Share stories? Bunnies who don’t use litterbox.

[bunnnnnnie!]

I’m posting this in the lounge because I really am not seeking advice or anything, as I feel I’ve thoroughly exhausted all options at this point.  Zeus is still having occasional accidents outside his litterbox, and at this point I’m not even 100% sure he realizes it’s happening.  My boyfriend spotted him today eating a treat while “leaking” at the same time.  He still pees in his litterbox sometimes, and is still 100% of the time pooping in his litterbox.

I’ve tried 5+ different litterboxes, all different kinds of litters, moved his litterbox, rearranged his cage, etc.  He’s been to the vet, been palpated, x-rayed, stayed at the vet for observation, had a urine sample, upped his joint supplement, even talked to the animal communicator, everything was 100% normal.  So… he’s a happy, healthy bunny – who happens to pee on the floor sometimes.

Has anyone else had a bun who just couldn’t quite get the litterbox thing down, or lost their litterbox habits as they got older?  I’ve been so worried and stressed about it, but I made myself take a step back today and really assess the situation.  He eats, sleeps, flops, plays, destroys things (LOL!), runs around the house, begs for treats, raids the crisper drawer – all the things he loves to do.  I need to just stop worrying, wipe up the occasional puddles, and move on!

[Stickerbunny]

Yep, my two are not 100% on their litter boxes. They go through phases of being 100%, then back to accidents, then 100%, then accidents… though, knock on wood, their current phase of using them is lasting quite a while. What is working this time is FOUR litter boxes, one being the plastic bottom of a cage, all pushed together to make one GIANT litterbox.

[MimzMum]

Sorry to hear Zeus is having some incontinence.
How old is he now bunnnnnnie? Has he had a blood test to evaluate his kidney function? No bladder sludge? He isn’t eating any veg that would cause him to wee more or leave the odd puddles? (I find kale really sets off Mimzy, but he loves it and it aids his digestion so I just deal with it.)

Mimzy is almost 8 now and has had early onset arthritis/spondylosis of his hips since he was 3. And especially after his head tilt he became unable to get in and out of a litterbox, so he now has a corner of the kitchen to roam his xpen in that I replace large towels in each day and he pretty much wees in the corners. No litter, no box, just a flat space to leave his blessings. It’s the best thing for him although I do a lot of laundry.
I find he has a rather messy bum at the best of times, so I take him to his vet about every three months (when he needs a dental anyway) to have his rear end and some of his tummy shaved so he can reach to clean himself/catch his cecals better. It definitely keeps him more comfortable, but there isn’t a lot I can do about his dribbling. If Zeus has trouble with his joints, you might find the occasional bummy shave will do wonders for him.

[Mimzy]

This is my bunnies lately! I was actually going to make a post about it too  They both used to be maybe 95%, occasionally 100% litter box but after bonding them, they seem to think the entire bottom level of their condo is a litter box & occasionally the carpet! They mostly use the litter box but there is always pee right outside the box (I think because they can reach the hay without jumping in the box) & 1 other corner. They’re only 3 & 6yrs old, not sure which one started it

I finally added another litter box in hopes to retrain them but it doesn’t seem to be helping It’s driving me crazy! So I’m in the process of making plans for the perfect bunny litterbox solution but no one else have come up with it yet either so I may be at a loss…

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By MimzMum on 2/12/2015 5:50 PM

Sorry to hear Zeus is having some incontinence.
How old is he now bunnnnnnie? Has he had a blood test to evaluate his kidney function? No bladder sludge? He isn’t eating any veg that would cause him to wee more or leave the odd puddles? (I find kale really sets off Mimzy, but he loves it and it aids his digestion so I just deal with it.)

Mimzy is almost 8 now and has had early onset arthritis/spondylosis of his hips since he was 3. And especially after his head tilt he became unable to get in and out of a litterbox, so he now has a corner of the kitchen to roam his xpen in that I replace large towels in each day and he pretty much wees in the corners. No litter, no box, just a flat space to leave his blessings. It’s the best thing for him although I do a lot of laundry.
I find he has a rather messy bum at the best of times, so I take him to his vet about every three months (when he needs a dental anyway) to have his rear end and some of his tummy shaved so he can reach to clean himself/catch his cecals better. It definitely keeps him more comfortable, but there isn’t a lot I can do about his dribbling. If Zeus has trouble with his joints, you might find the occasional bummy shave will do wonders for him.

Zeus will be turning 7 here in just a few weeks (still deciding what to get him for his birthday!).  Vet didn’t feel it was anything with his kidneys, and confirmed no bladder sludge.  I tried eliminating certain types of greens, adding more greens, giving him less greens – no real difference.  Only thing I’ve noticed is his pee turns orange if I give him too many baby carrots, LOL.

 

He was getting a sanitary shave every 6 months, but then I figured out with my boyfriend’s help I could flip him over and trim up the area under his tail with a pair of bandage scissors (extremely sharp but have this nubby thing on them that makes it pretty much impossible to accidentally knick the skin).  So he does get the area trimmed up every few months, it’s usually not too bad at all though.  I’m lucky on that!

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