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How puppy pads have helped Julie to be a happy bun and restore her toilet habits.

bunnytoes

Warren Veteran
Julie is an elderly bun now with arthritis in her hips. She always had perfect litter box habits. She very rarely ever left stray poos anywhere and until fairly recently never had a pee accident. The last few months her toilet habits have declined. She started pooing where ever she was sleeping and having pee accidents around the kitchen. I put it to aging and her arthritis making it hard to get to the litter box. I started putting puppy pads under her blankets and towels. She then started to pee infront of the litter box which lead me to beleive that it was time for a lower box that would be easier for her. It was suggested to me that paint roller trays make good litter boxes for senior rabbits. I tried two different ones that seem to help some at first then she started peeing everywhere.
Okay, Julie is not a normal bunny. She eats litter always has. She doesn't just nibble on it when doing her business. She eats it like it is dinner. Over the years I tried different litters, hiding the litter under hay but she always knew it was there and dug it up and chowed down. She eats newspaper too. I can't give her the toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay either as she eats the whole thing including the entire paper tube. I had no other choice but to use a grate covering the litter. The grate had to be secured or she would remove it to get to the litter. I did put hay on top of the grate to protect her feet some but after she started choking on her food including hay I couldn't do that anymore as all her hay has to be soaked in water to soften it and prevent her from choking on it. She just gobbles all her food and would choke. Mush pellets and water soaked hay slows her down some and she has not choked since. If I put the wet hay on the grate it would dry out and she'd eat it anyways and might choke.
She is obviously bothered by the grates now.
Finally, I decided to remove her litter box and try just using the puppy pads in her "cave" (a huge storage box with cave openings cut out) that housed her litter box. She also uses the base of her cage as a second litter box. I removed the cage part as it used to be a litter box/hay station now a big litter box with puppy pads in it. Without the litter box there is now room for her water bowl, mush pellets and water soaked hay which she was getting all over the entire kitchen before.
Julie automatically started to poop and pee only on one side in both her cave and cage base. She also has plenty of room to sleep in the cage base away form the toilet area which she seems to really enjoy. She doesn't think of the puppy pads as food. Thank goodness so doesn't eat or chew them. I also use some on the tile floors so she doesn't slip and can sleep on them. She never pees on those. Isn't Julie smart? She catches onto any routine fast she just doesn't know what is food and what isn't food.:lol:
Just thought I would share a little more about life with Julie. She is very happy now and so is her mommy.
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A look inside the cave without the top.
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Naww clever Julie, such a gorgeous girl and so lucky to have such a dedicated bunny mommy.
 
Update. cookie cooling rack,zip ties,grill metal drip pan and linner for drip pan.

As any Julie followers know she eats her hay soaked in water. I have been having a hard time finding a dish that she doesn't sit in or tip the water out. I used the above items to make her a secure raised dish to eat her hay from. No more dried out hay or wet hay stained footsies. So far it is working and she seems happy enough with it.

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Oh..........I forgot to say what is holding the grill drip pan up is a hay ball holder that never held enough hay to make it worth it. I hooked that on the the cookie rack upside down. You should of see me running all over the house searching through all the closets and the garage ....brain storming.
 
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