Barely Using Litterbox

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by SmokeyBunnyRobinson.

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- 07/29/2012 at 2:42 PM
  SmokeyBunnyRobinson
  Participant
  356 posts
  Hey everyone. I don’t know if anyone is around from when I was posting frequently before, but I’m back with Smokey related issues again.
  
  Smokey is now almost 3.5 years old. She was litter trained completely by the time she was a little over a year old. For the past 6 months or so, I have noticed that she is barely pooping in her litter box at all. She was mainly just peeing in it. I will attach pictures to show you how bad it gets within about a 4-5 day period. I was just gritting my teeth and dealing with the pooping everywhere, so long as she peed in her litterbox.
  
  Today I noticed that she is now peeing EVERYWHERE on the first floor of her 2-level cage. She has peed on the carpeted section she jumps down from, next to the litter box, in the middle of the cage. She is now also pooping all over her second level and in her bed she sleeps in, which she never used to do.
  
  I just don’t know what it could be. She gets let out and loved every day. She gets a healthy diet, treats, talked to. It is not like I have ever neglected her. When this habit first started, I thought that she did not like the children in the class she is a pet in. But the school year ended at the end of June, and now the habits have gotten worse.
  
  There have been no change in diet, moving, anything. Her cage is in the same place, nothing in her cage has been moved, no new hays introduced, no new foods, etc. She is still acting happy when anyone calls her name or comes up to the cage, and she plays when she is outside and sometimes inside by tossing her toys. As a side note, she does NOT poop/pee when outside her cage.
  
  But I feel like there is something wrong and I’m just missing it.
  
  Has anyone else gone through this? Because I am at a loss and am going crazy.
  
  What her cage looks like after a couple of days:
  http://i45.tinypic.com/32zkvx5.jpg
  
  This is just her looking proud of herself and her mess:
  http://i48.tinypic.com/2cglt2w.jpg
- 07/29/2012 at 4:41 PM
  IsabellaRobyn
  Participant
  592 posts
  I’m no pro at bunny litter training at all but I thought I’d chip in You could try collecting all her poops every morning and putting them in the litter box to try and remind her that she is to go in there? I could imagine having all that poop everywhere it makes her think it’s okay now to just do it. I hope other people come along with some better advice for you
- 07/29/2012 at 4:47 PM
  SmokeyBunnyRobinson
  Participant
  356 posts
  Trust me, IsabellaRobyn, I am willing to try -anything- at this point. Maybe I’ll give that a try and see where it goes. Because this new habit of hers is making me crazy!
- 07/29/2012 at 4:52 PM
  IsabellaRobyn
  Participant
  592 posts
  I think just going completely back to basics would be a good idea. When she pees outside the box, lift her and put her in it and use paper to soak up the pee and put it in the box too so she starts to get the message again. Maybe try putting another box on the second floor too? She’s maybe feeling lazy haha! Hope she gets all sorted out soon for you.
- 07/29/2012 at 6:02 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  She may have decided she doesn’t like that litter box as well. Many rabbits hate those corner ones.
- 07/29/2012 at 6:40 PM
  SmokeyBunnyRobinson
  Participant
  356 posts
  Hmm, so after 2 years of the same litter box (except a bigger one when she grew), she decides to be her diva brat self and hate the litter box?
  
  The issue I have is that if I don’t have a grate over her box, then she kicks her poop and litter eeeeverywhere. Which is why I stuck with the litter box that I have. Should I try out a rectangle cat litter pan?
- 07/29/2012 at 7:26 PM
  bmt87
  Participant
  305 posts
  If I were you I’d try using a larger litter box and lining it with litter. At one end place her hay so her bum is on the hayless portion and while she is eating she can poop and pee at the same time. This has worked WONDERS for my bun. Just a suggestion.
  
  Oh – and I’d also do what IsabellaRobyn said and put some of her poos in the new box so she gets the hang of it.
- 07/29/2012 at 7:39 PM
  SmokeyBunnyRobinson
  Participant
  356 posts
  Okay so I’m sure you’re all going to laugh at this, but after I cleaned everything up and gave Smokey a fresh litter box (I just bought her a new one the other day but hadn’t used it), she had pooped some on the floor. So after IsabellaRobyn’s suggestion, I went and started picking up the poops, telling her that she needed to poop in the litter box. She watched me, no lie, the entire time. Even jumping in her litter box defensively at one point. Since then, she hasn’t gone yet outside her litter box and is currently sleeping next to it. So I guess we’ll see what happens.
  
  My mom told me we have an extra rectangle litter box from when she used to breed cats. So if this doesn’t work out, I’ll give the box a try and see what happens.
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