baking soda in paper pellet bedding

[koj]

hello! I decided to try a different bedding for my bun since I don’t think his pee is absorbing well, and I heard paper pellets were the best. I visited my local pet store and found fresh4life eco-paper pellets for cats. the worker said it was fine to use for rabbits; however, I noticed that the company adds in baking soda to neutralize the smell. Is this really okay for my bun? Thank you!

[pinkiemarie]

Yes but watch your rabbit while they’re adjusting to it. I use pellets with baking soda and it’s fine as long as the rabbit doesn’t eat it. It can expand in their stomach if they eat it though so you just need to watch carefully until you’re sure your bun doesn’t think it’s food.

[koj]

gotcha, thank you so much for the advice 😀

[LBJ10]

Baking soda is fine. It won’t hurt anything.

[BZOO]

Also, if you decide your not happy with the paper pellets for pee, try wood pellets (the ones marketed for horses are very cheap), they work great.  I use those in the litter box and the crumbled paper litter for the main cage and he has a fleece blanket in his hide.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Baking soda is fine, although I’d choose an acid to neutralise rabbit pee smells and stains. Rabbit urine is quite alkaline (up to pH 8,8 😯 ) because it’s concentrated and has a lot of ammonium compounds. That’s why bunny pee really stinks when exposed to air for a while: the compounds fall apart and release ammonia gas. We always clean urine stains with unscented cleaning vinegar in a spray bottle, because it removes the smell and the colour. I’d always use unscented products with rabbits around, because they have very sensitive airways.

You can also clean with lemon or lime juice if you want a natural cleaning agent. One little caveat: I wouldn’t use lemon/lime juice on fabrics, because our bunny started to lick and dig at the spot. It probably smelled like a tasty fruit treat to him. It should be fine for cleaning and deodorising the litter box though. Lemons/limes also make a great descaling agent to remove pesky calcium stains in the kitchen and shower. You can also descale the kettle with it without having to worry about vinegary tea. I make my own cleaning agents because they’re a lot healthier for both of us than the heavily perfumed bottles from the shop. Vinegar and lemon juice for calcium stains and odours, rubbing alcohol and soda crystals for greasy stains.

[koj]

Thank you all for the advice!!! unfortunately, my bun thinks that the paper pellets were food and tried to eat it 🙁 even if baking soda is okay, I think I want to be safe and just stick to another type of bedding…thank you all again though:D

[DanaNM]

Aww that’s too bad. I second the recommendation for pine wood pellets though. They work really well and are safe because they have been heat treated. You can find them sold as horse stall pellets, wood stove pellets, or feline pine (but as feline pine they are 4 times the price). A 40 lb bag of horse stall pellets should be around $8-10 at feed shops.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[koj]

Going to get a 40lb bag of them tomorrow! thank u both for letting me know; it’s A LOT cheaper than the $16 paper pellets 😯

[DanaNM]

yes! I remember doing a happy dance when I found a feed store in my town that had them!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[koj]

I got the wood pellets! 😀 I was wondering though if there is a way to lessen its smell? It smells very strongly of wood and spreads throughout the room.

[BZOO]

Don’t think so, but either the smell lessens or you get used to it.

I love the smell though 😁

[koj]

Gotcha, thanks!

[Author]

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