Rabbits are undeniably adorable pets. Fluffy and cute, they can brighten up the room by prancing around the area. However, you quickly realize that they paused on top of your pristine wood floor to pee! How do you get rabbit pee out of hardwood floors?
Like cats and dogs, rabbits can also be trained to pee in a litter box. However, while they haven’t gotten the hang of it, you’ll occasionally find some unsightly specks of rabbit pee everywhere. Don’t worry, though, since cleaning it up can be quite easy!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need
Thankfully, everything you’ll need to get rabbit pee off your floor (and even your carpet and couch) is readily available in your house. You can also get commercial chemicals like hydrogen peroxide in the nearest store.
- Warm water
- White vinegar
- Spray bottle
- Towel and/or rag
- 3% hydrogen peroxide
- Baking soda
- Rough sponge or brush
- Wood stain and sandpaper
If you are working with hydrogen peroxide and other cleaners, make sure to wear gloves!
How to Get Rid of Rabbit Pee from the Floor
Rabbit urine is very high in ammonia and uric acid, which causes them to have a bad odor and can even cause permanent damage to your floor if left for too long, such as staining and corroding the varnish on your wood floor. If you can find your rabbit peeing on your hardwood floor, it’s best to follow these steps right away:
Step 1: Make vinegar solution
White vinegar is an amazing cleaner since it is not corrosive enough to damage your floor but acidic enough to get rid of the urine from the floor. Plus, it is also generally non-toxic, so your rabbit can safely lick it with no worries.
To make the solution, simply add 1 part of pure white vinegar and 1 part water. If you want a stronger solution or if this one doesn’t quite work as well, add more vinegar and less water. If you don’t want the stench of vinegar to linger, you can also add a few drops of essential oil of your choice.
Grab the spray bottle and place the vinegar solution into the spray bottle. Now, let’s get ready to clean up rabbit pee!
Step 2: Spray the peed area and wipe
If the pee is fresh, immediately spray the diluted white vinegar solution onto the area and wipe it off with a paper towel. If you were fast enough, this should be enough to not leave a urine stain on your floor as well as avoid any rabbit urine smells from your wood floor.
However, if the urine has dried off and has stained the floor, that must mean that it has been left there for long periods of time. You will want to spray the area, let it sit for around 5-10 minutes, then wipe it off with a damp cloth. You want to repeat this until the stain is gone, or up to 5 times.
Pro tip: Sprinkling some baking soda before spraying the solution might increase your chances of getting the stain off. Plus, it is an amazing odor eliminator when it reacts with vinegar.
Step 3: Prepare hydrogen peroxide and a rag
If the stain is too stubborn to be removed, time to bring out the big boys. Grab a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution (anything higher than 3% can damage your floor, and you might want to test it beforehand in a hidden portion of your floor) and soak a rag in the solution.
Remember, when working with chemicals, always wear gloves to avoid irritating your skin. You want to wash the rag so that it soaks in the solution.
Step 4: Sprinkle some baking soda
If baking soda and vinegar did not work, perhaps baking soda and hydrogen peroxide might fare better. Sprinkle a good amount of baking soda over the affected area, and make sure to cover all stains with it.
Step 5: Place the soaked rag and wait
Grab the rag soaked in hydrogen peroxide and place it on top of the sprinkled baking soda. With the baking soda and the hydrogen peroxide, they should react with the stain on the floor and help remove it. You’ll want to leave the rag on the stained floor area for a few hours.
After a few hours, take the rag off and wipe the area. If the residue stain is still there, you can repeat this step again.
Step 6: Sand and restain
If you have exhausted the steps above and the stain is still unfortunately there, then you might be left with no choice but to sand and restrain the floor. Stains are unsightly, but you should be able to remove the stained area by sanding it down.
With a wood stain that matches your floor, restrain the area until the pee stain is not visible anymore. Don’t worry, by this point the smell should have been long gone and now the stain should be, too!
Rabbit Pee on the Floor
Sometimes you’ll find these rabbit urine stains not just on areas that your bunny has deliberately peed on, but also underneath their litter boxes. Check under those areas and see if some urine has been found spilling into your wooden floors.
Additionally, if you notice that your rabbit has been peeing on a certain area of your floor consistently, it might be better if you prepare another litter box in that area. That would encourage them to pee on the box and not on your precious wood floor.
Prepare some mats underneath your litter boxes so that you can avoid spilling both the litter and the urine from the box. Regularly clean the area around your litter tray and your rabbit enclosure with the usual scrubbing method to avoid dirt to worsen the urine problem.
Conclusion
Our most adorable rabbits can be quite stubborn pets and refuse to use the litter boxes, insisting on peeing in their desired area. You don’t have to change their habits, though. You just need to move your litter box to where they want it to be, and you shouldn’t have any more problems with pee on the floor.
Well, even if they still end up doing so, at least you know how to deal with rabbit pee and rabbit pee stain with this article.