Bathing/Keeping down smell

[Colleen & Layla]

 I have been having a lot of issues with litter training my little Layla.  Consequently she has a lot of urine around her cage.  I try to be very diligent with keeping it clean, but when I’m gone for several hours there’s not much I can do about it!  Anyway, between the issues here and having gotten her from a store that I don’t think worried the most about her hygeine she has a little bit of a urine smell.  I know rabbits shouldn’t be bathed often, but does anyone have any tips on how to bath her without it being too traumatizing?  Or if you have any other suggestions I would love to figure out a way to keep this from happening again!

[mocha200]

Is your rabbit spayed? Spaying helps with litter training a lot as they don’t have all those hormones. The urine smell will get a TON better after spaying! It also prevents cancer too.

How big is her litter box? Large cat litter boxes are best! Some rabbits wont go in those small ones made for rabbits. Have you checked out the litter training section on this website?

https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/5/PID/940/Default.aspx

In that link above, she says to make sure you clean up after your rabbit every time she misses the box by soaking up the urine on a small paper towel and place it into the litter box make sure you spray with vinegar and water to get the smell off of the floor. Also throwing the poos back in.

[mocha200]

One more thing! I found cleaning out their cage entirely every day (along with cleaning up after them throughout the day) helped!

[NewBunnyOwner123]

If you ABSOLUTELY have to bathe your rabbit put a towel in your sink, and fill it up with a few inches of warm water. The towel will offer traction so she shouldn’t freak out as much. Don’t have the water running while she is in there because that will freak her out even more. And do not make it some routine. Bathing is just a last resort!

And diddo mocha.

[Colleen & Layla]

She isn’t spayed yet because she’s only about 3 1/2 months old. She has a pretty decent size litter box, but she mostly just wants to use her hay bowl! I ordered a hay rack in hopes that not having something else to sit in will help with her peeing in her litter box.
I definitely don’t want to bath her too often, but she’s just had a smell since I brought her home! I’ve only had her about a week. I’ve tried just using a damp cloth but it doesn’t seem to be doing the trick. I’ll try the towel in the sink if I can’t get her nice and clean until then!
Thanks guys!

[Enh98]

We have a pet store near us that specializes in all natural pet products. They have these moist wipes safe for dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. you could search for something like that to help wipe her down.

[Monkeybun]

put the hay in the litter box bunnies like to eat and go at the same time. It will greatly help with training.

[Colleen & Layla]

I’m not sure if she’s being so difficult with litter training because she’s getting so close to being hormonal. I clean out her cage completely every day, I pick up her little poops and put them in the litter box, I already have hay in there, and I also use the paper towel that I clean up pee messes with in her litter box. I was cleaning out the litter box everyday, but now I’ve switched to every other to keep the smells in there. She just wants to keep peeing in her hay bowl! I did just order a hay rack in hopes that when she doesn’t have somewhere else to pee she will start using it.
Thanks for the tip about the cleansing towels! That might work really well I’m just getting a little sick of pee smell on her feet and belly in the middle of my kitchen!

[Sarita]

In my experience bathing won’t get the urine odor or discoloration out of their fur – I doubt that would help at all. Haven’t had success with wipes either – they are really pretty useless for this.

[Colleen & Layla]

Oh no! Do you have any other suggestions that worked for you then?

[Isabel]

Try taking away the hay bowl? Or even putting the hay bowl inside the litter box. Rabbits like to go while they eat, and if they have two places to eat, they’ll do their business in both.

My little holland lop has a HUGE litter box. I tried to get him a smaller one because it was taking up so much space in his cage, and at first he seemed to like it, but when he realized he couldn’t flop effectively in it I woke up the next morning to poop and litter and hay everywhere– he threw a fit The second I gave him back his old litter box, he ran up to it and peed immediately and chinned the crap out of it and then flopped. Your bun has to love his litter box lol. Make sure it’s a significant size. Lambda’s is at least twice the size of his body (yes, he is a prince).

Watch the soft surfaces. Lambda will pee on anything soft. I can’t let him have his rug anymore because that’s the only time he doesn’t pee in his litter box, and it freaks my roommates out. Don’t have bedding in your bun’s cage, and try letting him out on hard surfaces like tile or hardwood. Your rabbit seems young enough to be able to learn how to maneuver. Lambda used to have an issue, but now he’s totally fine and does bunny 500s. He loves his carpet, but I have to hold off until he’s 100% litter trained

If your rabbit REALLY cannot stop peeing everywhere, maybe try getting a wire bottom cage until she’s properly litter trained. I heard that as long as they have a solid surface in the cage to go on, like a bed or a litter box or a tile, they won’t get sore hocks. I can’t vouch for this, though, and I’d take it with a grain of salt.

[MoveDiagonally]

Is she peeing in certain spots around her cage? I would put down more litter boxes where she likes to pee if that’s the case.

Since she’s peeing in her hay bowl I would take it out and just stack hay in the litter box.

[Colleen & Layla]

We’re going to take away the hay bowl as soon as her hay rack comes in. I’m hoping it’ll be in this afternoon! She doesn’t have anything soft in her cage right now because I was having the same issue with her peeing on it! She can’t flop in her box right now, but I think she thinks it’s her bed! She sits in the litter box all day and then pees everywhere else!

[MoveDiagonally]

She doesn’t need a hay bowl or hay rack is what I’m saying. You can just put it in the litter box and she’ll eat it in there.

How big is her litter box? Do you have pictures of your set up?

[Colleen & Layla]

I don’t have any pictures of her set up yet. I can definitely get some up later today when my hubby gets home with the camera. She just has a corner litter box right now, but I’ll try something larger for her and use that as the traveling around the house litter box

[MoveDiagonally]

The triangle ones? Those or too small and probably aren’t helping you litter train. A larger litter box might help her improve her litter habits.

When I brought home my first bunnies I bought the same ones! Now I use them to feed veggies

[Colleen & Layla]

Thanks for the help! I was planning on going out today to get her a little basket anyway, so I’ll have to grab a larger one when I’m out

[Deleted User]

How is Layla doing, … did the new litter box help?

And just a thought, you might try giving her a dry bath using cornstarch? I’d think it would act like baking soda helping to absorb some of the scent, and since it isn’t as stressful as a water bath you can do it often. Just a thought.

When I brought my two home and installed them in their condo I also had a cute little hay box and two baskets along with their litter box. I got rid of one basket the next day (well got it out of their condo, cleaned up it was returned to their room where one happily ripped it apart), the hay box went next, and then the last basket. The last, a willow basket went back in soon as they’d gotten their excellent litter box habits back (I was fortunate and they came to me having been well trained) but I think having the hay in two locations was the major problem. They haven’t peed outside the box since.

Good luck and I hope things are improving.

[Colleen & Layla]

Things are doing a lot better thanks! I got her a larger litter box and she seems to like it. She’s always peeing in the box, but still leaves little poops all over the place! The smell seems to have gone away with her own cleaning habits now that she’s not peeing on the floor

[Author]

Messages