Pet Health, Interesting Facts, and Trivia
Litter Train Your Pet Rabbit
Rabbits are cute, funny and fun pets. Not only are they quiet and polite, but they are healthy and easy to care for. In addition to these qualifications, domestic rabbits are creatures of habit and repetition.
Being a creature of habit may not sound like a charming personality trait, but it is a special quality that allows rabbits to be the wonderful pets they can be. How? One way is that most rabbits, because they are animals of repetition, are very easy to train to use a litter box. As a result, pet owners can give Bunny free hop of the household without the worry of Bunny soiling the $28-a-square-foot carpeting.
Anatomy Lesson
Rabbits are coprophagic animals, which means they ingest a portion of specially excreted fecal material directly from the rectum. This ingested fecal material, caecal, is a special, pliable excretion from the lower digestive tract that is excreted in clusters (similar to a bunch of grapes) and is covered with a thin, gelatinous membrane. This material has often been inappropriately referred to as "night feces"; caecal pellets are actually excreted both day and night.
This unusual digestion procedure
usually goes unnoticed
by rabbit owners. The reason
for this strange recycling
process is that it increases the
utilization of consumed food.
The rabbit eats and the food
passes into the stomach where
digestion begins. The food then
progresses to the caecum, a
small closed sac near the small
and large intestines. Here, the
food is broken down and
synthesized by the rabbit's system.
Although rabbits can absorb
nutrients from the caecum,
significant amounts are lost to
the body. To remedy this, rabbits
consume the soft caecal
pellets once they are excreted.
The caecal pellets then pass
back into the stomach, where
they mix with fresh food for
subsequent digestion.
The Box
The time interval between a rabbit's eliminations varies according to its dietary habits, the type of feed and the amount consumed. However, being creatures of habit, rabbits will most always return to the same location to urinate and defecate. This trait is what makes litter box training pet rabbits easy for owners!
Select a litter box that is at least twice as long and twice as wide as the rabbit. The box sides should be 3 to 6 inches high, depending on the size of the rabbit. The box should be placed in a location where the rabbit will not be interrupted, but it should be placed where the rabbit can reach it easily. It's also a good idea to place the rabbit's cage near the litter box. Be sure to select a litter box that is easy to clean and disinfect. Cat litter boxes can be used if they are large enough.
You can fill the litter box
with a variety of materials.
Wood shavings, shredded
newspaper, kitty litter and any other
absorbent, non-toxic, dust-free
filler is sufficient. The box
should be filled to a depth of
1 to 3 inches, depending on
how deep the box is. It's a
good idea to change the litter
at least every 48 to 72 hours.
Training
The younger the rabbit is when introduced to litter-box training, the more successful and less difficult the training procedure. It's a good idea to start litter-box training when the rabbit is approximately 6 weeks of age. However, older rabbits can be successfully trained.
To initiate the rabbit, begin by confining the rabbit to a small area near the litter box. Placing a small piece of urine-soaked paper in the litter box will encourage the rabbit to seek this location for further eliminations. If accidents should occur, they should be cleaned up immediately and placed in the litter box. The accident site should also be cleaned immediately to eliminate any odor. During the initial training process, there should be urine and fecal material in the box at all times; this will encourage the rabbit to return to the box.
One of the most common problems in training rabbits to use the litter box is that the rabbit selects a location for elimination that does not coincide with the site you have chosen for the box. Use this to your advantage! Move the box to the rabbit's chosen spot. Most rabbits will accept a litter box readily once it is in a favored location.
On occasion, a litter-box trained rabbit will suddenly change its habits and urineate at various locations. It's also common to observe bucks spraying urine. This is indicative that the male rabbit has become sexually mature and is marking territory.
This undesirable habit can be curtailed by neutering any time after about 4-5 months. Neutered rabbits (both male and female) are less aggressive, more controllable, healthier, calmer, and easier to house-train.
Remember, rabbits are creatures
of habit, so if you decide
to move the litter box, chances
are the rabbit will continue to
relieve itself in the original
location. This can usually be
corrected by placing a small
piece of urine-soaked wood in
the box at the new location
and cleaning the original spot
with a strong disinfectant.
Problems
It is normal for rabbit urinee to contain cloudy particles that settle into the bottom of the litter pan. This is because the rabbit actually absorbs more calcium from its food than other animals. As a result, the calcium is excreted in the urine. This can be alarming to the pet owner, who might think this is a sign of disease. Also, this waste product can adhere to cage wire or to the bottom of the pan. It is difficult to remove, and it may create a haven for bacteria to collect and multiply. However, its important to keep this calcium build-up to a minimum; you can do so by washing the litter box and cage with a slightly acidic solution (1 part vinegar to 5 parts water).
Red urine is another rabbit condition that can be alarming to rabbit owners. Red urine is a normal condition in a small percentage of rabbits. What happens is this: Certain vitamins from the rabbit's food do not completely metabolize and the rabbits urine appears bright red. While red urine appears to indicate a serious condition, such as kidney failure, it is not harmful to the rabbit.
If you want to litter-box train your rabbit, remember that habit is one of the rabbit's outstanding characteristics. with a little patience on your part, Bunny will have free run of the house in no time.