Successfully Litter Box Train Your Rabbit

Help Your Bunny Be the Most Tidy He Can Be

How many times have I spoken with prospective rabbit adopters, as a veteran rabbit rescuer, to hear them tell me they want to keep their rabbits in a wire-bottomed cage so their poop and pee will just fall through the wire bottom and onto newspaper or whatnot below? Too many times. So I proceed as diplomatically as possible to explain that the bunny they wish to adopt has been lovingly and diligently litter box trained since the day he first came into foster care and there is no need or rather, justification, for the cruel practice of housing a rabbit in a wire-bottomed cage - which could lead to multiple health problems including bone infection, broken legs, and the need for amputation, and so forth.

I'll never forget the one prospective adopter whose previous rabbit had been housed in a very pretty cage but which still had a grate for a bottom instead of a solid floor. I waved my arm to the cage, "Would you want to take a nap in there?" I already knew this adoption wasn't going to happen but maybe I could change this person's mind about how they kept their rabbits. At least they did keep them indoors but a wire-bottomed cage is about as archaic as you can get next to actually keeping them outside in a wire-bottomed hutch!

The woman responded to me, "Well it's better than sitting in his own pee." There was no getting through to this person. Often it is very difficult to bring a person to the conclusion that maybe things have changed since the first rabbit they had 20 some years ago, and that there are now better ways to take care of this fragile little pet. And that better way is called using a litter box.

Now this isn't to say that litter box training a rabbit is exactly the same as litter box training a cat, in fact, it is very different. The litter box to the rabbit is not only their toilet, it's also a nice place to hang out. Adopters who are neat freaks often have trouble with this concept but the fact remains that rabbits will be munching hay while happily nestled in their litter box and then they'll pause for a moment and take a leak and then keep munching hay. But they're not sitting in their pee if you've set up the litter box right!