Girl peeing everywhere – especially towels – PLEASE HELP

[poopscoop12]

My girl has weak back legs and for the first 2 months I had her, she never peed on towels/fleece.
I use towels and fleece to line the floor as I have timber flooring.
I used to line her room with a kids playmat but if I don’t find the pee fast enough, it will seep through and I want to avoid damaging the flooring obviously. I’ve now removed it since adopting the new boy as he kept knocking over the waterbowl when he was pushing the pens drenching the playmat and gets to the timber (he stopped now).

I just recently switched to using cardboard to line the floor but she started peeing on it past 2 days.. since cardboard takes a while to seep through, her whole bum gets wet, and she makes urine bum prints everywhere she sits.

I’ve been thinking of trying out Carefresh, how long does a 30L bag last? Will this help, it is quite expensive and if it won’t make a difference then I don’t want to waste.

My current litter setup is pine pellets and hay on top. I only have hay near her tray as she started peeing in her toy tunnels when I put hay in there, now even if I don’t put hay in there. I clean it every 3-5 days.
I have 2 litterboxes for both bunnies, both have lower entry points to accomodate her legs, and I even put a litter step on the high sides incase she wants to get in that way. They are both different sizes but HUGE for her, she is a small bun – both buns can fit together, turn and all.
She does use her litterbox but there will be accidents 6+ times a day… Also I find she pees ALOT more than the boy I adopted. I never thought anything of it she was my first bun. He is now picking up her bad habit of pooping everywhere but he does pee in the box thankgod.

They have been bonded for the past 5 days. He is 2 years old and she is 3. Her toilet training has always been all over the place (I’ve had her since March and him since July) so I don’t think it’s because of him. There is no specific area she pees on more, if there is a towel or fleece in her room, she will pee on it. If there is not, she will just pee anywhere randomly.
I don’t mind the pooping everywhere but the peeing is doing my head in! Also don’t want her to get urine scalding.
I do spot clean with water/vinegar but that doesn’t seem to work, I’ve tried putting the tissue in the box but she will eat it. She loves eating cardboard and tissues.

 

PLEASE HELP!

[Wick & Fable]

I’m curious about how bonding proceeded between the two of them. Depending on how large their space is, they may actually still be going through a territory pee/poop war, which would explain why both of them are having more accidents than usual. I don’t think there’s really a logical reason to believe rabbits can adopt other’s “bad habits”, so I’m trying to think what else may be coming into play.

EDIT: Ah, just revisited your bonding thread: https://binkybunny.com/forums/reply/1932677/   … it is possible that they are still sorting stuff out, even if there is no fighting.

Having weak hind legs means she is a rabbit who is special needs, especially if it is very easy for her to get her bottom wet and potentially get urine scalding. Owners with rabbits of special needs may need to adapt and create a more specialized environment in that case. Have you considered putting additional litter boxes around? I know you mention she doesn’t go in particular places, but it may be more tempting if there is simply a shorter distance to a litter box. I have 4 litter boxes around the free-roam area of my home for my rabbits. It’s not the most appealing, but it helped since one is not very good with peeing in the litterbox 100% of the time.

Beyond environmental changes, it is also good just to access if the increase in accidents may be caused by an underlying medical issue. Urinary tract infections, perhaps something with her hind legs may be influencing her control of her back end… have you consulted and had her assessed by a vet recently?

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.

[poopscoop12]

I probably should’ve put this in the behavioural thread.
She doesn’t have accidents in the common area, just in her room where they spend most of their time. They have a whole small bedroom to themselves. I usually have a towel underneath the trays or fleece just to catch accidents incase the bum is hanging out, but she will just pee on the towel.

I did put 3 trays down yesterday, 1 where she was peed once and near their bed. She didn’t use it and just peed on the towels.
Oh she’s definitely picked up his bad habits, she runs upstairs and eats houseplants now.. that was all learnt from him and I’ve read about rabbits losing their litter training when bonded with one that goes everywhere.

Say if it is because of him, how long until the poop/pee war stop? she always had accidents prior though.

[Wick & Fable]

I went ahead and moved your topic to Behavior!

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.

[pinkiemarie]

Honestly because you just bonded them, I’m inclined to think this is most likely territorial marking and will hopefully stop once they finish working out dominance.

[DanaNM]

Agree with Wick that it would be good to get a vet’s opinion to make sure there isn’t something else going on.

You might need to put down something that is less enticing to pee on, will still protect the flooring and will absorb the pee so she doesn’t get scalded. Maybe you could do some puppy pee pads under fleece blankets? I think Wick has actually user diaper changing table mats, which are very thick and absorbent but not as soft and fluffy as towels. She also might need some more accessible litter trays with lower sides. Some people with disabled buns use potting trays for gardening. Maybe even a large lunch tray, just so it is easier for her to hop in?

It would probably be good to restrict their space for now to see if you can get her habits on track. You could confine them to a pen in a room (lined with pee pads) to see if that helps, and then slowly increase the amount of space.

. . . 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.  

[poopscoop12]

Vet appointment was today, they did blood/urine test to see if she has kidney disease ☹️. Apparently she’s lost weight since the last visit and her peeing and not eating her cecotropes were abit of a worry. Her legs gone worst too.

 

when I first got her she was very boney so I’m quite surprised they said she’s lost even more weight. I hope it was just the stress of new bun that made her drop a little.

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