Anti-Litter box- Cage Pooping Bunny

[Preston Cooper]

My male bunny will not poop or urinate in his cage.

He is a rescue, of which I literally took him away from a very unhealthy situation where rabbits were squeezed together in wire cages stacked one on top of the other in an unheated broken down barn.

Although I believe he was under a year old when I got him, I am wondering if his early habits are that of being use to the poop ‘disappearing’ through a wired bottom cage, which is why he does not like to  poop in his flat bottomed cage and litter box inside, as the poop is still there after he goes? 

To summarize how I have been managing this problem is tha I have to take him out of his cage to go.  He likes to go anywhere and everywhere outside ‘his spots ‘ which sometimes includes  a litter box on the floor, or one of the small dog beds I have for him with towels in sie, or on a towel covering my furniture (help!). 

My biggest concerns are that 1) he holds in going until I take him out of the cage – which is very unhealthy and means that I need to be around alot  more to take care of him.  Sometimes, when I am gone for a long period of time, he will let a few go….but not a normal output, and rarely do I find any urine.

Along with these concerns, I have begun to notice what I believe is  early signs of bladder sludge, as his urine has become whiter and he sometimes is dribbling. 

So for behavioral and medical reasons, I want to break this habit and am ready to get him a new even larger cage then he has if this can help to ease him in to using a bathroom ‘indoors’. 

Any thoughs or suggestions?

I am learning that when I see a problem, its better to react sooner then later.  Perhaps I have been too slow with this problem already, I have had him for a little over a year.

Regards,

MC

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

IMO-> I’d first remove all high calcium foods from his diet until his sludge clears up (spinach etc).

Then….really….I’d leave him in his cage until he has to go to the bathroom in there. Then I’d put his poops and pee in the litter box to show him that’s ok. But that’s just what I’d do…He does have a litter box in his cage right? Why don’t you put some of his poops in there and see if that encourages him to go?

[Beka27]

also, some members have had wire grate covered litterboxes… or a regular cat litterbox with a wire cooling rack. that way the poops fall thru to the box. it’s worth a try.

[babybunsmum]

i was thinking this too beka.  i believe it was wendyski who suggested buying a cookie cooling rack & placing it the bottom of a litter pan.  this may help with litter training considering your buns origin.  like k&k said, if you confine your bun to the cage for an extended period of time it will eventually HAVE to go in there & then you can place the bb’s in the litter.  i’d collect some bb’s from outside the cage to start out with too and add a bun urine soaked papertowel under the litter too.  buns need to have free roam time but this would just be temporary until bun learns where the litter area is.  be prepared for a ticked off amt of rabbitude!

another point about sludge from my vet… it helps to serve the lower calcium greens well soaked with water to encourage even more hydration which will help flush the system.  i fill a bowl with greens & then top it up with water so when bun pulls out a leaf it’s dripping wet.  a little messy so best to serve on a wipeable or launderable surface.

[Beka27]

i don’t remember if you’ve mentioned and your profile does not say, is he neutered?

[Floppy]

Yeah i was wondering if he is neutered and thinking how that would probably help the situation!

[bunnytowne]

yes the litterbox with teh grating on top may help a lot. Laith was getting his bum messy til I got one of those for him.  sometimes it messes an animal up when they are in their own dropping or having urine etc dropped on them  however does not sound like your problem  get rid of spinache kale cabbage and parsley from his diet are high in calcium he should clear up in a day or so. 3 at the longest.  and those litterboxes you can go online and order them if your pet stores don’t carry them like Petsmart has them. and other ones too. may it work out for you.and your bun

[Preston Cooper]

I wrote a reply post earlier today but it looks like it did not register.

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses.

After reading these posts, I found that Marshalls makes a litter tray with a coated wire grid pan that fits inside. Never saw this before. I have ordered one and am hopeful that it will assist in changing his habits. Along with taking other steps.

Just an aside, he does not get any kale, spinach, cabbage or alfalfa hay. I am very conscious of high calcium foods and do not give them. I am unaware of parsley being high in calcium. It’s my understanding that it is actually godd for the urinary tract.

I believe the early signs of bladder sludge may be due to his holding his pee in rather then going when nature calls, due to his refusal to pee in the cage thus far (with rare exception). The only other issue I can think of is that more recently I began to give him a pre- mix of barley, oat and wheat hay. The brand is Alfalfa King. I checked the nutritional info, and to my knowledge it is not high in calcium. He is a poor hay eater, but really liked the textures from this mix and ate more. I am now going to limit or stop it and see if this helps make a difference.

Until I have a urine analysis done, I really will not know for sure if he is releasing too much calcium in his urine, even if it appears whiter. But the bathroom habits need to change anyhow!

I hate to lock him up in his cage till he goes….he really needs the exercise as he is prone to GI stasis. Since rescuing him, it took almost a year to get rid of a parasite he had (pin worms) from the filthy environment he was in. It is also important for him to remain as stress free as possible. He was recently tested for e. cuniculi and is positive. His titer was very high, but he has shown no symptoms so far. There is a thread on this from about a month ago under Diet and Care.

Thanks again,
MC

[Preston Cooper]

He has 2 liter pans (corner triangles) in his cage.  One is filled with Carefresh.  The other has a small towel and pillow.  Yes, my buns like pillows, and stuffed animals!  He uses both litter boxes for napping and if there rarely is there any poop, etc. in them,.  I suspect when this does  occur, it happens when he is asleep or half asleep.

Regards,

MC

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