urine scald updated 16/8

Terrah keeps loosing fur around his tail and back legs. I think it's urine scald. Does anyone know if this is a common problem with unneutered bucks and how to tackle it? I can't afford to get him neutered at the minute and vaccinations are taking priority.

No, it should not be an issue for a healthy entire buck.

If it is urine scald then it is indicative of an underlying problem. These may include a structural problem with his penis meaning his 'aim' is such that he urinates on his legs, or that he is leaking urine as a result of a bladder problem eg a UTI, bladder sludge or issues relating to him being able to feel the need to urinate.

Arthritis in the hips and/or spine can mean that a Rabbit is unable to adopt the correct position to urinate so they soak themselves.

Long reply cut short, he needs to be examined by a Vet to establish the cause

Good luck

Thanks. I'm going to try get them all in for their vaccinations in the week so I'll get the vet to have a look. I have noticed he doesn't seem to drink as much as the others. He's otherwise fine in himself though, eating/pooing fine etc. I can see this being an expensive vet trip :shock:

That's fantastic news about all your buns going in for their vaccinations - often vets will do a health check at the same time without an extra charge, so worth asking about it then to get your moneys worth Hope it's nothing serious

So I took Terrah to the vets and I wasn't happy with what they said so I've been to a different vet for a second opinion. He's quite underweight only weighing 1.75kg compared to Tamsin who's 2.3, Angel who's 2.45 and Toby who's 2.6kg.
His heart rate and gut sounds are good. No visible problems with the teeth. Possibly a bladder infection so he is on antibiotics and pain relief for 5 days. To review again then.
I'm thinking the plan is to encourage more fluids by serving his veg cut up in a bowl of water. Currently already providing a bowl and a bottle.

He also appears to have retained his testicles. I'm not sure how much of a problem that potentially is though. I've put some photo's in case anyone has any idea's. You can see he's lost most of the fur around the base of his tail and it's quite matted (although he's slightly wet because it was after his bath) pics of his bits on the links.

http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af132/blue_vix/Moving to mums/089-2.jpg
http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af132/blue_vix/Moving to mums/090-2.jpg
http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af132/blue_vix/Moving to mums/088-2.jpg
http://i1001.photobucket.com/albums/af132/blue_vix/Moving to mums/092-2.jpg

I guess as no more replies people think I'm doing the right things? I wouldn't say there's been any improvement over the last 3 days since abx treatment started. He is drinking more though. Has anyone had any experience of retained testicles? Do you think he's just hiding them due to feeling ill? His penis seems to have slimy stuff on it which you can kind of see in the picture but neither vet mentioned syphilis which has crossed my mind as being the underlying cause of an infection potentially. It doesn't look like the pics I've seen online though and the crusty bits are brownish and look more like urine crystals or faecal matter maybe. It's quite stuck though it doesn't come off just with a gentle wash.

Poor boy

I am wondering if he has some 'structural' internal problem going on to be honest. Has the Vet suggested any further diagnostics such as an abdominal ultrasound ?

How old is he ?

He's only 7 months
He's back at the vets on Wednesday so I'm hoping she's had a think about it over the week.

The first vet wanted to put him under a GA to check his teeth even though he couldn't see any problems. Apparently one back tooth is growing out towards his tongue however, the second vet said there is no sign of any soreness of the tongue and it is a very minimal defect so she thought the GA would be too high risk for something which was unlikely to be the cause.

I think clipping all the fur from his back end/undercarriage would be a good idea.

You also need to be ultra vigilant re Flystrike. Being incontinent puts him at high risk.

Has the Vet seen the infection on his penis and did he/she suggest cleaning it up ?

She did look briefly but didn't really mention anything about it. Do you think maybe I should make a list of things to ask her when I go back?

Terrah's been back to the vet today. He saw the rabbit specialist :thumb: She too, thinks it may be an internal structural issue. She doesn't want to put him under a GA for exploratory surgery until she's ruled everything else out due to his low weight. He's got another weeks worth of baytril and a 28 day course of panacur in case he has a parasite that's attacking his kidneys.

I have just seen this thread. Your boy is rather like my Inca (minus the man parts obviously!) Inca is deformed at her lady bits / back end and she gets wet underneath, she has no tail at all and her tail bone sticks into her bits from inside . She is prone to urinary tract infections from time to time due to this.

Basically I just have to manage her as best I can and it really does seem to work as she has went from needing to be cleaned twice a day at least to only needing daily, if not every second day.

What I would recommend / What I do with Inca is the following:

- Keep her fur as short as possible in the areas where she gets wet
- 'Pat' her dry every so often with a soft towel....not cleaning her as such but blotting off the wetness
- Clean her once a day (more if she is really wet / sore) with dilute iodine. I find that this really helps prevent her from getting UTI's as much as the iodine kills off germs at the entry point.
- Apply sudocrem to any accessible skin areas. I change to other creams such as fusciderm or flammazine if she is really sore.
- Give her a 2 week course of antibiotics if she gets really bad. Ceporex injections work well with Inca, Baytril is rotten for her.

Luckily I only really need to do the cleaning and sudocrem most of the time.

Good luck x

Thankyou I will try the iodine thing I never though of that. TBH with the daily baths he isn't getting sore on his skin 'touch wood'. If I wasn't at my mum's I would bring him inside but that will have to be a backup plan for when I get my own place.

I have been charged with getting a urine sample off him which may not be easy :shock: They've given me glass pebble things to put in the litter tray instead of paper but he's not supposed to eat them. May be difficult to keep an eye on with him being outside.

Getting a urine sample can be pointless as when the urine has been in air it can provide wrong results. I would just treat for the urine infection anyways.

You might find the baths easier if you trim his fur down.

I don't know if its the antibiotics or the wormer but the presentation had changed. Terrah is drinking a lot more and is a lot less smelly. Rather him being wet his skins gone really danfruffy/ scabby.



I know it's a bit fuzzy, the little brown spots/patches are like little scabs on his skin and in his fur.

This is still an ongoing problem with Terrah. He's still getting urine scald due to incontinance. Still no closer to knowing why. He's had 2 two week courses of baytril, two full treatment courses (28 days) of panacur rabbit. The vet have kept him in over night and he's got to have a dental. She said that may be the cause and she wants to try that first but i think its more likely to be a result of his poor eating. The other vet said his teeth were fine 6 weeks ago.

Maybe the Baytril is not a strong enough antibiotic to fight the cause of the scald?

Injectible Penicillin might be the way forward? Speak to your vet and see what they say? It worked well for Inca.

the vets just annoyed me deciding the whole issue was probs caused by teeth. Teeth can get bad in 6 weeks if the rabbit's not eating can't they. It's like rock and hard place, i up his pellets to try and put weight on him and he stops eating hay. Sigh.

You could try the protexin pro fibre pellets, they were good for me when I was trying to get weight on Inca and a few others on here have used them for the same reason with good results. I could send you a wee sample of them to see if your bun would eat them prior to you buying them as they are quite expensive.

Been to pick Terrah up. He's back next friday for more blood tests. They have refused to do surgery on him but I really want them to to rule out the retained testicles as a cause. He's come through the GA for the dental fine. He's lost more weight. He's now down to 1.55kg, a full kg underweight
Vet says an EC infection may have caused permanent kidney/liver (?) damage. I'm sad and I don't know what to do now they don't seem to want to do what I want with him. I kind of understand he has to go through the process. I'm also aware that I'm starting to really struggle with the vet bills. I've spent more than half my income on him for the last three months and pts may have to become an option