Post-neuter litter habits

[whiskylollipop]

It's been 4 weeks since my boys got neutered, and while they no longer spray and quite happily do all their peeing in the litterbox, they still leave massive amounts of territorial poo all over the house! Picking the poos up and pointedly placing them in the litterbox does not seem to encourage them to poo there more. I would be fine with cleaning up 10-20 stray poos here and there, but they leave hundreds all over the carpet, just like before they were neutered. Will they ever learn?

Also, like any bleeding-heart pet owner, I'd really like to have cuddle time with my bunnies on the bed. But I'm deathly afraid of them peeing on it. Boyfriend isn't too keen on dealing with little poo pellets under the blankets either. I was hoping that neutering them would give them meticulous litterbox habits so we could do this, but I guess I was being a little naive. Merlin will hop into my lap to be hand fed like the snotty little prince he is, way too good to eat off the floor like some sort of animal, and then proceed to leave a nice big pile of poo on me when he hops off.

Have you guys ever successfully trained your buns not to eliminate on you/your beds?

 

[JBun]

It could be they still need more time. It took closer to 6-8 weeks before some of my boys were fully rid of the hormones. It could also be that your boys have learned bad habits, and they may also have to much space to really perfect their litter habits. Are they free range or do they have a cage they are shut in at night, or have as a home base?

 

[whiskylollipop]

You may be right about them having too much space. They do have a big dog cage, but they spend 5-8 hours a day with free run of the living room. It's not that big, but we don't have a pen for that slowly-giving-them-more-space litterbox training method. So they just run around the living room when we let them out, merrily pooping everywhere. But they know to pee in the litterox, so why wouldn't they poop there too? Unless they simply have no concept that poop is in the same category as pee (maybe it's just like breathing to them), in which case I have no idea how to teach them that poo should only be done in the litterbox.

 

[JBun]

I think you may just have to wait a few more weeks to see if it just needs the last of the hormones to fade away. After that if it continues, you may have to do something to limit their space for a while, to help them learn better litter habits. When they are shut in their cage, do they poop in their litter box better?

 

[Azerane]

It may also help to give the carpet in your living room a thorough clean to try and eliminate the smell of all their poops there too.

 

[whiskylollipop]

JBun, no they poop everywhere. It seems to be a bit better in their cage, they do poop lots in the box, but that's probably because they spend so much time hanging out in it. They love lying in there, between the two of them they fill up the litterbox nicely, so it's not so much a poop box as a bunny double bed. Still, I always have to clear up a handful of poos from around the rest of the cage daily.

Azerane, we have been trying that today to be honest! We use Vanish carpet cleaner. Is it really necessary to get one of those fancy enzyme odor removers?

 

[Chrisdoc]

I know what you mean. I have three and although they always pee in the box, they do leave stray poops when they´re out and in their cage. I´ve tried everything but haven´t manage to stop them doing it yet. Just something I`m learning to live with.