Supposed Smell, Reduction Tips?

[AllieBUNderland]

Hi guys! Alice has been doing GREAT since I moved her out of the cage and into my room last month. So many flops, so much licking and purring, and so many naps - even some on my desk shelves, for some reason! She bit me deep when I gave her a treat tho... She was too excited lol!

But anyway, the only thing that supposedly HASN'T been going well is the smells. My father claims it "smells like rabbit pee" in my room, but I'm not sure if my mom, brother, and I are all nose-blind (even tho mom & brother don't spend time in my room) or my dad is biased because he thinks Alice belongs in the cage in the mudroom.

I clean her litter box every day - it's a Dollar Tree dish bin (big enough to turn around and loaf, pic attached LOL) with a thick layer of pine pellets on the bottom and a thicker layer of hay on top. I run my air filter/purifier constantly, about 4 feet from her litter area, mostly on medium but occasionally on low/high as needed. Alice has been properly litter trained for 4 years, with the occasional single poop outside the box here and there (cleaned quickly). I sweep twice daily. I also clean her scent glands as needed, which she has trouble with. The only issues are that airflow is limited at night, because I block my heater vents and door cracks to block out cigarette smoke while we sleep, and it's too cold to open windows at any time of day. It's below freezing most nights.

I'm looking for advice to reduce smells. Here's some ideas I have already:
- I'll be scrubbing the litter box with vinegar and water more often.
- Should I put a box of baking soda by the litter box?
- Does she need a bigger litterbox??
- I CAN'T do Febreeze/smell sprays/plug-ins because they make my chronic sinus issues flare up and will probably bother Alice.

All advice (or do-not's) appreciated because Dad keeps threatening to exile Alice back to the outdoor hutch Two rabbits (one recent) have passed because of stress and/or injury due to the hutch and I'm not sure why he doesn't see that, but that's a post for another time. Send help.

Attached pic: Alice in her litter box the other day LOL. It looks smaller from this POV cause she's in the middle but it could fit two of her in it.

 

[JBun]

There should be very little smell for at least a day or two, with wood pellets for litter and the proper set up. So it means there's something not working, just have to figure out what.

Has your bun been spayed? Anything changed or unusual about her urine (thick and pasty, spots of red, etc)? Any sign of a urine soaked or stained bottom, or dribbling spots of urine? And you're absolutely sure there's no hidden pee spots outside the litter box?

Has your dad always commented on the smell or has it got worse lately and that's why he's saying something now? How deep is the wood pellet layer and does it seem saturated in the spot where she primarily pees when you clean the litter box? Does your bun dig in the litter box at all?

Do you know approximately how much she drinks in a day? What's the rest of her diet like?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We use apple vinegar--better smell than just vinegar--your dad sounds a lot like my mother-in-law.........she'd complain just to be contrary. Complained about my cooking all the time--my friends all have told me I should open a restaurant--2 of whom have restaurants told me my Prime Rib was the best they have ever had. Can't please everyone. Maybe limit the area so it can be spot cleaned better, although I stand by my comment about the ability to please some people.

 

[AllieBUNderland]

There should be very little smell for at least a day or two, with wood pellets for litter and the proper set up. So it means there's something not working, just have to figure out what.

Has your bun been spayed? Anything changed or unusual about her urine (thick and pasty, spots of red, etc)? Any sign of a urine soaked or stained bottom, or dribbling spots of urine? And you're absolutely sure there's no hidden pee spots outside the litter box?

Has your dad always commented on the smell or has it got worse lately and that's why he's saying something now? How deep is the wood pellet layer and does it seem saturated in the spot where she primarily pees when you clean the litter box? Does your bun dig in the litter box at all?

Do you know approximately how much she drinks in a day? What's the rest of her diet like?

Thanks for the reply!
Alice hasn't been spayed as I can't currently afford it, but once I get back to work and pitch into my puppy's spay surgery I'll save up for that. I'm not surprised if this is the main reason she "smells" due to scent marking(?) either in the litterbox or elsewhere.

From what I've seen she's had normal pee lately, a little dark but otherwise normal.

The litterbox occasionally is a bit stained/wet even with the pellets, so I'll try putting more on those areas.

I didn't find any pee spots anywhere when I looked, but I can look again and maybe wash her "bed" (a folded round chair on the floor that she loves lol) in case there's anything there.

He has commented about it for the last 4 (almost 5) years we've had her, as well as my old rabbits Peanut and Domino. He just claims that "rodents stink" or whatever. The reason he says it more now is because she just moved into my room, when previously she was in our mudroom/storage room (idk what to call it) and before that she was outdoors. He isn't happy that she's in my room but Alice is happy and that's all that matters to me. I haven't gotten too much backlash for it just yet. Knock on wood.

The pellet layer is thick enough to cover the bottom, but it occasionally gets saturated/not dry all the way on one side, so again, I'll start putting more. She does dig sometimes out of boredom but not enough to knock anything out, probably stirring up smells though.

She usually drinks about a regular water bottle full every day, so a bit under 2 cups (I fill a plastic bottle in the morning and refill her bowl as needed). She eats unlimited Timothy hay, a quarter cup of oxbow pellets, and the occasional treat, but nothing she hasn't had before.

Sorry for the long reply. It's mostly for my personal reference at this point. From what I gathered this is probably a litter depth & spay issue. I'll add more pine pellets, wash the bed, check items and corners for pee, and try to get as much work as possible to save up for the surgery. Thanks again for your reply

 

[AllieBUNderland]

We use apple vinegar--better smell than just vinegar--your dad sounds a lot like my mother-in-law.........she'd complain just to be contrary. Complained about my cooking all the time--my friends all have told me I should open a restaurant--2 of whom have restaurants told me my Prime Rib was the best they have ever had. Can't please everyone. Maybe limit the area so it can be spot cleaned better, although I stand by my comment about the ability to please some people.

Yeah, he tends to do that lol. It's always something with him. I won't get into it though because I could go on forever, lol. I'm sure the prime rib is delicious.
I'll try the apple cider vinegar! Her area is like my whole room so it'd be hard for me to limit that without making a hazard, but her litter/food/bed area is already quite small - it's under my loft bed inside a U-shape of shelves, like 2ft x 4ft about. I may try to block off my closet/storage area though, as in the past she's gone in and peed. It doesn't take too much space away from her and isn't much of a hazard.
Thank you for the reply!

 

[Blue eyes]

Bigger litter box. Much bigger. It will save you work and will be more effective.

With a larger box, it won't need to be cleaned nearly as often and will absorb order much better.

Check out this page for further detail (includes "troubleshooting" tips at the end.

 

[JBun]

Not being spayed doesn't necessarily have to do with increased smell for a girl bun, like it would for an unneutered buck that definitely has a stronger smell. Being unspayed would only matter if it was causing her to urine mark outside the litter box. If she isn't, then being unspayed isn't likely contributing to the smell.

Her diet sounds good. It isn't too high in protein and isn't likely contributing to increased ammonia smell either.

I think your problem is not having a deep enough layer of pellets, if you're only putting a shallow layer to cover the bottom of the tray. I would suggest a 1-1.5 inch layer of pellets. The reason you want a thicker pellet layer, is it helps the pee to drain to the bottom of the pellets, then you have a cleaner layer of pellets and sawdust on the top helping hold in the smell. Then adding a bit of hay on top of that, helps to further trap in the smell.

Having just a thin layer of pellets that's only half inch or less, means there's no drier top layer to trap in the smell. Having a thicker pellet layer also means you don't usually need to clean the litter box as often, usually 2-4 days, depending on the size of the rabbit and how much they drink. 16 oz for your buns size, is on the higher end of normal water consumption. So peeing more may mean cleaning every 2-3 days. Larger litter box like Blue Eyes mentioned, will also likely help.

I just spot clean my rabbits litter box every couple days. She can't dig in it and churn it up. So I can just scoop out the soiled litter in the corner she primarily uses. Then add some new pellets to replace what I removed. Then a full clean every now and then when it needs it. If she could dig and churn it up, it would have to be cleaned more often. If your bun digs, yes that will churn it up and cause it to smell more. There are things you can do to prevent that if you find you need to.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We got a wire enclosure from Petco that was collapsible--actually fold up so it was 8'x8'--Nancy would use it in her classroom, with a plastic tarp and a square piece of carpet on top so no stains on the class floor--we also clean the litter boxes daily so there is no urine smell except in the garbage can.

 

[jeff38002]

this might sound a bit weird, but are you 100% sure he isn't confusing the smell of pine or wet hay with urine? There are many people whose noses confuse the smell of urine with other things. IF this is the case, simply changing the litter box medium might do the trick. It helped with us when we switched to poplar.
BTW - to me anyways, wet hay smells bad just from water and it's very stinky when it gets peed on