{"id":117,"date":"2017-02-03T18:42:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-04T00:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/?p=117"},"modified":"2025-07-26T19:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T00:44:53","slug":"why-do-rabbits-pee-outside-the-litter-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/why-do-rabbits-pee-outside-the-litter-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Rabbits Pee Outside The Litter Box?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Your rabbit might stop using the litter box for one or several reasons. Photo by Daulet Turubayev\/Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rabbits are complicated little souls. They tend to go to the bathroom in the same area, which makes them good candidates for using a litter box. But just because they can understand the concept of using a litter box, this doesn\u2019t always mean that they will. If your bunny is peeing and pooping outside the litter box, don\u2019t get upset. Get curious! Litter box habits can give you insight into your furry friend\u2019s thoughts, feelings, and health.<\/p>\n

Begin At The Beginning<\/h3>\n

First things first. If you just added a bunny to your family, don\u2019t expect great litter box habits right away. You don\u2019t know what training your new pal has had, and transitioning to a new home is stressful. Even litter box all-stars can experience accidents after a move. Give your bunny a couple of weeks to settle in. Provide several litter boxes of different sizes with low entrances in the areas where your pal roams. Seed them with a bit of his or her feces; not enough to make the litter box dirty, just enough to give your rabbit the idea that this is the place to go. Clean all litter boxes daily.<\/p>\n

Rule Out Medical Issues<\/h3>\n

If your rabbit is new to your home, you likely already took your buddy to a rabbit-savvy veterinarian<\/a> for an initial checkup. Rabbits should be spayed\/neutered for the best litter box success, otherwise instinct will drive them to marking behavior. If your pal still frequently misses the litter box after a couple of weeks or if the litter box habits seem more like accidents than the result of ignorance, it\u2019s time for another veterinary visit.<\/p>\n

A visit to the vet is also needed if your longtime bunny friend suddenly begins missing the litter box. Your rabbit can\u2019t tell you if he or she isn\u2019t feeling well and probably wouldn\u2019t do so even if it were possible. This is because rabbits are prey animals who instinctively hide signs of illness. That\u2019s why litter box habits are so important. Sudden changes in use of the litter box or output might be early signs of illness.<\/p>\n

Observe Your Rabbit<\/h3>\n

Once your veterinarian clears your rabbit of any health issues that might be causing litter box problems, put on your detective hat and observe your rabbit. Through observation and experimentation, you should be able to solve the mystery of why your rabbit is missing the litter box. Note that most rabbits have occasional litter box accidents and stray fecal pellets are part of life with rabbits. A problem might exist if your rabbit is regularly, once a day or more, peeing outside the litter box.<\/p>\n

Observe your rabbit to answer the following questions.
\n1. Do misses happen all the time, or only in certain situations?
\n2. Have you changed anything in your rabbit\u2019s environment recently (moved furniture, switched litter boxes, switched litter, added someone to the household, etc.)?
\n3. Do you have enough litter boxes?
\n4. Could the type of litter box, type of litter or location of the litter box be an issue?<\/p>\n

Environment And Litter Box Accidents<\/h3>\n

If loud noises, certain people, other pets or other specific stimuli seem to be the cause of your rabbit\u2019s litter box accidents, do what you can to minimize exposure to these things. If no specific stimuli seem to cause the problem and your veterinarian says your rabbit is healthy, it might be time to revisit litter box training.<\/p>\n

Rabbits can\u2019t tell us how they\u2019re feeling, but they often show us. Refusing to use the litter box or going near it instead of in it could be your bunny\u2019s way of sending you a message. Think about any changes that have occurred in your bunny\u2019s life since the problem began. This might be something obvious like switching to a different type of litter box or adding a rabbit or other pet to the family, or it might be something very subtle, such as changing laundry soap or getting a new television. A change in laundry soap will change how things smell around your home and a change in television will change the sounds in your home. Rabbits pick up on these things.<\/p>\n

Many times changes don\u2019t matter, but sometimes they do. Experiment by changing back things that you can to test your rabbit\u2019s reaction. If things can\u2019t be changed back or you want changes to remain, talk to your rabbit about what\u2019s happened and why a change was needed. No, your furry friend won\u2019t understand all of your words, but your tone and attention can convey a lot. Give your pal more time to adjust. Bring your rabbit near the location of a change and offer a special treat. Do this on and off for a few weeks to create positive feelings toward the change.<\/p>\n

Experiment With Litter, Litter Box, And Location<\/h3>\n

One of the simplest solutions to litter box accidents is to increase the number of litter boxes. A rabbit who has free-roam of one or several rooms might not be able to make it back in time if there\u2019s only one box and it\u2019s more than a hop or two away when Nature calls. If more than one rabbit is using the litter boxes, perhaps a dirty box isn\u2019t acceptable to the rabbit suffering the accidents.<\/p>\n

The location of the litter box, type of box, and type of litter are also factors that might meet with rabbit disapproval. If your rabbit consistently has accidents in a certain spot, put a litter box there if it\u2019s a safe location. If accidents are happening all over a room or the house, think about whether the locations have something in common. Are they partially hidden? Put a litter box in a similar location.<\/p>\n

What about the litter box itself? If it\u2019s new to your rabbit, perhaps your pal doesn\u2019t like the size, shape, or entry. Try a different type. Maybe your rabbit prefers puppy pads or newspapers. Try these same solutions even if your rabbit previously used a litter box successfully for a while. Perhaps something has changed in your rabbit\u2019s mind to make the box undesirable. Aging rabbits might no longer wish to hop into a high-sided box.<\/p>\n

Paper, recycled paper, kiln-dried pine, and other types of litter are safe for rabbits. If your rabbit just joined your family, he or she might not recognize the type of litter you offer as being litter. And any rabbit might object to any type of litter “just because.” It\u2019s not common, but it\u2019s something to explore if your rabbit is having a problem. Try switching to a different litter or even using puppy pads, incontinence pads, or newspapers.<\/p>\n

Your Buddy For Life<\/h3>\n

Despite all your efforts, it\u2019s possible that your rabbit might continue to have litter box accidents. This is no reason to give up on your pal. Accidents could stop as mysteriously as they began. Meanwhile, many products can help minimize the effects of accidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If your rabbit isn\u2019t using the litter box, think of it as a means of communication \u2014 and it\u2019s your job to decode the message. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rabbit-behavior"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4337,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions\/4337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/mammals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}