can certain veggies make litter box smell bad?

[Ruffles&Daisy]

Ruffles never has a smell.  He’s a very clean rabbit, but lately I noticed a strong oder from his cage.  I have a rug in there, I cleaned it in the washer, cleaned his box, but it still smells bad.  He is very spoiled, he gets 2 big salads a day, but I’m wondering if there are certain foods that make urine smell bad.  I can’t find any info on the web.  He particulary like parsley so I give it to him twice a day, could that make his pee smell bad?  Also, is there something that you can put in his water that brings down the odor?  I thought there was but not sure.  I don’t want his cage to smell bad especially since we keep it in the main living area of the house. 

Another question, I clean his box often, every other day, but I feel like I go through so much litter (yesterdays news).  How much litter do you put in your boxes?  Enough just to cover the ground?  A couple of inches?  I pile it up along the part of the box he uses and then I put hay in the other side.  I still feel like I go through it too quickly.

 

[Beka27]

i think i’ve heard that cilantro can make urine smell. not sure what else… is he neutered, and if so… how long has he been?

for litter i put no more than one inch in the bottom. if you’re dumping it every day or every other you should be able to use less. do you happen to live near any farm supplies stores… they have horse stall bedding which will work for bunnies, you cna usually get a huge 40 pound bag for 6-8 bucks. even if it’s a bit away, it’s worth the drive. buy 3-4 bags and you’ll be good for months.

or if you like the YNews, can you use the cat version?  it’s the same thing but a little bit less.

[bunnytowne]

yes I have heard that happens with the smell

[MooBunnay]

What do his poops look like? Are threy round and firm or are they soft? If they are soft that means that Ruffles may be eating too many veggies and not enough hay. Have you noticed if he eats a lot of hay? If he gets two huge salads a day try cutting down the amount and see if that helps the situation. Since bunnies usually like their veggies better than their hay, Ruffles may be passing up his hay for veggies which could be hurting his digestive system and causing the smelly odor.

[Ruffles&Daisy]

Thanks for that. It makes sense. I do notice that he doesn’t eat as much hay as I thought he should, but his poops are solid and round. I ‘m going to cut down the veggies and encourage eating hay and see if that helps. Thanks a bunch.

[osprey]

I have found that some of the more fragrant herbs like sage and basil can cause extra smelly poops. A bunny that is marking its territory can also produce much “skunkier” poops that have a stronger odor.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Totally makes sense to me, just haven’t narrowed down which ones cause smell. But I’d agree I’m sure that some veggies will cause different smells-they cause different colored pee too!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Kale and cabbage will contribute to the “skunk” factor too.

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