Removing the odour of a rabbits pee

SuprSi

We bought an 8 week old rabbit around 6 weeks ago and so far he's been great, but we've found out that he's been peeing in a corner of the couch without us noticing and now it stinks. We've tried scrubbing, which has gotten rid of the stain (more or less) but we still can't get rid of the smell as it's soaked into the fabric. Also, we cannot remove the cushions/covers from the couch to wash, so we need to get something that can remove the smell through soaking. We're toying with the idea of using something like lavender oil, or another fragrant oil, to soak into the couch as well, but we're not sure if that's the right think to do.

Can anyone recommend anything? Anyone who owns a rabbit can probably appreciate what it smells like but at the moment we can't sit on the couch around where he's done his business as it's a terrible odour.

Sigma Force

Has the rabbit got access to a litter tray, I would put the litter tray near the couch area not too near though. Place newspaper and a brick in the tray (to stop the tray moving) add some soiled newspaper as well so the bun will pee in the tray. Eventually you can move the tray further away but for now it might stop him peeing on the actual floor or couch.

To clean the pee perhaps start with a solution of warm water and bicarb. of soda allow to dry, then a solution of water and vinegar and allow to dry.
After that you could spray the area with a solution of water and lavender oil.

Or have the area steam cleaned. There's also odour neutralisers but not sure how good they work or where to get them probably best to wash the area first.

Hope this helps.

Btw bit confused about the age of the rabbit if you bought him 6 weeks ago he would of only been two weeks old and that's not old enough for a rabbit to be fully weaned.

SuprSi

Sorry for the confusion on the age - he's actually 14 weeks old now. What I meant was that we have had him for 6 weeks! We have a litter tray, which is on the ground, which he gracefully sits in and plays in, but doesn't do his business in. He sits in his cage until we take the top off in the evening, he hops out, goes onto the rug, and does his business wherever he can.

Despite encouraging him to use the litter tray, he has no interest. We've put his droppings into the tray though I'm not sure how to encourage him any more, but it's getting annoying having to constantly clean up after him. The thing is, he knows he's doing something we're not happy with because as soon as he's done he runs away!

Thanks for your ideas on cleaning the pee, I'll see if I can get my hands on some bicarb and white vinegar. The lavender oil sounds like a great idea too. Thanks!!

animalcrazy

When he is old enough to get neuteured that can really help with the smell and litter tray habits. He's too young at the moment though. He's still a baby so he's probably finding it hard to learn how to use it. The problem also could be that the space he is in is big and he isn't used to hopping back to the tray. If you keep him in a smaller area of the room and once he is used to using the litter tray gradually make the area bigger, make sure he is using his litter tray before increasing the space. Putting more then one litter tray in the room can help too.