Litter Trained Bunny Peeing In Certain Corners

[BunnyChan]

Hi everyone!

I am new to the forums here. I don’t believe there was another topic like this (that I could find) that really answered the question I have.

So we have a approximately 2 year old female dutch/dwarf mix bunny (Dakota) who is I like to say perfectly litter trained.

However, for a while now (months) she has decided that she likes to pee in certain corners of our apartment. Particularly by the laundry room sliding door. Just behind that sliding door is her pellet bin. I have her litter box directly in front of the sliding door on the side that is not in the way of us entering the room, which is fine, she uses it. But she also pees right beside the litter box on the floor as well on the side where we enter into the room. I’m not sure why she insists on doing that, could it be because she knows her pellets are in there (or is not allowed in there in general) so she is just being naughty/trying to mark her territory forever? Lmao.

Another spot she pees in sometimes is by our ‘front’ door which leads out to a small hallway. This small hallway is open to the upstairs where the rest of my family lives and so their cats sometimes will walk in the hallway and sit by our door. She will pee in the corners by that door as well. Again, I’m thinking it might be because she can smell the cats?

Any advice is appreciated! She has been doing this for months and it is getting tiring to have to spot clean multiple times per day, haha. She acts perfectly normal otherwise and we use Yesterday’s News littler.

[Wick & Fable]

Welcome to BB Bunnychan! In terms of posting duplicate-topic posts, that’s completely fine, and actually encouraged! There’s always new experiences and knowledge on rabbit care, so we love seeing new topics crop up so active members can talk about their experiences, even if it is repeating information from an already-made topic.

First, it’d be good to know if your rabbit is spayed (which I highly recommend for female rabbits due to the astronomical chances of developing uterine cancer), and if so, how long ago. Spaying prevents not only cancer, but the territorial urge to mark — while it doesn’t rid of all of it, generally people are much more successful in litter-box training when their rabbit is spayed. If your rabbit is spayed and it was recent, there is a post-spay hormonal surge that occurs which temporarily ramps-up hormonal behavior (go figure), so it could be a “phase” she’s going through due to a recent spay.

You did a great job in putting a litter box there where she’s indicated “she likes to go”. You have some correct assumptions, in that those areas being places where she wants to go (e.g. where her pellets are) or a place where others go and she can’t claim (e.g. the door to where other family go; not cat-exclusive it sounds like), may be places she’s marking to express those intentions. It could also be that she’s simply decided that those places are also “litter boxes”, just on her own accord. My Wick has made that decision by one of my closet doors, so I tend to keep an eye out to dissuade him from doing so and thankfully its lessened in frequency (I hiss at him and move him into a litterbox when I see his butt arch).

One thing I’ve found is rabbits can be… lazy…. sometimes the act of needing to jump into a litterbox to pee is just. too. taxing, thus, peeing beside the litter box is “just as OK” — or that’s how I’ve read it. Wick’s litterbox adherence went up when I removed the high wall I put previously to prevent him peeing over the edge. Now they’re all off and although now he pees over the edge all the time, he’s going into his box every time to pee, so it’s more “contained” generally. Is there a way to make those litterboxes “easier” to go into, if they’re high walled?

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.

[BunnyChan]

Posted By Wick on 12/18/2018 12:43 PM

Welcome to BB Bunnychan! In terms of posting duplicate-topic posts, that’s completely fine, and actually encouraged! There’s always new experiences and knowledge on rabbit care, so we love seeing new topics crop up so active members can talk about their experiences, even if it is repeating information from an already-made topic.

First, it’d be good to know if your rabbit is spayed (which I highly recommend for female rabbits due to the astronomical chances of developing uterine cancer), and if so, how long ago. Spaying prevents not only cancer, but the territorial urge to mark — while it doesn’t rid of all of it, generally people are much more successful in litter-box training when their rabbit is spayed. If your rabbit is spayed and it was recent, there is a post-spay hormonal surge that occurs which temporarily ramps-up hormonal behavior (go figure), so it could be a “phase” she’s going through due to a recent spay.

You did a great job in putting a litter box there where she’s indicated “she likes to go”. You have some correct assumptions, in that those areas being places where she wants to go (e.g. where her pellets are) or a place where others go and she can’t claim (e.g. the door to where other family go; not cat-exclusive it sounds like), may be places she’s marking to express those intentions. It could also be that she’s simply decided that those places are also “litter boxes”, just on her own accord. My Wick has made that decision by one of my closet doors, so I tend to keep an eye out to dissuade him from doing so and thankfully its lessened in frequency (I hiss at him and move him into a litterbox when I see his butt arch).

One thing I’ve found is rabbits can be… lazy…. sometimes the act of needing to jump into a litterbox to pee is just. too. taxing, thus, peeing beside the litter box is “just as OK” — or that’s how I’ve read it. Wick’s litterbox adherence went up when I removed the high wall I put previously to prevent him peeing over the edge. Now they’re all off and although now he pees over the edge all the time, he’s going into his box every time to pee, so it’s more “contained” generally. Is there a way to make those litterboxes “easier” to go into, if they’re high walled?

Thank you for your response! I will keep the topic thing in mind then, haha.

Oh yes, I didn’t even think about that. Yes she is spayed and was spayed… In September 2017. I was terrified but knew it would be for her benefit.

I do have a high walled litterbox, with higher walls around the sides and front, and then she can hop in from the back of it. I’ve never thought about taking the wall off to see if it might help… (I put them there because she likes to dig her hay around and swoosh it out entirely onto the floor ) Maybe I will give that a shot though and see what happens!

[Author]

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