Very Particular Litter Problem

[Hoolia]

Thumpette (~9, Spayed, bonded) has been very challenging to litter train and keep consistent about her litter box usage for a long time now. I've tried so many methods so let me list what I've already tried and the results.

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Spay her​

She's spayed. I know i also just said that, but I also know people don't read so i figured I'd put that in big bold letters so it's harder to miss. She's been spayed since I adopted her in 2021.​

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Put hay in the litter box.​

She goes in to eat and then leaves to pee.​

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Low-sided litter box​

Got one!​

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Soak up pee with a napkin and put it in the litter box.​

This one ssssorta started to work? When she started peeing directly outside of the litter box, I started putting a little fleece blanket down to protect the floor. She started exclusively peeing on that, which brings us to...​

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Get two litter boxes​

I got a second litter box and to encourage her to recognize it as hers, I put the aforementioned pee blanket in it and viola that worked! So every time i cleaned, i started adding a little bit of litter the way you would when changing litter types. Get her used to it and eventually take the pee blanket out entirely! The problem with that is that her mate also started using her litter box and then it wasnt hers anymore so she went back to peeing just outside the litter box.​

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Bring her to the vet​

So we brought her to the vet because her eye ruptured. While we were there, we also had bloodwork done because the vet was concerned about her weight. Her bloodwork came back normal so he just recommended adding greens back to her diet. I also switched pellets while I was at it because after looking into the pellet i was feeding, I saw a lot of people say it works best as a topper but isn't nutritious enough for most rabbits - which made sense because looking back, all my rabbits lost some amount of weight when switched to that brand, I just hadn't thought much of it because they were overweight when I got them or on the verge of senior citizenship by then and I just thought "oh, you're old, you're losing muscle, that's normal." But her mate, Pup, has always been a BRICK HOUSE - the densest bunny you'd ever hold, and he was feeling bony too! So anyway I switched pellets, added greens, we got this nice little routine going where they get salad or something else yummy after every time Thumpette gets her medication and I've found that it really increases their appetite, they're the happiest and friendliest they've ever been. It's been so nice (sorry for the tangent, i just love them so much.)

Restrict her space​

Ok let me tell you about this kennel I have real quick because it's not ideal but it's what I have. I was gifted a soft kennel, you know the ones made out of mesh and tent material? They come with a soft plushy liner? One of those. I had to throw out the liner because that was a pee-soaked-disaster right away. When we started the eye treatment, the bunnies got a bedtime. I lined the kennel with pee pads, put their litter box in, their food and water bowls (because Thumpy had taken to pooping and peeing at the food bowl.. girl please) and started closing them up in there at night. They're let out in the morning when Thumpette gets her first dose, and put away at night after her last dose. WELL that hasn't worked out, so i stopped closing them up because they were laying in pee all night and that's just not an acceptable way to let them be every night Mind you, i was changing the pads in there twice a day! In the morning when i let them out, and right before bed to keep the pee levels to a minimum but it still wasn't enough. During the day she pees right outside the kennel.​

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Pee pads​

as discussed above, pee pads are just not cutting it. Now I even have to stop them as soon as possible because both rabbits have decided to snack on the pads and that's stressing me out more than anything. I'm worried about one of them getting a blockage, or waking up one morning to a bunny tangled up in chewed puppy pad - because i've had that happen before and I'm never going to come down from that panic. Ugh im getting stressed just thinking about it. So i ordered some washable pee pads, hopefully they don't chew those to shreds and they might hold up a little better.​

So my next idea is to maybe get another litter box again, set Thumpette up in the kennel with the new, un-scent marked litter box, food, water, and a washable pad, set Pup up outside with "his" litter box, and food/water of his own and HOPE AND PRAY that their bond doesnt break.

If anyone else has any ideas that I haven't already tried, I'm all ears and desperate at this point. Even just to protect the floor if she's just never gonna be a litter box bunny again.