Bunny has un-litter trained herself

[Mary Wenn]

My rabbit was entirely litter trained. Once I got her spayed, she never had an accident outside of her box/cage. When we moved into our new house, she stuck to using her litter box or going in her cage. I keep her cage in her room with the door open, but she has full roam of her room. After a couple of months she has started going everywhere EXCEPT her litter box. Luckily her room has a tile floor, but I am constantly sweeping up pellets and mopping up urine. We got a guinea pig that has free roam of the room with her. When we brought him in, they immediately bonded and she stopped going to the bathroom outside of her cage, only using her litter box. He did as well. Now they are both going to the bathroom wherever they see fit and I am back to constant mopping. I’m worried the only way to re-train them is to confine them to their cage for most of the day until they get used to going in there, but I feel bad about it because they are both so used to having the entire room to run around. Is there any other way to retrain them?

*Note: they are not going in any specific corner or area, just all over the place. I’ve put several litter boxes in corners around the room. Still no luck. 

[DanaNM]

I think the first step is to rule out a medical issue like a bladder infection.

Ruling out a medical problem, confining to a smaller area is usually the way to go.

. . . 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.  

[Asriel and Bombur]

Along with a bladder infection or kidney infection, if neither of those come back as positive, you might want to have your vet test for E Cuniculi. It’s a parasite that can attack a variety of systems in a bunny. If it’s the urinary system, she will not really use her litter box as often, she could dribble, and she might drink excessively. EC can have a false negative, so even if she has EC, if she isn’t in one of the top tiers for infection it won’t show up as a positive. If bladder and kidney and EC all come back as negative, it’s still a good idea to have your vet do a standard 28 day course of a bendazole drug just to be on the safe side.

[Author]

Messages