Bubble and Discharge

Hi All

Can anyone tell me how often a female rabbit comes into season? Bubble is a three year old Dutch who we have not had from the litter and who lives in the house. We have noticed a browney liquid discharge from her bottom which when dry leaves a slug like trail on the carpet. We have been told this may be from her season but if so she seems to be in season a lot. Other suggestions include an infection or her diet.
Her diet includes spring greens such as cauli leaves and cabbage leaves, occasional spinach and watercress, occasional brocolli and kale, rocket leaves, fresh fruit such as apple and pear, occasional red and non - iceberg lettuce, rabbit muesli, occasional crunchy treats, parsley, carrot, celery and the odd herb. I know there is a glaring omission with a lack of hay and she will not eat this apart from the odd strand of Meadow or Timothy Hay. We are currently trying a Taster Pack fro the Hay Experts, which has not been particularly successful and we have only the Orchard Grass and Alpine Meadow to try.

Can anyone suggest a cause for the discharge and comment on her diet and above all how we can get her to eat more hay!! We do not consider ourselves experienced rabbit keepers.

Thanks.

Peridot:wave:

Rabbits don't have a "season" they are induced ovulaters so that is definitely not the cause. I would get her to the vets to get it checked out..

Also hay is an essential part of a rabbits diet so I would cut out all treats, cut back on the mix until she starts eating hay.

I think you would be as well as to get her checked by your vet

Thank you both for your advice and have made a appointment at the vet for the morning. We will post the outcome and will implement the diet changes in the hope that Bubble starts eating hay.

Peridot

make sure your vet is rabbit savvy as this is rarely the case and without treating as an exotic buns can often get misdiagnosed.

im wondering if it could be diarriaahh has her food changed since you got her? did you mix or start any new foods in gently and gradually? also could it be wee this can be a reddish brown colour too.i agree gettting her checked asap is a good idea as it could range from cistitus to vhd or cancer. hopefully its something minor and can be treated. best of luck and welcome to the forum. also jsut to affirm what the others have sadi rabbits do not have seasons.

:wave: I agree with the others, it sounds primarily dietary. Please don't ever feed iceberg lettuce, it can actually kill them Some types of darker leaf lettuce is ok but absolutely not iceberg.

It is hard to get a fussy bunny to eat hay, you could try mixing the other food in with it so she gets used to the smell/texture etc, I also find that fresh grass works well (I cut it with scissors) as it is high fibre and gets the bun used to grazing. Again you could mix it in with hays.

For now I would cut out virtually all treats and concentrate on a small amount of food (I would recommend swapping from a muesli onto a good pellet like science selective - mix them together in increasing proportions of the new for about 10 days) and a few herbs and bits of greens. That should settle things down a bit and should help to solve it. Giving fewer pellets/muesli and reducing the veg should also encourage your bun to eat more hay - at the moment she may have enough other things to eat that she can't be bothered with hay, a bit like a child won't eat his greens if he has a full bowl of sweets all the time

So to start with I would get a vet check to rule out a womb problem (and also to check her teeth) and second, make some dietary changes. Hopefully that should get you well on the way

Hi All

Just to let you know that we have just returned from the vets and Bubble's discharge has been diagnosed as coming from her uterus and possibly as far back as her ovaries. We have booked her in for spaying tomorrow as this is apparently the only real cure. The vet is hopeful that there is nothing untoward but won't know for sure until she gets inside.

We will keep everyone posted and thanks for the replies and tips to date.

Peridot

Hope all goes ok

Hi everyone

Just to let you know that Bubble has been at home and in recovery since yesterday and is progressing. The treatment was removal of the uterus and removal of mummified kits which had been miscarried and could have been there for a long time. They had not been eliminated and were probably the result of a liaison nearly two years ago with a male thought infertile. She will be fine we hope and has got rid of the high risk of uterine cancer thro the hysterectomy. Pheww and just need to get her eatin hay etc !!!

Thanks all for the advice and hope we can come back.

Peridot