Is this normal?

[Lori L]

Sweetie Pie has now been renamed to Toto thanks to my son seeing the Wizard of Oz...

She still does not come out of her cage...EVER on her own but every dayI take her out and she sits on my son's lap while watchingTV. If I dare to let her run around she pees and poopseverywhere.

In her cage she uses her litterbox alot but also likes to poop on hergrass mat. I also found some dried urine on the bottom of thecage and some outside of the cage in the corner. Is it normalfor them to be "considered" litterbox trained and still make otherplaces? I consider my dog wee-wee pad trained and she NEVERmakes anywhere else. But I do realize that dogs and bunnysare different. I just want to know if I can always expectpoops other places than the litterbox. Remember, this bun is5 years old so it's not like she is new to her litterbox.

 

[Bunman]

First question is always: is she spayed? If not this is likely the source of trouble.

Rabbits will ALWAYS poop some outside the box because they mark theirterritory this way. But if they are box-trained they will normally peeonly in the box.

 

[HoneyPot]

I'd say if she is peeing in the litterconsistently, then she's litter trained. The poops are nevertotally under control I find. Misty is spayed and still marksher territory with poop and sometimes pee (although I know she knowsbetter).

___________
Nadia

 

[Bunman]

Lori says that the buns pees everywhere, so itsounds like she's unspayed. (Six is given as the maximum age forspaying due to the greater surgery risk.)

 

[Pipp]

Any bunny in a new place will either be markingterritory and/or just unsure of where shewantstoput her 'bathroom'. What was she used tobefore?A lot of bunnies hate hate hate even littlechanges to their environment, and this was a prettybig one!

Is the area outside the cage on carpet or flooring? It couldjust be something very scaryfor her because of the texture orthe color. I have one rabbit that flat out refused to leavehis room because it meant walking on a painted floor. If Iput newpapers or a piece of carpet down for him, no problem.I'm still not sure if it was the wood or the wine colour.

Best to experiment a little.I have litter boxes allover the place for my free run guys, they've usually pickedwhere they want them by marking that spot. :disgust:

Mostly, it just takes patience. I have a ton of'bunny towels' that cover everything when a new bunny arrives, or whena less-than-perfect box user (although they've all ended up box userseventually -- until another bunny arrives, and then it's back toanother week or two of marking)is running around on thefurniture. It gets us through the trainingprocess. (Of course I'm the one being trained to cater to mybunny's every whim).

Good luck with Toto!

sas et al

 

[Bunman]

OK, i was not clear from the original post thatthe bun was new, especially considering it's age. So new environment&/or not being spayed could be the factors.

 

[Pipp]

Bunman wrote:

(Six is given as the maximum age for spaying dueto the greater surgery risk.)

Off topic, where where did you see six? There's a discussionon EB about that now, somebody thought the max. age wasthree. I expect there will be an ensuing discussionabout it.

Right now, I'd be nervous over three,I wouldn'tdoit at all if she was over four. Both cases, a thorough pre-opvet exam would be in order.

sas

 

[Lori L]

She is spayed

 

[Bunman]

Max age for spaying may be one of those thingsthat vets would differ over. As with various bunny-related issues thereare some differences of opinion & probably much online infoshould be regarded as basis for discussion & also consultationwith the vet, & not necessarily as hard fact. Somethings, like some aspects of diet, may just be variable& depend in part on the individual rabbit, etc. In this case iwas going on a rabbit.org site:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

 

[SOOOSKA]

Hi Lori, I agree with SAS all 4 of our bunniesare litter trained but they do leave poops on the floor attimes.They especially leave them when they areeating hay.

I have 3 litter boxes in one room for Wilbur &Jackie. Two for Daisy Mae, one in her cage and one in thehallway, and for Buttercup he has two in the Family room.They all get changed twice daily (at least) so I do not have a problemwith any odor.

Soooska:apollo:

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Lori-I have a spayed female who is 6 yrsold. She has awesome litterbox habits, and is very clean,grooms constantly, but when I let her out when I had a male, she'd peealmost right next to his cage up against the wall every time.I figure this is marking her territory, and just accept it.Not much you can do about it, especially if you have another rabbit inthe house. Just my experience. Now that I have anew male, the last time I let her out, she had mushy poos, only aroundhis cage, so again, I believe it's just a territory thing and/or she'sexcited. I never noticed her having mushy poos before, butthis time, she was first in the house.

 

[Jace]

I'd rather clean up scattered poos than that smelly urine.

 

[ec]

Nibbles peed on the floor (quite deliberately)today after smelling a neighbor's dog on my pants. She's 99 &9/10th% perfect with her litterbox, and was clearly marking territory.

I don't expect her to be perfect... it's part of what makes her arabbit. So I sopped some up with a paper towel and stuck that in herlitter box, while getting the rest with white vinegar.

My guess (to add to previous comments) is that Toto is still continuingto adjust to her new environment. I seem to remember Lori L saying thatshe'd been adopted, then returned to the shelter - very recently,shortly before Lori L got her. No wonder she feels uncertain!

Great advice re. covering the floors when a new bun arrives, too...

Also, I used several litterboxes when I brought Nibbles home. Now she'sdown to one - but I didn't feel that it would be quite fair to her tohave only one when she was new here. she's the one who let me know thatshe preferred one of them - I watched where she went, and her output,and took it from there. Now two of the litterboxes are fordigging only.

Every bunny is different, but I think it's very important to allow forsome "difficult" behavior during transitions like the one Toto is goingthrough...