Bunny won't use litter tray since operation

[Orenoko]

Hi all

So you'll know from my other thread "Rupert's eye" that my bun Rupert had his eye taken out 3ish weeks ago (and is blind in his other eye). During recovery he was in a pen, with a litter tray in it. He had a couple of accidents but did use the litter tray. Now that he's out of the pen, he isn't using the litter tray as much. Everything is in the same place as it was before so he should be able to find it. Sometimes he will pee close to the litter tray, other times just in the middle of the floor. I have hay in the litter trays too. I will see him sometimes looking for somewhere to pee and will grab him and pop him in his litter tray. Sometimes he will pee there but sometimes he gets out, hops about a bit and then pees on the carpet!

He's had the sign off from the vet so no known health issues, I'm thinking it's a behavioural thing but I don't know what the cause is. Any ideas?

 

[Shimmer]

More litter trays?
Has anything else changed? eg type of litter, different hay, position of any item?
Can you use something scented as a guide to the trays? Anything that will temp him in - carrot slice, fresh grass or hay, fenugreek crunchies, etc
Are you certain that he doesn't have a UTI?

 

[Orenoko]

More litter trays?
Has anything else changed? eg type of litter, different hay, position of any item?
Can you use something scented as a guide to the trays? Anything that will temp him in - carrot slice, fresh grass or hay, fenugreek crunchies, etc
Are you certain that he doesn't have a UTI?

Nothing else has changed that I can think of, same hay, I keep everything in the same place because he's been blind for a while. I've been feeding him in the litter tray for a while, sprinkling some of his favourite treats in there. He has no symptoms of a UTI that I can think of, he's very bright in himself, eating and drinking fine and his pee is normal colour. I'm going to put some extra puppy pads on the floor to try and save my carpet(!), but it's a bit of a mystery as he just picks random places to go. If it was solely next to the litter tray I could understand it more but he will pick anywhere. I'm also cleaning it as soon as I see it to remove any smell but doesn't seem to have much effect.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Are the sides of the litter tray nw too high for him ?Could you use puppy training pads rather than litter trays?

Whilst you say he has been signed off by the Vet are you certain that he doesn’t have some arthritis which could make hopping into a litter tray uncomfortable for him.

 

[Orenoko]

Are the sides of the litter tray nw too high for him ?Could you use puppy training pads rather than litter trays?

Whilst you say he has been signed off by the Vet are you certain that he doesn’t have some arthritis which could make hopping into a litter tray uncomfortable for him.

I'll try with the pads and see if it helps. He's never had an issue with the litter tray before, I just use the standard cheap ones, think I got them from wilko many years ago, but he is getting older so you never know. I used to use a three sided one when I had my tilty bun, perhaps I could get another one of those too. I just found it odd that it's coincided with me removing the pen he was in while he recovered. I joked to my partner that the Vet must've removed his brain!

 

[InspectorMorse]

I'll try with the pads and see if it helps. He's never had an issue with the litter tray before, I just use the standard cheap ones, think I got them from wilko many years ago, but he is getting older so you never know. I used to use a three sided one when I had my tilty bun, perhaps I could get another one of those too. I just found it odd that it's coincided with me removing the pen he was in while he recovered. I joked to my partner that the Vet must've removed his brain!

I had not realised that he has no sight in his remaining eye. So if he did have just a bit of vision from the now removed diseased eye, then he is adjusting to being 100% blind.

Having spent a bit of time in a confined space he will have got to know where everything is in there. Now he has free roam again he will be marking certain areas which to us might seem random, but to him they have a meaning.

You will probably need to find ways to work with him so he can use his Rabbit methods of finding his bearings, but finding ways to prevent doing so from wrecking your carpets. I therefore think putting puppy pads down in the areas he chooses to wee might be better than picking him up if you catch him when he’s about to wee and putting him where you think he should be weeing. This will just confuse him and make him need to wee in other places even more. If you see what I mean.

 

[Orenoko]

I had not realised that he has no sight in his remaining eye. So if he did have just a bit of vision from the now removed diseased eye, then he is adjusting to being 100% blind.

Having spent a bit of time in a confined space he will have got to know where everything is in there. Now he has free roam again he will be marking certain areas which to us might seem random, but to him they have a meaning.

You will probably need to find ways to work with him so he can use his Rabbit methods of finding his bearings, but finding ways to prevent doing so from wrecking your carpets. I therefore think putting puppy pads down in the areas he chooses to wee might be better than picking him up if you catch him when he’s about to wee and putting him where you think he should be weeing. This will just confuse him and make him need to wee in other places even more. If you see what I mean.

Yes I wasn't sure if he had any vision (light/dark) but he has a full cataract in his remaining eye too, poor boy! I've put some pads down and hidden some readigrass in his litter trays to try and encourage him to spend more time in those. I wasn't sure if he just couldn't find the litter tray so thought that picking him up could help but perhaps not! He's clicker trained to find food so not sure if I could implement that in some way with this problem or if it would just confuse him more.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Yes I wasn't sure if he had any vision (light/dark) but he has a full cataract in his remaining eye too, poor boy! I've put some pads down and hidden some readigrass in his litter trays to try and encourage him to spend more time in those. I wasn't sure if he just couldn't find the litter tray so thought that picking him up could help but perhaps not! He's clicker trained to find food so not sure if I could implement that in some way with this problem or if it would just confuse him more.

Personally I would prefer to let him use his own way to get his bearings. That might mean that his litter tray training might not be as good as you would like. Initially anyway. He will be relying heavily on his sense of smell. So scent marking will be a very important part of his way of knowing where he is/ where he needs to be. Perhaps larger litter trays might help.

 

[Orenoko]

Personally I would prefer to let him use his own way to get his bearings. That might mean that his litter tray training might not be as good as you would like. Initially anyway. He will be relying heavily on his sense of smell. So scent marking will be a very important part of his way of knowing where he is/ where he needs to be. Perhaps larger litter trays might help.

Hopefully he will start to get the hang of it. Pre-op he always had little routes he would take around the house, so I think he had assumed he would more or less pick up where he left off. I always found it fascinating to watch him hop around as if he could see perfectly well, so I know he has the ability to adjust, just need to give him time!

 

[Orenoko]

So we had a couple of days with no peeing on the carpet and I thought we were heading in the right direction. But yesterday and today have been worse than ever, and I have no idea why - nothing has changed. I'm leaving puppy pads down on the areas where he has peed but then he just pees somewhere else...

 

[InspectorMorse]

Has he had the pressure in his remaining eye checked recently ? Just wondering if he’s getting episodes of discomfort in the eye now which is being displayed in a behaviour change.

Any signs of urine soiling on himself ie wet underneath ?

Is he drinking more or less than normal ?

 

[Orenoko]

Has he had the pressure in his remaining eye checked recently ? Just wondering if he’s getting episodes of discomfort in the eye now which is being displayed in a behaviour change.

Any signs of urine soiling on himself ie wet underneath ?

Is he drinking more or less than normal ?

I'll be honest, I'm not sure if the Vet has checked it at all during his treatment - certainly not when we've been in for any of his post op checks. He's not soiling himself, his bum is lovely and clean (cut his nails yesterday so had a good look) and his drinking seems pretty average. No obvious signs of pain and he's eating well.

I have put puppy pads down in areas where he has peed before and he happily sits on them but then goes and pees on the carpet. He also happily sits in his litter tray for ages eating away so he does know the litter tray is there and how to get to it.

Despite my best efforts the carpet is getting a bit of a whiff to it so I'm not sure if now he can smell the urine in the carpet it is encouraging him to pee on it more? I'm spraying white vinegar after I clean up but if I put my nose near the carpet I can smell it still. I was going to hire a carpet cleaner (pet safe) but can't do so for a couple of weeks. I think I've got some large sheets somewhere so I might put those down so that at least the pee isn't soaking into the carpet.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Unfortunately it is likely that you would need to stop him from being on the carpet now he has soiled it a few times. Or take up the carpet ! IME the habit will be extremely hard to break, even with lots of attempts to neutralise the scent the urine leaves. That’s why my house became devoid of all carpets within a year of having my first house Rabbits !

 

[Orenoko]

Unfortunately it is likely that you would need to stop him from being on the carpet now he has soiled it a few times. Or take up the carpet ! IME the habit will be extremely hard to break, even with lots of attempts to neutralise the scent the urine leaves. That’s why my house became devoid of all carpets within a year of having my first house Rabbits !

Weirdly we've never had this issue before, and we got new carpets a couple of years ago too! Never had an issue with them chewing or peeing, but I know that's the exception.

 

[Orenoko]

Little update for my Rupert Bear. He is still not himself after his operation. The circling isn't quite as bad and he is slowly peeing on the carpet less, although I have given him an extra litter tray. He seems to be hunched up a lot, although no teeth grinding, and he just doesn't seem his usual happy self. I've booked him in at the vets tomorrow for a recheck.

 

[joey&boo]

oh I am sorry to hear little Rupert isn't doing so great. I hope the vet appointment goes well tpmorrow. Is he already on pain relief?

 

[Orenoko]

oh I am sorry to hear little Rupert isn't doing so great. I hope the vet appointment goes well tpmorrow. Is he already on pain relief?

He's not any more, and I'm wondering if that's the problem. He does eat hay but I noticed his poos are much darker than Lilac's and am wondering if he's not eating as much hay as her due to residual pain related to the eye. He did take a while after his op to eat hay again, but who knows, I may be barking up the wrong tree.

 

[joey&boo]

He's not any more, and I'm wondering if that's the problem. He does eat hay but I noticed his poos are much darker than Lilac's and am wondering if he's not eating as much hay as her due to residual pain related to the eye. He did take a while after his op to eat hay again, but who knows, I may be barking up the wrong tree.

given his age it could be arthirits

 

[bunny momma]

Sending vibes vets goes well for Rupert.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Little update for my Rupert Bear. He is still not himself after his operation. The circling isn't quite as bad and he is slowly peeing on the carpet less, although I have given him an extra litter tray. He seems to be hunched up a lot, although no teeth grinding, and he just doesn't seem his usual happy self. I've booked him in at the vets tomorrow for a recheck.

Poor lad

I would suggest that the Vet checks the pressure in his remaining eye. If the cataract is now causing glaucoma he will be in pain, like having a constant headache.He would need daily eye drops to try to keep the intraocular pressure under control and pain relief too.