Looking back seven years to the very start with Tigger and Shadow, the one thing that really shows the stages of a bunny's life is the evolution in litter boxes that we have had.

Tigger and Shadow started out with us as two month old, two pound babies. At the start the high backed triangle or square pans made for small animals were just the right size to encourage litter box training, and still give them a roomy place to flop or eat some hay.

Then Shadow began to develop some serious digging tendencies and he would use the litter box and excavate it all out afterwards. We switched them to larger litter boxes for cats with tops. Since they were still pretty little, we had to give them kiddie footstools to help them get in and out more easily. While they were still really little, the footstools also allowed them another place to crawl under and they both loved to take advantage of that. Tigger and Shadow both liked the flat topped box as it gave them another place to hop up and hang out. We put a rug up there to make it a more comfy, less slippery spot.

As they got bigger, we were able to do away with the footstools. Then Shadow showed less interest in digging as he aged and we removed the litter box covers and just left them with the round or rectangle bottoms of the litter boxes.

As they reached their sixth year, we noticed that they were less inclined to hop over the sides of their pans and had a few accidents beside their litter boxes. We realized they were probably beginning to experience some of the aches, pains, and loss of flexibility that comes with aging.

We went back to the store and found some dog training pans with lower sides and one side with a lower entry. They liked these litter boxes. However, with these pans, Shadow developed a renewed interest in digging them out. I headed back to the stores for a fix and found a long tray used for drying boots that was exactly the width of the two litter boxes. Placed at the front, Shadow can do his dig out, and I can easily dump the litter back into the pans. It becomes a game with him to see how fast he can dig it out again after I dump it back in. If I don't do my cleanup fast enough, some bunny will decide that the boot tray is fair game for litter box use.

We have definitely learned that one litter box is not equal to another and have adapted as needed due to bunny age and size. So who is training who here?