Peeing under the foodbowl

[Marjery]

Harvey has developed a new habit recently – peeing under the foodbowl. Not sure how he does that as I’ve never caught him in the act but the result is a pee ring around the bowl. He’s been really dilligent with using the litterbox before (not counting the occassional accidents when he hopped in the toilet but didn’t stick his butt far enough). This underneath-the-foodbowl pee gets really annoying as that means cleaning like half the cage (I was using soft fabric bottom). 

I actually tried rearranging the foodbowl and toilet thinking maybe he simply likes a different place to pee now but he just moves everything arround back to where he’s used to having it. Also, the foodbowl is next to the toilet. He didn’t have a problem with having a loo in the toilet while eating from the bowl before. Also, he occassionally poops into his food bowl if it’s empty, but he’s done that ever since we got him. He’s not neutred because he’s still too young for that according to the doctor.

Any ideas why he does it or how to stop it? My solution for now was removing the fabric from that half of the cage so it doesn’t get messed up every single day.

[Cottontail]

That’s a mystery that may never be solved. My Pete used to pee under the litter box, occasionally… as in a puddle under the xl cat litter box and none on the sides or around the edges. For a while I thought maybe there was a hole in the litter tray and actually tested it with water… nope. just talent. It’s a weird bunny thing I have not figured out yet. I just put a plastic mat under the tray that I could wipe clean whenever it happened. Most likely it’s actually pee going down next to it and settling before you find it, but then again… bunny. My boy was neutered, but he was also a bit odd.

I guess my suggestion is to just keep and eye on him whenever you pass by the box to try to catch him (in case he’s hanging his butt out because the box is possibly too small?), but put down a mat (like the place mats with raised lips if you can find one the right size) under the box and bowl to catch any spills or puddles. Unfortunately I don’t have any advice on how to stop it. Generally bathroom habits do improve after spaying/neutering though; so there is a chance that that will be enough as long as the rest of his bathroom habits stay pretty consistent.

[Eepster]

He probably just wants to claim the food bowl as his , really well.

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