Bunny unlitter trained herself?

[celineki]

My bunny is 5 yrs old now, holland lop.. she used to be very good in her litter habits.. peeing in her litter pan, and pooing (80%) in the pan as well.

but 1 month ago, she started to pee and poo right in front of the litter pan, not on the litter pan.. she seems to not even want to go on top of the pan anymore. her pee is 100% in front of her litter pan - so she is still litter trained, just not where it's supposed to go.. hwell:

I have tried to shift the litterpan infront to where she now goes, but she pee right in front of it again.. i even tried pouring white vinegar on that area to throw her off.. put hays on the pan.. all don't work.

Any ideas on how to train her to do her business on her pan again? She is getting really dirty and smelly by peeing/pooping on the mat now as she sits on it.. i have lined the mat with alot of newspaper underneath just so it dun soaked. I changed the papers every 2 days (all soaked thru!), wash the mat once/twice a week depending on how bad it is and vacuum the whole area twice a day.

I am also trying to find a larger pee tray but still unable to find it.. i got many various types of trays but cant find a suitable mesh to put it in h34r2

Any help is greatly appreciated!

This is how the litterpan looks like:

 

[JBun]

You may want to have your rabbit checked out by your vet. Sudden loss of litter habits can occur because of certain health problems affecting the urinary tract. Things like a UTI, bladder sludge, kidney problems, e. cuniculi, and arthritis.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

If it isn't a health problem, sometimes disruptions in a rabbits life or changes to it's environment can also cause a rabbits litter habits to change, but often the litter habits will return to normal after things in the rabbits life have returned to normal.

 

[celineki]

Thanks JBun for your reply!

My rabbit have just went to the vet 3 times in the last 2 months for her snuffles... they didnt find anything wrong with her during the checks 3 times, and the vet did cleared her of the snuffles, but she is still sneezing a few times a day, though no sneezing fits. meds have stopped about 3 weeks ago.

Everything is the same, even the food and the hay is the same. i am not sure what's causing the litter changes. Still eating normally and as choosy as ever. She does not like hay though, might need to go for dental filing soon as suggested by the vet. The only new thing i can think of is the newspaper under the mat, but i only put that after she starts to pee at that area.

 

[JBun]

The only way you would know if it was a urinary issue, is if the vet did the proper tests, such as a urine test, or in some cases a blood test needs to be done, and maybe xrays, depending on what the suspected issue might be.

Not saying it is a health problem, but if you have ruled everything else out, it very well could be. I wouldn't think that after a rabbit has been litter trained for so long, that it would just stop doing it without some good reason causing it to happen. Have you tried taking the grate out of the litter box and just using litter with a layer of hay over it. Have you checked your rabbits feet for sores? Maybe stepping on the grate is hurting your rabbits feet.

 

[J.Bosley]

Maybe try putting some hay into the litter pan. That worked with my sisters 12yr old Mini Rex. He started going in the litter pan again

:goodluck

 

[Hopper2013]

you could try putting the hay on the end of the litter pan so she has to go in and eat it, also you could try taking the metal grate off the top of the litter box for a while.

 

[celineki]

Hi All!

Thanks alot for all your replies! I will try taking out the grate today.

I have checked for hock sores too.. she's fine I've found a large litterpan that i can put hay in.. will get that after I am back from an overseas trip. Meanwhile, my dad have to make do with her litter habits for the time being.