Won’t stop peeing!

[skibunny8503]

Ok so we have had Sheldon since Jan. 25th.  So far he has been peeing outside his litter box 2+ times in the morning and in the evening when I check on him.  We are completely out of ideas on what to do and I cannot bond Sheldon and Sandy if he continues to pee like this.  We took him to the vet after we got him and he checked out ok.  I know this isn’t a health issue because we’ve seen him do it….he deliberately goes out of his litter box and picks a spot to pee at.  His cage is 2×3 and we have 2 litter boxes in it but he still manages to pee outside and usually somehow under one or both litter boxes!  We had first thought he was just marking his territory because there was also territorial poop everywhere (stinky!!) and we figured out we had tile in his cage because Sandy’s cage and his had 2 different flooring and we had her’s go into his and wanted to cover the 2 pieces coming together.  Well the tile was from our past bunnies and figured their scent was all over so we bought more of Sandy’s flooring that was expensive and took the tile out.  That helped with the pooping issue for the most part but not peeing.  His cage also was used in other bunny cages so we took all the connectors off and zip tied it instead (we can’t get more NIC cubes….I mean we already have 2 boxes of them! Plus I had washed them off).  We also moved his cage across the hall into a closet in the basement and took the doors off so when he pees it won’t ruin anymore baseboards and goes to the brick instead.  Nothing worked.  I thought today maybe he does it when he’s locked up when we let Sandy out but sure enough I went to see him today while he was out and I found pee.  I messaged the shelter and she had said his litter habbits were THAT bad and I messaged again after we did everything else but no answer yet. It can’t be the other bunny scents because he was in a shelter surrounded by bunnies and in a cage that had a bunny in it before.

If anyone has ANY clue, please let me know!   He is very sweet but we can’t continue keeping him if he won’t stop peeing.  I know that kind of sounds mean but I can’t keep cleaning up his mess.  I can’t even put toys in his cage because he’ll get pee on them.  I feel like he deserves better from us and we might not be able to give him the attention he deserves.

[Love4Bunny]

Sheldon’s neutered, right? If he isn’t, it might be the cause, but I am no expert.

I have seen people use large kiddie pool bases as litterboxes. You could put the cage inside of it and make the whole pen a litterbox. I do not doubt it is very frustrating to have to continually clean up after Sheldon. You’ve given him a good home – not sure who he would end up with who would make the same effort as you do, you know? You can always hang toys from the side’s of the cage with zipties to prevent them getting dirtied. I had to get rid of things and strategise how to deal with undesirable traits. Sometimes, you just can’t have nice stuff for bunnies, but it is okay. We all have expectations, but rabbits may be just as happy with hay in a toilet paper roll. Good luck with Sheldon.

[skibunny8503]

Yup according to his papers he’s been neutered since 2011. And you’re right if he wasn’t fixed that would absolutely be why.
I get what you’re saying but I don’t want to just live with his peeing; if it was a medical issue then I’d understand but he was at the vets and had checked out and his litter habits while not perfect (this is what they said), he didn’t pee outside his box like this. This morning it was all under his litter box and next to it. I feel like we go through a 1/2 roll of paper towels a week. I’m wondering if he’s acting out? What I got out of hearing about his last home (they had to move to Europe) was that he was given lots of attention and was always out with the people and even at parties. He went from being a social butterfly to now living in a (finished) basement and not getting as much as attention as he’s used to. I’m wondering if this could be the “problem”. If this is the case then we can’t give him the attention he needs/deserves. We’ve been going back and forth on what to do. I’ve tried messaging the shelter again about any ideas on what to do, hopefully they message back.

[Azerane]

Does he always pee outside of the litter tray, or does some of his pee end up in the tray? Are the litter boxes new for him, or were they previously used for other rabbits? I’m sure the inside was scrubbed, but did you scrub the outside too?

There’s a few things I would try before giving up completely. The first is to try a different litter, I know he’s pooping in what he’s using at the moment, but you never know, a new litter may help and it’s always worth a try, he may not like the way the litter feels under his feet when it’s wet, how often do you clean the tray? It could also just be that he’s still settling in to his new home, I know it’s been three weeks and things should have settled down in terms of territory by now, but I would give it a bit more time still just in case. In addition to that I would be cleaning the floor thoroughly with vinegar (if you’re not already) to make sure his pee smell doesn’t remain there.

If you think he may be lonely given that he was in a busy home previously, perhaps you could leave a radio on or something in the room as a bit of background noise so that it seems like there’s always people around.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks Azerane! He will pee in his tray too, and it’s not in one specific corner that he pees in, one time it was in the center of his cage. The litter boxes were used by other rabbits. I probably didn’t scrub them enough but maybe I should just buy a completely new litter box and see how that goes. Actually the litter we use is the same litter that he used at the shelter (horse pelleted bedding). We clean out the litter every week but even when we put new litter in it he still does it, so not a clean or dirty preference I think. I kind of feel like a jerk saying how we were almost going to return him. The shelter has been a big help in offering some advice as well. She had said to add an additional litter box which we had but the sides were to low I think. I didn’t get to the store today because it was snowing but hopefully it won’t be bad tomorrow. It’s just been a very rough week around here. Between Sheldon going to the bathroom everywhere and my 4 year old son not going to the bathroom I had had it which anything bathroom related lol! We did bring Sheldon upstairs and he loved it, he even put his face in my lap and fell asleep for a bit. So he def. won us over last night and we aren’t taking him back to the shelter. I just wasn’t sure if we’d be able to handle cleaning up after him all the time but I’m hoping we can work with him and he’ll get better.
Oh and when he was out in our living room he never peed and hardly pooped outside his tray! I was a little worried but he went in his tray every time. And during his out time in the basement he’s fine but inside his cage forget it. I just never experienced that with any of the other bunnies we’ve gotten from shelters.
I think once they’re bonded it will be easier to have out time with us and maybe Sandy can influence his bathroom behavior (hopefully not the other way around!).

[Azerane]

I’m glad you’re going to work at sorting it out. You’re right that a litter tray that is too small or has sides that are a bit short could be the cause. I didn’t suggest it only because it sounded like he was peeing in lots of different areas and not just right outside his tray.He sounds like a real sweetheart and at least you know that he can have good litter habits when he wants to.

Let us know how things go

[Love4Bunny]

Oh, I’m so happy to hear that things are improving for both you and Sheldon! That makes sense, with the whole acting out thing. I have never heard of that, but each bunny is so different. It must mean that Sheldon is a free-range only type of guy? I also wonder if some of his behaviour has to do with being separated from his owners, as in, missing them. I know dogs are like that, but I wonder if bunnies are, too. Fingers crossed for some good habits transferring over to your boy.

[Philomena]

I have a very similar problem with my bunny girl. She will always pee right next to her litter box when shes out playing. Shes good about it in her cage but otherwise no. I have tried everything. EVERYTHING. Different litter boxes, different litters, different cleaning schedules, putting things around the box so she could only go into it (Peed on those) I’ve put hay in there, treat hay, even actual treats. Cleaning thoroughly, not cleaning, different cleaning products, multiple litter boxes.

The only thing I can do now is put a puppy pad underneath and put a towel over it hoping she doesn’t notice it and chew it. However I’m not sure that would be a good idea to leave in his cage unsupervised… Other than my desperate attempts to save my carpet via puppy pad. The best thing that has worked is putting a ton of hay in the box and adding fresh hay in almost everyday so she can pick out the good bits again.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Two things you can try if you have’t arleady:

Put lots of hay in his litterbox to encourage him to spend time there.

Let him pick where you put the litter boxes.

[Patti]

Bigger trays did the trick for my Daisy! She’d sit in her tray but hang her can over the edge, making it wet underneath.

[skibunny8503]

Thanks for your help everyone! I replaced his litter box that was already used before to a under the bed container…actually two. He hardly has any room in his cage but the room he does have he still pees. Not nearly as much though. I had moved it but then he just pees next to it. I think it’s mostly when he’s in his cage and no out time so he might be acting out. Him and Sandy are going to the shelter tomorrow for bunny bonding boot camp that they offer. I’ll post about it on the bonding board. But I’m hoping once they’re bonded (if she can bond them together) that he’ll stop doing that. Oh and I moved his water bowl in the litter box and that helped a lot too. I’m just worried about his feet getting urine on them since there’s hardly any fur on them.

[Azerane]

That’s great to hear that you’ve seen some improvement, even if you had to cover the whole base of the cage in litter trays to achieve it! Best of luck with the bonding, I’m assuming once that’s done they’ll have a larger area to share? Perhaps he’ll act out less then when he has the room to roam

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