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Advice please

Veronica

Mama Doe
Hello,

Just looking for a little advise if possible.
Sara's Rescue has this weekend taken in a very old french lop boy (unneutered). He was a very much loved house rabbit, and has been since he was a baby. However, in his old age, he has become incontinent....no longer using his litter tray, and going to the toilet everywhere.....whenever he needs to go. He has been vet checked, and the vet put the problem purely down to old age :? Sadly, although the family have tried to cope with this problem, feel that they simply can't any longer, and handed him over on Friday night.

I've not seen him yet, but I've been told he's the most soppiest big baby ever, and just gorgeous.....can clearly see that he's been much loved.
He is incontinent, but not to too much of an extreme. He just apparantly 'goes' when he needs to....and although Sara has found he does try and still use his tray....he more than often doesn't make it.

The problem she's finding with him, is that he is toileting where he sleeps (amongst other places), so by the morning, he has been sleeping on damp hay etc.
She's tried vet bed today, but finds it gets dirty within hours, and she simply doesn't have enough to keep washing and replacing.

Can anyone recommend anything else? Or generally any advise on dealing with an incontinent bunny?

Just so sad that at this stage in his life, he is in a rescue. Sara told me over the phone she doubt's she'll find a home willing to take him on with this problem :( :( :(
Poor old boy :( :( :(


Advise I can pass on to her would be very gratefully recieved, and thanks in advance :wave:
 
Not sure if it's been thought of but when I had Mary we suspected kidney problems, and the vet said it could also just be incontinence and that if the blood tests were clear and it continued, they had a medication made for cats and dogs with incontinence that could be used on rabbits.
With Mary is turned out the weightloss was unrelated and he'd just been sitting in the water bowl :roll:
I know wire floors aren't really recommended but perhaps someone like John Hopewell, who makes custom animal cages, could make a sort of base to go in a crate or shed for him to sleep on so that if he does urinate in his sleep, the urine drips through?
I also had success using the puppy toilet training pads with Mary (to line the pen/cage - he wasn't incontinent but I never managed to litter train him!), but he was incisorless so wasn't able to chew the pads, not sure if this old bun would bother or not in his age
 
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Buy hay at £3 a bale and use thick layers, replace as needed still be really cheap and the thicker layer should keep him comfey.
 
Buy incontinence pads that you use for humans (they are placed in bed underneath the bum) and put them in his hutch. They're very large so you should only need one a day. They're pretty cheap - cheaper than puppy training pads - and very absorbent.

AMETHYST
 
Oh my god. I really cannot believe that this is the reason they have put a life long friend into a rescue??? :censored: Some people make me mad..... Sorry, I know it might be perfectly genuine but :evil: :evil: :evil:

Right.... well I think the suggestions made so far have been amazing. I find you can never guarantee on any bunny using its tray anyway :roll: The Puppy Pads or human incontinence sheets sound like a winner. Caramel isn't incontinent but chooses to sleep in wee for some bizarre reasons. :roll:

Poor baby bunster, old chap.. he must be wondering what on earth is going on. But I am sure he is in very good hands xxxx
 
Oh my god. I really cannot believe that this is the reason they have put a life long friend into a rescue??? :censored: Some people make me mad..... Sorry, I know it might be perfectly genuine but :evil: :evil: :evil:

I know it's sad, but imagine if say both of them worked all day and the poor lad would be sitting in his own wee all day? Some people genuinely may not have the time to care for their bunny, and at least this way they're doing what's best for the rabbit and taking him somewhere he'll get the care he needs. :)

AMETHYST
 
How about putting him on a deep litter bedding? That way it just soaks down without soaking him. A good thick layer of coarse shavings well covered in a layer of straw works well. It also works well at preventing sore hocks. The straw layer prevents contact with the shavings and allows poo to fall through away from the animal.

A daily dose of metacam may help too as he may be having pain in his lower back making assuming the position for urinating difficult. EC can cause bladder trouble too so a course of panacur could be tried. I have one old boy who gets wet every couple of months - a burst of panacur sorts him again for a while.
 
EC can cause bladder trouble too so a course of panacur could be tried. I have one old boy who gets wet every couple of months - a burst of panacur sorts him again for a while.

That's true - when Miffy had EC a year ago she lost the use of her back legs and found weeing really difficult. Maybe a quick trip to the vets and a blood test for EC would help. :thumb:

AMETHYST
 
The bloodtest for EC is a waste of time and money. Panacur rabbit or Panacur 10% at a dose of .2ml per kg for at least 9 days is the way to go, then continued for at least 28 if improvement is seen. The actual treatment costs only a fraction of what the test costs and that would need to be repeated to get a meaningful result anyway.
 
The bloodtest for EC is a waste of time and money. Panacur rabbit or Panacur 10% at a dose of .2ml per kg for at least 9 days is the way to go, then continued for at least 28 if improvement is seen. The actual treatment costs only a fraction of what the test costs and that would need to be repeated to get a meaningful result anyway.

Ditto to the above...excatly what I was going to type. :thumb:

A single test only shows exposure to EC you have to retest over a period of weeks to determine if you are dealing with an active infection or evidence of past contact.
 
As someone who lived for a long time with a urine incontinent rabbit...can I just say that working full-time doesn't really affect the standard of care you are able to give.

My bunny was free-range in her own room. We put down a lino floor and used easy-wash fleece blankets and rugs for comfort. Everything went into the washing machine every 2 days and the lino was cleaned down.

Unless the bunny is disabled or needs his bladder expressing, you only really need to clean them and their environment twice daily (i.e. before and after work).

They do tend to be a bit more stinky than a perfectly litter-trained bun tho'.

Amy :D
 
With the best will in the world, some people with full-time jobs and kids cannot fit this kind of care into their lifestyle. We all adore rabbits, and would put the rabbit first, but some people just don't feel able to do that, and I don't think they should be judged for it. I don't see anyone else jumping in to offer to look after this chap. I think they've tried to do the best thing by giving him to someone who will be better able to look after him. They probably don't realise how many rescue buns there are, AND that elderly buns are harder to rehome, even without incontinence!
 
I haven't seen the bun in question, or know that much about his medical condition...so can't possibly say whether people can or can't afford the time to look after him.

All I'm saying is that my bun who was urine incontinent only took about 30 mins each day to clean up and care for. Not a huge amount of time, I'm sure you'll agree. :D

I think with incontinent buns (can't comment on other animals) it tends to be that people don't want the mess or smell, rather than it being a time issue.

Just IMO

Amy
 
I was going to suggest this too - Marinell Harriman's book "The houserabbit Handbook" has a section on rabbit incontinence and instructions for how to bathe an incontinent rabbit and how to convert baby nappies to fit rabbits.
 
IMO it isn't fair to put a nappy on a rabbit unless it is disabled and physically can't move away from it's urine.

I get the impression that this rabbit still has use of it's legs and can move around, so presumably can move away from the mess if it so wishes.

Amy
 
Hiya,
Thanks so much for all your input and advise. I will forward this all to Sara now :D

As far as I'm aware, the bun still has use of his legs, and physically appears to be healthy. He has seen a vet (upon his arrival)...I will find out from Sara exactly what was said, although again as far as I know, the vet could only put the problem down to 'old age'.

He is able to move about quite easily, and can hop in and out of his tray. He apparantly appears to use his litter tray....but more than often is caught-short, and within one day, his whole bedding area is soaking (he is currently being bedded on wood shavings and hay).

He seems happy, and Sara's described him as 'just wanting to be loved' all the time. He's sounds a little poppet (although he's a very big frenchie boy!! :lol: ).
He's in very good hands at the moment, and I know Sara is wanting to keep him as comfortable as possible.

I really appreciate your advise, as will she when I pass it on.

Many thanks, and please keep it coming :)

xxx
 
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