Rabbit straining- any advice?

Hi,

My rabbit is a 5 year old female lop, and has suffered for the past year or so with an icky rear area, where she just used to go to toilet and sit in it. This has meant endless baths and trips to the vet.

Anyway, for the past couple of weeks, she has been struggling to urinate. Every few minutes she hunches up, flicks her tail up and strains to go, and only a few drips come out. Her droppings are fine and normal, and she's still eating and drinking fine, there doesn't seem to be anything else wrong.

But now because of this trouble underneath, she looks quite sore, which I think is urine scald. I have been taking her to my vet, who has been cleaning her underneath, and giving her painkilling injections. I took her back today, and the vet has given me Metacam (3 drops per day) and Baytril (2.5mls per day) and said to see how that goes. She said that my rabbit may have a urine infection, or possibly a back pain problem.

I just wondered if there is anything else I can try? Also, are either of those 2 medications specifically meant for urine infections, or are they just general rabbit treatments? And how long should I leave her on this medication before maybe insisiting on tests to find out if its anything more serious?

Many thanks for any advice,
Jen

Could it be cystitus?

My friend's female guinea pigs were prone to it, she used to use cranberry juice to help keep it at bay.

baytril's always the first line of attack for vets as it's mild enough not to upset the stomach bacteria, and might well work. Best to mix it with a drop of pineapple juice or ribena to syringe that amount though as it's very bitter tasting - I'm sure my rabbits only ever have 0.6ml (average size buns) which is easier to administer on a tiny bit of bread. Metacam's a painkiller.

Also an easy and very effective way to clean her up, which has done wonders for one of my piggies that had a chronic bladder infection, is using dry cooking cornflour, rubbed into the dirty fur and worked in with your fingernails, the dirt slides off.

What that did for Sabrina my piggie I believe, was it meant she started eating her caecal poops properly for the first time, which boosted her immune system to fight off the bladder infection.

One of my old bunnies had the same problem.

Unfortunately the bacteria that causes Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) can't survive when exposed to air, so can't be cultured to test for an appropriate antibiotic.

Baytril is a good general antibiotic which is usually effective with UTIs.

If the UTI doesn't clear up with Bayril, then you may be looking at calcium crystals/sludge/stones in the bladder. The only way to diagnose this is to take an x-ray or ultrasound.

Some vets will flush the bladder to get rid of the calcium build up.

A low calcium diet is often recommended for rabbits with this problem. I'm not totally convinced that it helps, but it certainly can't hurt to try.

You can also try sprinkling cranberry and Vitamin C capsules over her food. Another supplement is something called Cistaid, which is available from your vet.

I'll find some useful links for you.

Amy

Did the Vet examin your Rabbit's bladder?

The symptoms you describe point to *possible* bladder sludge to me :?
This is when a build up of calcium deposits accumulates in the Buns bladder and can cause cystitis.

Your Vet should have been able to establish if you Bun had spinal pain during careful examination and observation of your Buns gait when moving around.

Infection in the wee can be confirmed by 'dip-testing' a urine specimen. Did the Vet do this?

Did the Vet discuss your Buns diet? *If* Bun has bladder sludge then her calcium intake needs to be moderated and she should be encouraged to up her fluid intake. For example offer her water from a bowl rather than a bottle. Buns tend to drink more from a bowl.

The Baytril is an antibiotic. The course of treatment needs to be at least 7 days, possibly longer. However, if there is no improvement at all after 3 days of treatment a different antibiotic may be needed based on a culture/sensitivity test of a wee sample. In my experience Baytril has always worked very well in the treatment of UTIs

The Metacam is a non steroidal anti-inflammatory pain killer. If your Vet was prescribing it for cystitis pain alone then Bun would only need it for the duration of antibiotic treatment. But if the Vet was also prescribing Metacam for suspected spinal arthritis Bun may need to remain on it indefinately. If that were to be the case I would ask your Vet to also prescribe an anti GI Ulcer medication like Zantac ( Ranitidine). Longterm use of NSAIDs can put Bun at risk of GI ulceration.

Is your Bun housed indoors? It may be a good idea as if she has arthritis and is often damp she will struggle to keep her body temperature up. You can help protect her skin from the urine by putting a thin layer of vaseline over the effected area once you have washed and thoroughly dried it.

I hope Bun will feel more comfortable soon

Janex

Thanks for your help, I might try a few of those remedies

Will the baytril still work properly if mixed with pineapple juice? And can I just feed her normal cranberry juice, not diluted or anything in her normal water bottle?

My vet had a feel of her stomach and bladder area today, and said her bladder was quite full, which is to be expected as she isn't urinating properly. She didn't test any urine as my rabbit isn't really creating much, and at the vets my rabbit just clammed up completely and didn't try to do any more until we got home!

The vet also advised me on previous trips to ensure that my rabbit was eating plenty of hay, plenty of water, and minimal or no dry food at all (I had been feeding her excel lite diet pellets) . She also gave me some cream to put on her sore areas underneath, which I have been using, but doesn't seem to have done much.

My rabbit is kept indoors, she has a 3 layer hutch inside, and a large run in the garden for exercise, so at least I can keep a close eye on her. She wolfed down the metacam drops a while ago on a piece of carrot I was worried she wouldn't eat it with the drops on, but she did.

jennie-c said:

Will the baytril still work properly if mixed with pineapple juice? And can I just feed her normal cranberry juice, not diluted or anything in her normal water bottle?

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I personally wouldn't use pineapple juice if you are able to get the baytril into her by another method.

Cranberry juice probably wouldn't work TBH, it's got very little cranberry, and lots of sugar. The cranberry and vit C capsules (available from most health food shops) would be better.

Don't know if it will help, but it's worth a try.