Brandy's damp bottom

Hi everyone - I'm not a regular visitor here but I would really appreciate some advice please.

My rabbit Brandy, an English lop, 3 years old and spayed seems always to have a wet bottom. Two weeks ago at her VHD booster appointment, my vet started talking to me about E-cuniculi. He gave me loads of stuff to read and I got a lot of info from the links on here as well. But I'm just not convinced that's what she has!

The first week she had a urine scald for which we were given an ointment which quickly cleared it up. At that time she was incontinent and her urine was a bright traffic cone orange colour. Our vet prescribed a course of Baytril and she quickly picked up - no longer incontinent and the fur around her rear end was staying dry. I suspected she'd maybe had cystitis or something like that.

At the follow up appointment last weekend, the vet said this was a good sign, but didn't mean that she didn't have E Cuniculi. He said he wnated to withdraw the Baytril and see what happened. Today (5 days after withdrawing the Baytril) the fur around her rear is damp again, although there are no other symptoms. She's eating and drinking normally, enjoying her free range time binkying around the garden with her mate Barney and seeming completely her normal self.

We're back to the vet on Monday, where I suspect he'll be talking about EC again. What questions should I be asking? I've already told him I want to try anything and everything that will help Brandy. She had a really rough start in life, I rescued her and her sister 15 months ago (sadly we lost her sister last Christmas to a fox ) and I really want to see her enjoying life as she deserves to.

Sorry for long post - I hope someone will be able to advise/reassure me

I have no advice sorry, just bumping this up a bit to see if someone who knows what they are talking about will help

Sorry that your bun has been having a few problems.

When you see your vet, you could ask her to run some blood tests - they can send off a test for EC, but it takes two weeks to come back and only shows if the bun has been exposed to EC at some point....it doesnt tell you whether its an active infection or a past one (if that makes sense). So if the vet suspects its EC she may advise you start treatment before the result comes back.

She could also run bloods at the same time to check for calcium levels and/or kidney function.

Other questions you could ask are: is it possible it is a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) or cystitis? Is it possible for there to be bladder sludge or stones at all? What other things could be causing these symptoms? What diagnostic tests would she recommend? Is there anything else that could be an issue, such as dental or mobility problems at all?

When you clean your bunny's bottom, it may be worth applying a thin layer of sudocrem (nappy rash cream) which soothes and protects the skin. It is important to try to prevent bunny from sitting on its urine, so mop up any puddles straight away, and if you have any vet bed it may be worth putting that down as it draws the moisture away from the top layer. I use puppy pads in the pen as I can change these straight away (they stay damp on top so do need changing as soon as possible after) although I can't literally put them everywhere so sometimes he does a wee off of these and I still have to mop it up.

Hope its just a temporary thing and you can get your bunny the right treatment.

I had the exact same with my rabbit Ellie, the other week. I posted up on here under "advice about UTI infection and urine scald" or something similar. Unfortunately I lost her on Tuesday but due to anaesthetic (not the urine problems) as I thought it may be her teeth causing her bother. She was a dental bun and had regular dentals. I'm thinking maybe she had an underlying problem which caused her incontinence and persistent wet bum which made her more susceptible to the anaesthetic. Feel free to read through my post as I had alot of help and suggestions.
Unfortunately I didn't test for EC as I was going to try the dental first, obviously I'll never know now what was making her ill.

I do hope you find a solution. Please try to avoid anaesthetic while she is poorly.

xx

Just want to make one point.

If the problem came back when removing Baytril, it says to my UNtrained brain, that an infection of some sort is causing the problem.

Baytril is an antibiotic? Or not? (i really can't remember - memory loss is one of my symptoms lol)

IF Baytril is an antibiotic, and when removed, the problem comes back, then the alarm bells would ring infection (common sense - EDIT: that was a dig at me, not you xx) OR a flipping big coincidence!

Going by the above, I would be concentrating on infections.

However, I know I'm not a bunny, but... I was completely incontinent before I saw the guys in the hospital (the department has just slipped my mind!)

They put me on meds for overactive bladder, I'm nearly 100% better, with the odd few accidents.

Shot in the dark, I know, but worth asking about. Though, I don't think you can put a bun on vesicare! lol

Thanks everyone

Helgalush, I'll be asking those questions, thank you.
Vegan Bunny, I'm so sorry about Ellie I'm going to read through your thread next.
Beowulf, thank you - yes, Baytril is an antibiotic and your thoughts echo what I've been thinking, that it's an infection of some kind. Everything I've read about EC suggests to me that if it was that a wet bottom would be the least of Brandy's problems! And she has no other symptoms though she is wet again this morning :?

Thanks for the reminder about vet bed - where can I buy it? I might try and get some puppy pads to tide me over and put them in the places where she likes to settle.
I'll keep you posted, thanks again everyone

I would second some kind of infection, UTI perhaps also.

How long was the course of Baytril ? Sometimes a long course, maybe 14 days, is needed for UTI

Has a urine sample been tested ?

I also agree re the possibility of bladder sludge, so perhaps you could discuss this with the Vet too


http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/UrineScaldingRabbit.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Cystitis_Ele.htm

Thanks for those links Jacks-Jane - very helpful.

SO maybe I need to take urine sample along with us to Monday's follow up appointment? Any tips on how to get such sample??

Some pet shops sell vet bed or you can buy some online, the Hay Experts do it but not sure if they are the cheapest place though: https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Blankeys+%2526+Bedding.29/

Not sure if it's helping Brandy at all... but she really is loving her vet bed!
We've put it on the table she loves to lie on and have spread puppy pads out on the floor of her shed. Hopefully this will eman no puddles of wee to sit in :roll:

Back to the vet tomorrow evening - planning to ask him if we can give a 2 week course of anti biotic. Coupled with the vet bed/puppy pads maybe that will sort the problem? Here's hoping anyway

Have you managed to get a sample yet? When I have had to do so I have washed out one of my post op cages and rinsed them with clean running water. Add a bowl of water and hay on the outside in a pile on the floor or using a rack so that it only comes into the cage when bun eats it and there's none on the floor to contaminate the sample. Then wait. I was fortunate though, my vet gave me dipsticks home with the chart and a note of what to check for so I didn't have to get a sample in a bottle. Good luck and hope it gets you an answer.