instead of making a new one..

The situation is..I have tried litter training her in the past and she was doing fairly well. There was an area at our home, near our washroom, where she used to pee and poop. It was very convenient for us to clean that space since it was just an inch next to the washroom, so we’d clean it every time she do her job.

Then came her phase of spraying, urinary incontinence due to UTI and adolescence hormones.. and I was so overwhelmed with everything (not being able to study peacefully, esp,) that I just gave up on her litter issues for a while. I was wrong there, I admit.

I now want to litter train her once again.. I have brought a litter box for her and I will use hay and brown paper underneath it (the newspaper ink isnt soya based here).. I have read the basics of the process.. to pick them up and place them in the litter box when you catch them in the process..then offer them a treat and pat..and continue for as long as it takes.Then dump the contents of the litter box at night and refill it.. Continue the process.

When her hormones were acting bad, there were other areas of our house she marked.. What to do with those areas ? Clean them with white vinegar ? And same with her cage ? There are areas she marked inside the cage as well. Is white vinegar enough ?

Please put in anything and everything that you feel would help in this situation.

(She isnt spayed yet. I have spoken to her vet and it will done in December)

[litheandgraphic]

Hello!

So, first and foremost, I would actually stay away from picking them up and putting them in the box when they’re going. Most rabbits abhor being picked up, so this may just stress them further and they may get too scared to go around you at all for fear that they’ll be swooped up. Instead, try placing her in a small area for a few weeks (think 3×2′ area) with her litterbox and anything else she needs. Attach an x-pen or allow her free reign of the room so she can roam about during her awake times – this is normally early morning and evening for bunnies, but she may be on a different schedule. Make sure she’s getting adequate exercise. When it’s time to go to sleep, put her back in this smaller area. Also, place the litterbox in a corner – rabbits prefer the box to be in a corner. The bun may decide for you which corner she prefers. When you find droppings or urine left places other than the box, pick them up / soak it up and place the droppings / paper towel with urine (or the brown paper you’re using) inside the litterbox.

After she seems to get better with her box, normally after a few weeks, then you can re-expand her living area to 12-16 sq. ft.

As for the vinegar, yes. Vinegar is the best, bunny-safe cleaning product on the market. What I find easiest to do is to make a 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar solution inside of a spray bottle, and then you can use the spray bottle to spray places to clean them up. Also, if you want her to avoid these areas, you can leave some sprayed vinegar-water solution in those areas. This often helps repel the bunny from that area because they dislike the smell of vinegar. I find the vinegar solution really works if I want Theodore not to chew something. One spray and he’s away! But I should also mention that this definitely doesn’t work for all bunnies.

Having her spayed will definitely help with all of these problems, though – litterbox training is most easily done once they’re spayed. Good luck!

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