eternal poop war!! help?

[Catniprabbit]

Bumblebee is a 3.5 month unspayed female bun.

AND. I. CANNOT. LITTER. TRAIN. HER.

History:
We had a bad start. I got her i think at 5 weeks (too young), she didnt have a house (we shared my little bedroom), and she slept in my bed at night. She had a litterpan she used about 1 out of 3 pees, but other then that it was POOP AND PEE EVERYWHERE. I quickly figured out that our situation wasnt working, and she needed her own space, especially once she realized her favorite place to pee was on a certain corner on top of my bed. So I got her a house (cage), put her litterbox in there, food, water, everything, in a corner of my room she liked, and locked her in at night, and during the day would give her run of my little room, blocking off my bed. She established her house as her own space pretty quickly, and while inside would pee in her litterbox, and would poop only sometimes, all other times, it was all over the rest of her house. While not in her cage, she would run around pooping everywhere, and never going in her house to even pee. So I got more litterboxes, and put them in her 2 favorite places to pee in my room, which worked for the most part, but she still pooped EVERYWHERE in my room. Plus I started letting her our of my room, and though she was good for a little, she started pooping & peeing in the kitchen (next to my room), and upstairs in one of my housemate’s room. She does NOT poop in the piano room, or living room (which are both much more accessible then my housemates bedroom, and loved just as much), the hall, or my other 2 housemate’s bedrooms. It got to be way too much, so I blocked her back in my room.

Currently:
For the last 2 weeks she only had access to my room. She has 1 litterbox in her house, and 2 outside her house. She is usually only locked in her house at night, and has full run of my room during the day (minus my bed). She usually only pees in her litterboxes, but sometimes right next to them. I think this happens when shes stressed or mad. I’m not concerned about this because we’re able to correct it pretty quickly. She poops however, EVERYWHERE. The only time she poops in her litterbox is when she just happens to be in there anyway. This goes for her house, and my whole room. I sweep my room 3+ times a day of her poops. I keep the litterboxes clean, but not too clean. But nothing is getting better. 

The only thing I can think of is that shes territorial with the cat, though she used to like him, but her poop habits have always been the same. And though I can tell shes much more preteen then she is baby, she still definetly isnt sexually mature yet, so I dont think its a hormone thing. 

HELP!!?!!

[Deleted User]

Your rabbit has too much space at her disposal. I recommend you build her a pen and diligently clean up after her with vinegar and place all droppings she leaves scattered into alarge litterbox lined with hay. Some rabbits don’t littertrain completely until they are altered (spayed in your case) but with the space reduction you should see an improvement over time. Especially since she is going to enter her adolescent stage soon, the bunny-gone-nutty phase, you will prevent many problems if you get her accustomed to pen-living. You could still let her have supervised exercise times but she really should not have the run of your place at this time.

[Sarita]

Actually, I do think it’s partly her hormones at this age, usually 4 to 6 months so she’s very close.

I think you need to start all over again too – you always start small – once she always uses the litter box in her cage then you can let her out but only to a portion of the room. She has way too much space now.

I imagine that it is partly territorial with the cat as well and that will eventually be less of a problem once she is spayed.

[Catniprabbit]

But she doesnt have much room. She is only confined to about half my room, which really is tiny, and I do clean up after her constantly, and dump her droppings in a litterbox with hay. And its not a phase. As long as I’ve had her, shes been poopin like this. Plus with the space thing, she poops everywhere in her house too, so why would housing her all the time help?

[Sarita]

You need to give her less space and start all over. It’s not unusual for babies to have a harder time to learn to use their litter box.

How big is her litter box – what type of litter are you using?

[Catniprabbit]

Oops, too many posts too quickly

How to I help her to learn to use the litterbox in her house? She doesnt as of now, and most of what I’ve read says to let her just do her own thing in her house, since thats her space, and not to clean up too much after her there, which would be the only way I could think of for her to learn

[Catniprabbit]

litter box is about 8″12″, I use yesterdays news litter, with some hay. She loves her litterboxes, she just doesnt like to poop too much in them

[Sarita]

No, you need to be persistent and clean up after her – if you catch her not using the box while in the act you need to put her in her box.

Clean up the poops and stick them in the box, clean up the urine with vinegar. What you are teaching her now is that it is okay to use the whole space.

How large is the litter box and what type of litter are you using?

[Sarita]

I would try a larger litter box too.

When you say she loves the litterbox, what does she do in it? Just lay?

[Deleted User]

Posted By Catniprabbit on 06/02/2010 01:19 PM
And its not a phase. As long as I’ve had her, shes been poopin like this. Plus with the space thing, she poops everywhere in her house too, so why would housing her all the time help?

 

because it is a phase. She is only a young bunny, you have had for 2 months, or so, and she is still developing. She never had a sense of a litter spot to begin with as she was allowed all over. Young bunnies can be messy but with time and persistence and the right habitat setup you can get it under control. The biggest improvement you will notice after her spay but it is important to instill a sense of a spot in her now.  Most certainly she will be marking against the cat, too, is the cat allowed in her space?

With littertraining you have to modify all the things that can impact a rabbit’s behavior, and one of these is housing. It is in the combination of these things that bring about the success. For example, if the cat has access to the rabbit’s habitat, she will continue to litter everywhere. You have to get the size of habitat right, keep other pets out of her area, and plan for her spay.

[Catniprabbit]

She loves jumping in and out of them, in a very silly fashion. she also likes to push around the litter with a nose sometimes. Other times she like to sit in them. The litterbox size seems like a good size for her, since shes so small, shes about 1/3 of the size of the box.

I as quickly as possible clean up the poops in my room, and put them in her box. I should do this in her house too? Whenever shes out, and I see her peeing I stick her in her litterbox asap, but its impossible to catch her pooping, because she does it as she runs, jumps, sits, lays, eats, everything. Inside her house, I have no idea how to get her to poop in her box.

Thanks for the vinegar suggestion, though I dont know how to utilize it. Should I cover my entire room, and her entire house with vinegar, except her litterboxes?

[Sarita]

You need to keep her confined to a smaller space until she learns to use the litter box – you are giving her too much room right now.

Definitely clean her cage as she dirties it – you are just teaching her it’s okay to poop and pee everywhere. What kind of housing does she have?

You just use the vinegar for cleaning.

[Deleted User]

use vinegar everywhere but the litterbox for now. The pooping-as-she-is-hopping is a tough time. It IS a phase. It will get better after her spay. In the meantime, keep all areas picked up after. At least she should clue in to pee in that box that she treats like a toy by the sounds of it.

[Catniprabbit]

I dont let the cat in very much, but he gets SO jealous of this “silly cat with weird ears”, plus it has always been his opinion that my room has the best windows to look out of in the house, even before the rabbit, so I let him in sometimes. I guess that means I shouldnt from now on? I didnt think it was bothering her too much, but maybe it is. I suppose Ill stop with that then.

Im concerned about using vinegar in her house to clean with, wont that just make her stressed because it wont smell like her anymore? Outside of her house, definetly would good for vinegar though.

Ugh, spaying cost so money. I thought I could do with waiting a little while longer. I guess not.

Thanks so much for input so far. Whew, this baby is hard work.

[4Lily]

LOL! I know it’s not funny, but reminds me of my Buttercup (BINKY FREE FOREVER)! That’s exactly how he was! I used to call him my little poo machine, or the poo dispenser (instead of pezz dispenser) it was like every hop, he’d poo! Even after he was fixed! I really wish I new about this site & forum then! I thaught at the time it was because he was in a wire bottom cage til we got him, he was 4-5months old, & he was used to pooing wherever. Then we got him neutered, no change! After 2 months, we had to move him into the basement because it wasn’t fair for him to be locked up all of the time in a cage. While in the basement, he had his cage & a covered litter box available for him! Once I started training him, he used those! Everytime he started to dig, I told him no & to go to his box, I’d pick him up & put him in his box! I’d pick up each poo & put it in his box! When he used his box`s I`d praise him & sometimes give him a treat! He did get better! It took alot of time & patience! He`d even attack the broom or our fingers for touching his poo`s! We had him outside in a barn during the day, & let him inside at night. Didn`t get a chance to fully train him, because some dogs got him! I think some bunns are just harder to train than others!

[4Lily]

BTW about buttercup, it wasn`t myself who put him outside, as he wasn`t really my bunny! I just wanted to let you know!

[4Lily]

& when you pick up the poo, show her & say poo, then put it in the box, say box! She will learn to know what that means! Eventually when you say poo in your box, she`ll go to the box! Just be patient & work with her everyday!

[4Lily]

Posted By Catniprabbit on 06/02/2010 01:56 PM
I dont let the cat in very much, but he gets SO jealous of this “silly cat with weird ears”, plus it has always been his opinion that my room has the best windows to look out of in the house, even before the rabbit, so I let him in sometimes. I guess that means I shouldnt from now on? I didnt think it was bothering her too much, but maybe it is. I suppose Ill stop with that then.

Im concerned about using vinegar in her house to clean with, wont that just make her stressed because it wont smell like her anymore? Outside of her house, definetly would good for vinegar though.

Ugh, spaying cost so money. I thought I could do with waiting a little while longer. I guess not.

Thanks so much for input so far. Whew, this baby is hard work.

 

Hard work it is, but so worth it!

[Andi]

I agree with all the other posts, smaller space, and cleaning up pee/poo right away and with vinegar is going to help you.
I feel once you get them to understand to pee in the litter box, i find pooping there sorta comes naturally for most (not all but most). Don’t feel bad about the smaller space and her being confinde there, it’s only for a little while while she learns her litter habbits. Another trick is to keep her out of cage play time to shorts times at first. So she doesn’t get time to pee/poo in the free run area. It’s work, but will pay off in the end

[Catniprabbit]

Thanks for all the responses.

I was wondering how vinegar works? Do rabbits just dislike the smell in general and try to avoid places that smell like vinegar? Or does it just make them not want to pee/poop there for some reason?

[Balefulregards]

I think the vinegar makes the space “scent neutral”, so they don’t have an immediate instinct to re-mark already marked territory. I use it for everything as it is a great bio-degradable cleaner. I also soak my litter pans with vinegar and baking soda once a week to give them a deep clean. I find that the combo keeps the urine from scaling on the plastic. When I wash the throw rugs for their space, I use Vinegar and a bio-degrad mild detergent.

Now Coco ( my female) does not like a super clean box. She will protest if the box is too clean OR too dirty — by peeing in front of it. She is also one of those rabbits who gets all funky about what type of litter they use so I try to keep it as stable as possible with the Yesterday’s news.

Even though your girl is small, a Big litterbox is a good Idea. Coco is a Dutch, and a little one at that, but I find she uses the WHOLE LARGE CAT litterbox I have for her and jackson. She had one of those corner ones and while she fit into it just fine, she seems to like having more room to maneuver. Plus, it is a bigger “target” for her to hit, so to speak.

90% of this is going to be YOU being really consistent and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. It does feel like it is Constant. I recall feeling like I could cry when I would wake up (during bonding) and the whole room looked like a Poo Battle (Mine are free roam). Once the bond was stable, I had to cage them at night for a couple of weeks while they “remembered” they couldn’t pee and poo all over the room.

Even Now, Coco is good about 90% of the time, but if she is upset or angry or protesting a change ( or too many houseguests) she will pointedly PEE in front of me.

[Author]

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