If I have to clean up one more puddle…

[TriBun]

I’m sorry, I know this is very long, but it takes quite an explanation. Please bare with me. 

I am at my wits end! I have tried EVERYTHING to litter box train Rosy. She is 10 months old now and has been spayed for almost 2 months. Before her leg surgery she couldn’t jump into a regular litter box so I had to make her boxes. I went through 4 till I finally settled on a completely flat one made from a grassmat, newspaper, and rubber liner.  She peed everywhere in her cage; in the litter box, in the Care Fresh (note: I have to use Care Fresh in her cage because she can’t get any traction on a hard surface), on her bed, even in her food dish. When she’s out of her cage, despite supervison, she manages to leave puddles. I could deal with it if it was just poop, but it’s not, and the poop is a whole different story!

When I find puddles I clean them up with vinegar and put a liter box on top of it. She just pees in front of it. She has 4 litter boxes all of them have hay and treats. She just stretches to eat the food and “unloads” in front of the box.

First, I thought she was just too young. Then I thought it was her leg issues. Then I thought she just needed to be spayed. I’ve addressed these issues one by one and still nothing. I took away the Care Fresh so she didn’t have anything soft to pee in (she now has a textured rubber mat). I’ve tried different kinds of litter, I’ve tried new boxes, more boxes, confinement… I’ve even had her checked for bladder infections. 

Now, she’s taken to peeing in her hay basket . I have to clean out her food dishes morning and night just to keep it sanitary. I can’t take it anymore! I’m a single mom and just trying to get the basics done is hard enough, let alone cleaning pee and poop every hour! Not to mention the $1,200 dollars I’ve spent on her since I got her in April 

Has anyone ever experienced something like this? Have any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?

 

[Sarita]

What type of set up do you have her in? Do you put her hay in her litter box?

Is she able now or still disabled?

[Monkeybun]

When I litter trained Smudge, who had never seen a litter box previously, I just did this: Covered the entire pen floor in litter boxes, so she has nowhere to go BUT litter boxes. Over time I removed them one by one. She kept going in just the litter boxes, as she had gotten used to it It did mean having a smaller area for her for a bit, but it worked out. Better htat than have her confined permanently due to litter habits.

[Monkeybun]

Oh, and maybe try having the hay and food ONLY int he boxes for now. Get her used to eating only in them.

[TriBun]

Posted By Sarita on 09/22/2011 11:01 AM
What type of set up do you have her in? Do you put her hay in her litter box?

Is she able now or still disabled?

She’s in a 3-story NIC condo. She’s got 2 of the large litter boxes on the bottom level so they take up most of the floor except for a spot for her bed (which is covered in pee most days), water bowl, and hay rack (one of the ones from the BB store). There is hay in both litter boxes and I feed her her pellets in her litter box.

She is only disabled to the point that she can’t walk on any smooth surface even a little. The front leg on her missing-foot side has grown perpendicular to her body to compensate and it really acts more like a flipper than a leg, but she can still get around fine. She has some trouble with the textured rubber mat that I have as the bottom of the condo. I would love to put carpet in there for her, but she will just pee all over it.

[peppypoo]

Haha Monkeybun, an entire pen covered with litter boxes – quite the mental image.

TriBun – could you try getting a normal litter box (with high sides), cutting out the front to make an entrance, then putting all the hay and treats in the back? That way, she’ll have to enter the litter box to eat/do her business, and can’t crane her head over the side to snatch a bit of food.

[jerseygirl]

I hope we can help you get her using it more consistantly but….If this is just how it will be for her, then maybe you’ll have to find a permanent set up for her that’s less work for you. ie, using vetbed on the flooring and putting water and feeders up in a hanging position.
Does she manage the condo levels very well? Is it just the bottom floor she soils or all?

Is she on any pain medications? I’m of the mind that peeing can sometimes be a bit of a stress relief so wondering if starting on a low dose pain med would help any. Maybe something to discuss with your vet?
There is a yahoo group for people with disabled rabbits. I encourage you to join if you haven’t. You could search topics for similar problems or just go ahead and put it to people on the list. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/disabledrabbits/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=dir&slk=4

I do understand your frustration. I’m at about year 2 of cleaning up Jerseys pee puddles and poop. She used her litterbox well for the 1st year with me. Now?….*sigh*    I know she knows how to use it too!

[jerseygirl]

A couple more thing I thought while off line:

You mentioned testing for bladder infections but what about sediment in the bladder? If she’s unable to posture correctly, she may not be able to pee out sediment like other rabbits. Though she does seem young to have this problem, her disability could cause a quicker build up then usual.

Also regarding her posture, could there be unusual pressure on her bladder?

The other thing I wanted to ask is if you’ve noticed even of this peeing since you brough Kevin home?

[TriBun]

 Thank you everybody. I at least have a few ideas I can try now.

 

Jerseygirl, those were some great suggestions. I’m looking into vetbed and just joined that disabled group  Also, it’s funny you mentioned pain medication because my vet just suggested that. She’s on a glucosimine supplement for her joints and I have Rimadyl if needed. It’s just hard to tell if she really needs it and I hate to put unnecessary chemicals in her body.

 

Poor thing. She’s a good bunny, it just gets so exhausting sometimes 

[jerseygirl]

What about trying the med for a short time? If no improvements then you might get better idea it’s not related to discomfort.  If it does help, look into one that is best over long term and minimum dose you can give to manage things. It might be a case of on and off again with pain meds.

[TriBun]

Posted By jerseygirl on 09/23/2011 10:48 AM
A couple more thing I thought while off line:

 Also regarding her posture, could there be unusual pressure on her bladder?

The other thing I wanted to ask is if you’ve noticed even of this peeing since you brough Kevin home?

Oh my gosh, I never even thought about her posture . She definitely has posture issues and there is a good chance there is pressure down there. I will have to watch her more closely.

As to the Kevin thing, she was definitely marking her territory for a couple weeks. I was expecting that. Since she’s been spayed that has gone away. She has consistantly had urin problems all through-out though. Maybe it really is a disability problem.

[MayaConsuelo]

Sorry you are having these issues I also have a rabbit with terrible litter habits (although he has no mobility issues.)

I finally gave up and covered the open spaces on the bottom of his cage with old towels. They’re absorbent so it’s easier to change and wash those than constantly clean up puddles. Your rabbit isn’t as old as mine so it is probably a better idea to try other people’s sugggestions of minimizing litter boxes slowly. My bunny was adopted at 1 year old and lived in a smaller cage. He had good litter habits at first and then with increased space the habits actually got worse. Now he has a giant condo and pees all over, including out the side of the cage at times. I’d love him to cuddle in bed with me but if he’s up there for longer than a minute, he pees. I think some rabbits just do that…

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