Litterbox help?

[oregongirl25]

So I recently aquired a new addition, a young polish bunny, Flower. She was sick when I got her, previous person who rescued her from some one else said she had a huge abcess on her face (between her eyes, it popped by her nose, so she has no nose “leather”, it is slowly healing with scar tissue). Anyways she’s on Baytril injections from my vet currently. However I’m trying to litter box train her. She was supposed to be trained before I got her. Haven’t had much luck yet. As of right now I have two litter boxes in the back corners of the cage. She uses them but sometimes she will still go in the other two corners. And obviously poos wherever, I don’t care about that, I just want the pee in a set place so it’s easier to clean. And this morning I caught her going smack in the middle of the cage….  Any tips? I’ve been putting her hay in the litter box to encourage usage. Should I perhaps add yet another litter box?

My plan was once she got the concept of using just the litter boxes not the cage to slowly remove one litter box or two till we were down to one… But is this the wrong way of going about it? I’ve been making sure to leave the soiled stuff in the litter boxes and adding poo to them. 

Also her stench is KILLING me! She has to stay in my room as I’m renting, so there is no option of keeping her in the living room or so forth (and with the smell I really wouldn’t want to). However, if I don’t keep my windows cracked at all times, it’s overwhelming. I opened the door last night and it blew me away. It reminded me of a ferret, which is horrifying haha. As much as I adore animals (I’ve owned cats, dogs, rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hamsters, and so forth) there must be some way to contain this smell. During the summer my roommates will flip out if that smell is leaking from my room (they are very smell sensitive). I’m going to try a bowl of vinager and baking soda left in my room tonight. Along with a piece of charcoal. During the spring, fall, and winter it’s manageable with open windows, but then I’m concerned of drafts too.

For bedding in her litter box I’ve been using carefresh (which I’ve determined sucks haha) and horse stall pellets. I’ve been considering using something called “Crowns Animal Bedding”, it’s similar to Yesterdays News, like a paper pellet? But I pretty much want whatever will make the scent not so overwhelming. I don’t care if it smells over by her cage a bit (like a cats litter box does), but I don’t want the whole scent through out the room and in my clothes etc.

I’ve read that it could be because she is whole and not altered. But will that really make a difference for a female? Like a great difference? It’s gonna cost a couple hundred to alter her with my vet and my vet won’t do it for a few weeks, until she’s completely over her abcess. My vet also doesn’t reccomend spaying, something about not as much data on the actual differences it makes in rabbits regarding cancer prevention and so forth. However, if it will remove this distinct smell I’m all for it!

I was thinking about tackling her scent glands? I can’t tell if this smell is just from the urine or on her…

 

Anyways I know this sounds like a rant, but it’s not haha! I just wanted to get all the info out there! Any tips or advice would be great!

[oregongirl25]

Oh I thought of one more question! Chewing! I need goo chew toy ideas. I made her a chew toy out of some wood chews from the store. Tried some apple sticks. A willow ball. And a willow hidey house I bought. Not one nibble on anything. The vet said her teeth are a bit out of alignment and I need to get her to chew of it’s going cause I ton of issues later…

[LoveChaCha]

Hi there

How old is your bunny? Are you sure she is sexed right? Usually boys will have stinky urine. If your bunny is young, he/she will need to be fixed. Boy bunnies will continue to have stinky pee if left unneutered. It normally isn’t the bunny that is smelly, but the urine. Poops have no smell whatsoever.

A unfixed rabbit will have a harder time taking to litter training,. A bunny will usually go in one corner. Adding another box isn’t a bad idea I love the cat sized box, no top on it.

As for toys, some bunnies like fleece blankets (make sure bunny doesn’t ingest it!), peeled & unpeeled willow baskets and balls (make sure there are no chemicals. Also the bb store sells em!), cardboard boxes (without tape & glue on it). Also cat toys with a bell in it works.

[Sarita]

Yes, being altered will help quite a bit.

Also if she is recovering from an illness she may not still be filling 100% well so you need to take that into consideration.

Most likely the odor is because she is not altered. However, you may want to make sure you are not only cleaning the litter box but all around where she could urinate.

[oregongirl25]

The vet verified she is indeed a she

As for age, I was told six months ish? I honestly have no idea though.

One more question! Best brand of water bottle?

[Sarita]

Six months is a good time.

I don’t like water bottles, but if you are going to use one, I would try the Lixit brand. I use bowls/crocks for my rabbits.

[Monkeybun]

6 months is perfect for spaying.

Uterine cancer is too high risk to not spay.

For the smell, it could be her not being spayed, could also be her glands need cleaning as well. Bunnies have scent glands near their anus that occasionally need to get cleaned. There’s directions how to under Bunny Info at the top of the page

[oregongirl25]

Monkeybun you are located right in the same area as me. What veterinarian do you use?

I will look into getting her spayed asap then.

[LoveChaCha]

Monkeybun has a good vet from what I know

I prefer a water dish myself. Its also very cute hearing them drink water from a dish.

I wish you luck with getting her spayed

[Monkeybun]

http://www.swanimalhospital.net/

Dr. Burgess is awesome, one of the top vets around He teaches the other vets

[jerseygirl]

I asked a bunch of questions in your intro thread but ignore them, you’ve pretty answered them here.
If the smell is urine, they spay should help. And getting her to use her box. Are you using a similar box to what her previous owner had? Do you put bedding/litter only in the box and nowhere else in the cage?
Do you notice the smell when you have her away from her cage? Checked she has been sitting in pee? I’m also wondering if it is not pee smell that it might be her abscess. Apparently they can smell pretty bad.

[meow1]

Maybe I missed it, but how often do you change her litterbox(es)?

I also agree with using a water dish. I actually have a water dish on Sunny’s top (3rd) level of his condo where the litterbox and all the food is, and also a water bottle on the bottom level. He just sometimes likes to use the water bottle for some reason. I can’t tell you about brands of water bottles, but I can tell you about the two different KINDS I’ve tried. The first kind I had and did NOT like was the kind where, if you were to hold the bottle right-side up (with the part they lick in the air), the little ball in there that stops the water would move around. The second kind (the kind I like), if you turn it like described above, the ball doesn’t move around. Only moves when you touch it then it goes back to it’s place at the end of the tube. I don’t know what they are actually called though.

[LoveChaCha]

having a water dish and bottle is good i have to change the water dish more often due to my rabbit putting her hay in her water dish.. lol.

litterboxes typically should be changed every 2-3 days, depending on the bathroom usage. i change my bunny’s box every 3-4 days.

[meow1]

Yeah, I change the water every morning, and I even still have to change it in the evening, depending on if it gets stuff in it or too low, etc. The water bottle, I can get by with changing every few days. I think it’s just fun for him.

I change my litterbox every morning, too, but I don’t use a lot of litter, and I use equine bedding/wood pellets. No smell.

[Beka27]

Smell is very often a concern with unaltered bunnies. I have a male and female bonded pair, both altered, and I can say honestly that they do not smell. And it’s not just MY nose, other people have come into the house and been shocked that there are rabbits in here. The only time there is an odor is if I try to stretch the litterboxes a day longer before cleaning because of my schedule (or lazy.) Urine is stinky when cleaning out the boxes because the smell mixes in the air. Healthy poops have no odor. Wood pellets tend to absorb urine and hide odor better than paper pellets.

Spaying is necessary. If your vet is saying it is not, I would encourage you to have a consult with another vet. Not spaying animals is a very “old-school” way of thinking.

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