Peeing out of Litter tray!

Gnoccibun · Feb 10, 2016

Hi All,

My bun has been perfectly litter trained for over 6 weeks now (has had a total of about 5 accidents out of litter box since being trained). However yesterday I came home and found a big puddle (definitely not just one wee) just outside the litter tray. I had run out of wood pellets so I thought maybe it was just a once off because her litter tray smelled different. When I looked in the tray, the puppy pad was also soiled. So she had been using her litter tray but then also just peeing outside it. Then no problems over night and a very wet litter tray this morning. I changed it again this morning, after buying more wood pellets, and about 10 minutes later I found another pee puddle outside of the tray! I'm not sure whether it was because I had reintroduced the pellets after being without for about 48 hours, or whether it's something else. When I first started using pellets there was no issues and she used her litter tray as if nothing has changed. So why is she reacting to them now? I should also mention that she has just hit the 4 month mark but I'm not sure that's the reason because I'm not finding pee anywhere else but next to the litter tray. Litter tray has remained in the same spot, but have moved food and water out of the tray as she no longer fits with them in the tray. What do you guys think? Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Azerane · Feb 11, 2016

It's possible that she may be too big for her tray. When Bandit outgrew his tray he was in his tray, but his butt would hang over the edge when he peed sometimes. He still fit in his tray quite easily, but bunnies seem to like a bit of space around them in their tray. My first suggestion in that regard is to get a bigger tray, once I upgraded Bandit to a larger tray he never had another pee accident ever. Otherwise, maybe she's just getting lazy

I think you're right that it doesn't really sound like a bunn losing litter habits due to hormones because it is only right next to the tray.

Gnoccibun · Feb 11, 2016

Azerane said:
It's possible that she may be too big for her tray. When Bandit outgrew his tray he was in his tray, but his butt would hang over the edge when he peed sometimes. He still fit in his tray quite easily, but bunnies seem to like a bit of space around them in their tray. My first suggestion in that regard is to get a bigger tray, once I upgraded Bandit to a larger tray he never had another pee accident ever. Otherwise, maybe she's just getting lazy I think you're right that it doesn't really sound like a bunn losing litter habits due to hormones because it is only right next to the tray.

I've very recently upgraded her tray to fit her but I don't think that's the problem because she doesn't even jump in. It's not as if she's in and thinks she's doing it in her tray, she just doesn't even hop in and pees right next to it. Maybe she is being lazy! I've tried moving the litter tray on top of the area where she keeps peeing and that has worked so far. How can I stop her from being lazy?

Aki · Feb 12, 2016

You can't stop a bun from being lazy ^^. If it's not the case already, make it so that she has to be inside the litter box to eat her hay, that should help. If the "butt hanging out of the box" had been ruled out (one of my rabbits used to do that, he just HAD to put himself against the corner of the box to do his business and, as he was a pretty big rabbit, urine went outside of the box about half the time even though the box was more than large enough to accommodate him), it could be the hormones, if your rabbit isn't spayed. What color is the urine when she pees outside the box? If it's slightly orange or redish, it's marking urine and she just randomly decided to claim the new area as her own for whatever reason.

Gnoccibun · Feb 12, 2016

It's definitely got more colour to it than her pees inside the litter box. She's only 4 months old so maybe it is the hormones starting. She never does it anywhere else only next to the litter tray which is the part I find odd. I've taken out the wood pellets to see if they were the reason. Might also have to buy an even bigger litter tray even though she's already got a pretty big one.

flemishwhite · Feb 14, 2016

I think the general consensus is that out-of-litter box peeing incidents decrease when the bunnies are neutered.

My suggestion is that you need to proliferate litter boxes. If the rabbit is peeing in one place for whatever reason, place a litter box there. With our previous rabbit, Bunny, we initially had three litter boxes, including one on top of the couch. Gradually, we reduced the number of litter boxes down to one. Similarly for our now two 5 month old Flemmish babies we now have three litter boxes.

Even though our Flemmish babies are putting copious amounts of urine in their litter boxes, they still appear to be marking. With leather furniture and hardwood floors it's not that much of a problem, but a big nuisance. Based on what we experienced with our previous bunny, we're hoping their out of litter box marking will cease.