Help! My poor bunny is dribbling urine

Hi,

I am new to the forum, so I appologise for jumping straight in, but I really need your advice.

I have a 6 year old dwarf lop eared rabbit. He has a hutch outside and last week my eldest child opened his hutch just before bedtime (he was playing outside). I did not know or notice this and it was next early morning that I noticed his hutch was open and he wansnt inside. He is used to walking around in the garden, but never at night. I searched everywhere in the garden, asked the neighbours (later that morning) and had a look in the street. Nothing. I felt absolutely awful and kept checking the garden every couple of hours. Almost a week went by (with me checking the garden every time) and yesterday he suddenly appeared! He was hiding behind a big plant pot. I am 100% sure he wasnt there before because I checked. I was over the moon, because I didnt think he would ever return.

The thing is: he isnt the same. He was very dirty, messy, extremely skinny, shaky and he dribbles urine. I have managed to clean him, groomed him a bit (although he has got a big chunk of knotted moult just above his tail. I have tried removing it gently, but I am struggling). The saddest part is that he seems to leak urine. It smells strong and his backside is wet. I noticed this yesterday when he returned and cleaned him up. After this I thought it would be best for him to rest so I left him in his hutch with plenty of food, hay, water, etc. This morning he seemed ok, but was sleeping so didnt disturb him. I have been in uni all day and when I came back I noticed the smell again and also that he is wet at the back

I am taking him to the vet tomorrow (just made an appointment) but I was wondering what it could be? I dont think he had much food or drink during the time he was away. Could this have done him some serious harm. I feel so bad. Could it be an uti?

Also, has anyone an idea of the costs involved? I know a consultation at our vet is £13.50 but how much would an xray cost for example? Or antibiotics?

Sorry for the lengthy post all the questions. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

lucky he came back....i am so glad that he did:wave:

could he have got hit by something....hed not survive a car but he might have been hit by something like a coke can thrown up form the kerbside. or he may have fallen and injured his back....its not always obvious unless its so bad that they have lost the use of their legs..but it can be enough to affect their bladder and bowels.

being 6 and to suddenly have this..maybe hes had an underlying UTI..or bladder sludge and bladder stones/sludge.

our first buck wasnt able to be neutered for 3 weeks as he had cystitis..he smelt awful when he weed....and he had several bouts after he was neutered.
They xrayed him and he had sludge in his bladder....the vets said..oh yeah just dont feed him kale and broccoli and cauliflower..bye bye:shock:

it could also be EC....it often causes kidney and bladder problems...when was the last dose of panacur?

i hope your vets will be able to help :wave:

welcome to the forum and sorry to hear of your rabbit's problems.
(Is this Sebastian that you mentioned in your other post?)
I do hope the vet has some answers for you tomorrow.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for you and sending vibes for bunny.
sue:wave:

Loads of vibes- it could be anything- ask your vet to do a clean up of his back end though and apply sudocream if there is no infection present. They will probably give you some baytril to give twice daily to clear it up. As suggested panacur incase of ec. xxxxxxxxx

It's very difficult to say without seeing your bunny but there could be a number of things.

Most obvious would be spinal damage as has already been mentioned above. Maybe having been hit by something, falling off something (out of the hutch if it's up high), or being got by a predator but escaping. Spinal damage could cause pinching of the nerves but also if it's painful cause your bunny not to lift correctly when weeing so causing the wee to end up in the fur. May not account for the smell though.

Only an Xray will really show you. At our vets a pair of Xrays is about £80. The vet may be able to suggest spinal issues just by feeling the spine, but would almost certainly need to confirm by Xray.

Possibly poisoning/toxicity of some kind? - if you have any poisonous toxic plants in the garden that the rabbit could have eaten and damaged his kidneys. I think that would more likely cause liver problems but the pain associated with it might prevent your rabbit from behaving normally.

Agree also with the above about the possibility of bladder stones or sludge - that would account for the smell and wetness. Maybe coincidental that it's come on now.

And yes EC is a possibility but not sure about it coming on so quickly in less than a week unless it was already fairly active and the stress of the being out has given it the boost it needed to cause damage.

Only guesses above obviously so really hope that your vet is a good rabbit vet and can get to the bottom of it really quickly.

I do hope your bunny is back to normal soon.

Thanks for all your replies.

The hutch is about 30 cm of the ground. It has a step in front of it so I doubt that would have caused him injury.

I just checked up on Sebastian and he has passed urine in his litter tray and he seems to have sprayed it onto the sides of the hutch as well. There are no droppings in his litter tray. There are some droppings in the straw though, but not much.

He has not been eating much either. He had some fresh greens and some hay, but hasnt touched his pellets.

His legs seem fine. I really hope the poor thing hasn't got spinal injury. Would there be any hope for him if he has spinal injury?

I have an appointment at 2.30pm so I will let you know how it went.

PS He has never had panacur in his life. I did not know he was supposed to. Nobody ever mentioned it to me and I was completely unaware of EC (I just googled it). I feel really bad thinking he could have been suffering (for a long time even). I always checked him for the obvious things like worms, his bottom, his ears, fur etc. I always thought I looked after Sebastian well and now I feel I havent

I hope your baby is ok, let us know how he gets on at the vets.

Positive vibes from me xx

Hope everything goes ok at the Vets xxx

Hi :wave:
Awww your poor bun, what a rough time he has had recently

I suspect he has been injured in some way whilst he was on the loose, or eaten/drank something he shouldnt have

Dont feel bad about not worming him with Panacur. Its a controversial topic, and some vets claim it ha no effect and infact can cause other problems. So not everyone Panacurs :wave:

Sending loads of vibes for your bun xxxx

I have just come back from the vet. She checked him over and said is in fairly good condition, considering he was away for so many days. She checked his spine and checked if he was in pain and she said that it is looking fine. She cleaned his bottom and shaved away some clumpy bits around his down below. She tested his urine and Sebastian has got an UTI. I have just given him his first shot of antibiotics.

She told me he should weigh between 2kg and 2.5kg and he only weighs 1.6kg at the moment. I need to get his weight back up and she said to encourage Sebastian to eat lots of hay and small amounts of pellets, greens and a treat when I spot more droppings. I told her he isnt eating well since he has come back and she adviced to get some herby hay to tempt him. I just bought some and he is tucking in He was also given some invermectim because it looks like he has got some furmites.

I really hope he will get stronger again. I groomed him this morning and he seemed to enjoy the closeness, although he is still a bit shaken.

Glad to hear there's nothing too serious wrong with Sebastion. I know buns can get mites if they are run down or stressed so I expect with what's happened thats why he's got them now

A good food for putting weight on rabbits is porridge oats you can buy them quite cheaply from supermarket. You must mix with water to feed to buns though. I have used it several times to put weight on poorly buns and they all loved them Let us know how he gets on

thats sounds like positive news I am glad you have got him back. How much did you get charged at the vets for the jab Fluffytail? My antibiotic injections cost about a fiver each plus VAT. He sounds like a tough little bunny. GIve him lots and lots of strokes and fuss and plenty of food while he is recovering.

:wave:

Sebastian was given oral antibiotics (baytril). The total cost of the trip to the vet was £24 (which I thought was a bargain!). I have to give him the antibiotics twice a day orally with a syringe.

Thanks for the oats tip. Do I make a porridge with water? Would whole oats be the best or ready break type of oats? How much do you give?

XXX

PS He has been nibbling his herby hay. No droppings in the litter tray though...

Fluffytail said:

:wave:

Sebastian was given oral antibiotics (baytril). The total cost of the trip to the vet was £24 (which I thought was a bargain!). I have to give him the antibiotics twice a day orally with a syringe.

Thanks for the oats tip. Do I make a porridge with water? Would whole oats be the best or ready break type of oats? How much do you give?

XXX

PS He has been nibbling his herby hay. No droppings in the litter tray though...

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Whole oats with water. You can add a little bit of apple or banana too. It's great that he's eating his hay.

Jenova said:

Whole oats with water. You can add a little bit of apple or banana too. It's great that he's eating his hay.

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Soak the oats or cook them?

Fluffytail said:

Soak the oats or cook them?

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I give Grimlock dry oats but I know a lot of people think that this can cause problems as they will expand in the stomach. So they soak them in water first. You can also cook them in water, so it's up to you.

If he's eating his herby hay you could also try alfalfa. It's high in protein so can't be fed all the time but might be good for him to put a bit of weight on.

i am so glad youve got to the bottom of it..pardon the pun.

nasty things in anyone UTIs

one minute everyones giving buns panacur...next its bad.....its soooo confusing!

i cannot add anymore than everyone else here has mentioned...oooh apart from a bit of dry weetabix gains the weight too.

get well little bunny xx

Thanks for all your lovely replies.

My gorgeous Sebastian was dry this morning!!!! :thumb: I have cleaned his legs with a damp cloth, because it smelled a bit of urine still, but there was no obvious leaking. He has had his 2nd dose of antibiotics this morning.

Sebastian seems to be loving his new hay. Its a mix of hay, nettle leaf, marigold and birch leaf. He doesnt seem too interested in his pellets...

I have seen the thread about the hayforpets and I think I will be ordering some from there. The hay I used to get looks rubbish compared to the hay he is having now.

Hi :wave:
So glad hes abit better this morning, thats great news

Just to add, when I make bunny porridge for my lot I put a pinch of oats into an egg cup, add some boiled water from the kettle, stir and let it stand until its thick (ish) and cool. Mine love it with a tiny bit of mushed banana mixed in :wave:

So pleased to hear Sebastian is recovering well.

not everyone panacurs their rabbits- there has been much discussion.
type " panacur " into the search and you could read the various threads and decide for yourself.

Your vet prices are very good- a consultation is 35 pounds at mine(plus meds on top)

when introducing new pellets give some gradually- I would say in addition to his usual food in a different bowl- since you need him to put on weight.

I would offer small amounts of food at frequent intervals - strong flavoured herbs like fresh parsley or fresh coriander (in most supermarkets for about 65p a bunch)will tempt him to eat- though i would just offer a couple of sprigs first of anything he's not used to.

So pleased that it wasn't his spine and that he's on the road to recovery.

sue:wave: