Penny is a weirdo. She prefer’s the cat’s litter box to her own…

[SuperCheesetastic]

Why is this?

Once we say penny push open the door to the cat’s room and she went in and I didn’t mind until I heard splattering of litter. I noticed her binkying in and out of the box and pooping in it. I took her out because Penny playing in a used litter box is kinda gross.

The next time Penny did the same thing. She pushed open the door (we never close it completely because the cat has to get in) and I had to chase her around for a while to get her out.

 

She did it again today. This time I just gave up and watched while she sniffed around with a serious face, ran around the box, and pooped in the corners/areas where she sniffed.

Is there a scientiffic explanation for why my bunny specifically likes my cat’s box over hers?

[Monkeybun]

What kind of litter is in it? If it is a clay litter do NOT let her in it.

[Sarita]

I guess she see’s a litter box and uses it. She probably cannot differentiate between the cat’s litter box and her own.

[Sarita]

But that being said, you don’t want her to use the cat litter box for any reason.

[Cheddar33]

Maybe it’s a dominant thing and she’s marking.

[SuperCheesetastic]

Thanks, Cheddar.
I was wondering if girl bunnies did the whole territorial marking thing like dogs do.

I mean, she doesn’t act the same way in her own litter box.

Don’t worry, she didn’t consume any of the litter and was considering to change the cat’s litter to pine or paper, anyway.

[LBJ10]

I think the major concern would be the litter. If it is clay, the dust can cause respiratory problems and I don’t think it’s good for them the eat it either.

As far as the behavior goes, it sounds like it might be a territorial thing. She smells the cat and wants it to smell like bunny. Plus the litter box might be confusing if it looks a lot like her litter box.

[Monkeybun]

Another thing is cat feces contain a lot of nasty bacteria and such. You don’t want your bunny near that at all either.

[RabbitPam]

It’s not good for her to be in the cat’s feces/urine place, so that’s the main reason to keep her out.

That said, for litter safety, I would switch to Feline Pine, which are pellets that are safe for rabbits. You cannot use pine shavings at all – it causes long acting respiratory damage – but the Feline Pine Pellets (Unscented only) are recommended as a cheap option that is safe. Yesterday’s News is also cross breed safe for both animals.

I think you need to try to get her to stop. suggestions here would be welcome, since all I can think of is to give her her own litter pan in there, motivate her to use it instead and put the soiled litter and poos into it from the other one so it takes on her scent. The only kink in that plan is keeping the cat out of the bunny’s litter pan.
It might need to be off limits, like up on a platform that the cat can reach easily but your bunny won’t want to climb. (Mine doesn’t climb, but some bunnies would.)

[Bones]

I would suggest putting the cat’s litterbox out of reach of the rabbit. My cat’s litterbox is on top of my hamster’s cage so the rabbit can’t get to it.

[Sarita]

On top of the hamster cage…that kind of makes me laugh.

[FrankieFlash]

what if you put a baby gate (probably metal- I make mine out of extra nic cube grids) across the doorway of that room? Cats to my knowledge can jump those pretty easily right?

[Cheddar33]

Posted By SuperCheesetastic on 02/01/2012 08:00 PM
Thanks, Cheddar.
I was wondering if girl bunnies did the whole territorial marking thing like dogs do.

Poopy, my girl, is SUPER dominant. She’s top dog and marks everywhere now that Noodle is new in the house.

 

[Author]

Messages