Litterbox training issue– specific to cecals!

[CaptJackRabbit]

Hello! So CJ is about 2 years old now, he’s been neutered for well over the year that I’ve had him, and now all the sudden I’ve got a little problem with his litter training.

Over the last few months there have been some cecal issues in the cage. I don’t mind that– but lately, he’s been eating his cecals *outside* of the cage, on my wood floor, behind my futon! I thought it was just a couple times, but I moved it to clean, and it is officially a pattern. It wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t leave little smears and left overs. (Sounds gross, but his cecals are more mushy than poops, but I think that’s normal.)*

The space under my futon is too large to be covered by litterboxes. I put one under there, though. Otherwise, I’m just trying to keep him out of that spot using perfume. (I spray it before I let him out, then he doesn’t want to be there b/c of the strong smell.)

Any other suggestions? It’s not like poops where you can scoop them up as soon as you see them– b/c he eats them most of the time! (Leaving only some annoying evidence behind.) So I’d have to catch him in the act, and you know they are sneaky about that…

*Diet wise: he’s on 1/4 c pellets, unlimited timothy/orchard hay, 1 c greens, and 1 TB of a treat/day. Nothing has really changed since this began, and I understand this to be a perfectly acceptable diet.

[Sarita]

That does sound like an acceptable diet but perhaps he is overproducing the cecals – can you try slowly decreasing the pellets? Are the pellets alfalfa or timothy based?

[CaptJackRabbit]

Sorry Sarita! Been off for a while. I will try that– it has gotten a little better over time, though. I’ve been using a new bag of hay since it has gotten better, and I’m wondering if it way maybe just that batch of hay or something. Just correlation, not causation, at this point.

It might have also gotten better b/c of schedules– I generally let him out in the AM while I am getting ready, but then let him out for most of the evening. This summer, without school, I was letting him stay out in the AM a lot longer. He wasn’t really coming out at night, just hanging out all morning. So as far as the problem of clean-up, it’s gone back to his cage rather than behind the coach, where he lounged a lot the mornings this summer.

But it is timothy based pellets. I’ll give it a shot! I asked the vet since I posted, and she didn’t see much reason to be concerned if his regular poops were regular. She wasn’t sure what the cause could be. Thanks for answering, though!

[Scarlet_Rose]

I agree that the diet sounds fine. Often too much protein is the cause of an overproduction of cecals. I am glad to hear things seem to be back to normal. What type of veggies do you feed Capt Jack?

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