When to go to the vets - advice please

Meg has had a wet backside today. Her little tail was soaked and a little bit down her leg. She was fine yesterday, and she doesn't have any scalding or swelling and has been a couple of weeks without a mucky bum but I'm now very worried she has sludge (although no evidence of sandy urine) or stones since Hugh did (they are related, not siblings but similar tree).

So anyway I know she needs to go to the vet, but she is pooing normally, eating everything in sight, drinking water and running around very happily.

My question is do I need to seek an emergency vet tomorrow or do you think she'll wait to be seen till Monday? I know rabbits can turn very quickly so should I just try in the morning regardless or keep an eye on her and call up if she stops eating or gets lethargic?

Trust her to need a vet on a Saturday night ffs. :roll:

I've no experience in urinary issues, so hopefully someone that has will be along soon, but if it was my bun, I would ring the vets and ask their advice, my vet has a Sunday surgery so I'm lucky though :thumb:
Hope she's better soon xx

I would call the Vet this morning, explain the symptoms and ask their advice as to whether she needs to be seen today.

Thanks Jane!!

They said what I thought, as long as she's expelling urine at all and is eating and relatively happy they would prefer to see her in the morning. So now I get to do the panic'd mummy thing all day and sit here and stare at her to make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary. Which means obviously she won't behave normally because 'why is mummy being a freak!?! Something must be wrong'....:roll:

well we went to the vet yesterday. They had a good poke around of her bladder and cleaned her up, checked her teeth which seem fine. They seem to think there isn't anything wrong with her, she's exactly the same weight as she was the first time she went in so they're happy with that too.

They have given me some hibiscrub to clean her with every night this week and then until she starts cleaning herself as they think she got herself in a mess and wouldn't do it herself till she's been clean for awhile.

Does this seem right to everyone else? I think of my vet as rabbit savvy but not feeling great about this diagnosis as something doesn't seem right with her. Anyone got any advice? She is eating voraciously (even for her) and seems to be pooing normally but she's not being very good about her litter training and she was so wet on Saturday (although not really that wet again, just a little damp). Any advice?

I hope Jane sees your update and is able to offer more advice. Personally, I don't see how a vet can say there is nothing wrong - rabbits don't pee themselves for no reason.

Thanks Babsie, I feel much the same but without being armed with a potential explaination I don't really know what else to press the vet for.

It might also be worth noting that she feels kind of boney to me. She hasn't lost weight apparently but I can feel her spine and hips much more than I think I used to be able to. That having been said I could just be being super paranoid since she hasn't lost any weight at all.....Is it relevant? :?

I don't have any experience with this, but I would be thinking along the same lines that something must have caused/be causing Meg to do this. I hope you get to the bottom of it and Meg is back to normal again soon.

Might be an idea to get into a routine of weighing her yourself, so you can keep track. Though sometimes I think their moult and how thick their coat is can affect how boney they feel.

icklepxy said:

Thanks Babsie, I feel much the same but without being armed with a potential explaination I don't really know what else to press the vet for.

It might also be worth noting that she feels kind of boney to me. She hasn't lost weight apparently but I can feel her spine and hips much more than I think I used to be able to. That having been said I could just be being super paranoid since she hasn't lost any weight at all.....Is it relevant? :?

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I would go with your gut feeling - which is that she just "isn't right". I wonder if you could find a rabbit-savvy vet in your area who would be of more help than your present vet?

I'm pretty sure you can't diagnose a bladder infection (for example) just by poking a bun. Being wet isn't normal and if her litter training is abnormal for her too that does indicate something not quite right. What's your litter tray set up? Is she using her tray or could she be lying in puddles on the floor.

Checking a urine sample might be a good next move.

i would go with your gut feeling and talk to the vets again. it doesn't seem right to me either to be honest. could she be on the verge of a uti maybe? i think have a urine sample tested maybe?? x

Following on from my previous post ............ if you start a thread 'Rabbit-savvy vet needed in (the area you live)' someone may be able to make a recommendation.

Thanks Tamsin! She has a tray in her cage and a tray on the floor in her room and there have been two or three puddles randomly on the floor in various places but we have carpet so even if she was sitting in it she shouldn't have gotten THAT wet. She has also used the soft bed they have in their room twice now (at lesat I think it was her). It is litter tray shaped though so I wonder if it was just an appealing option ....She has nowhere where she can sit in urine, her litter box gets emptied nightly and all urine is pretty well absorbed when I change it.

She has been dry for 2 days now. They didn't think she had an infection because she isn't straining and there is no blood in her urine (they manually evacuated her to see) and she has no tenderness or soreness on palpation. They thought what was happening is her bum got mucky and she stopped grooming it herself for a bit because it was unappealing, which I guess could be true if there was saop residue in the sink when I cleaned her up most recently? Or if the washcloth I used had residual washing powder smell or something? She is trimmed and clean now and as I say, been bone dry for 2 days so maybe they're right?

My vet is supposed to be rabbit savvy, but you have all convinced me that a second opinion is probably a good idea (I do already know of a place recommended to me by the local rescue that they use). Should I rush her in if she's dry and happy or keep my eye on her and see if she has another episode? :?

Yeah, I would check the urine, and just make sure that she's eating and drinking and being normal. Go to another vet or persist if yours refuses... Buns don't just wet themselves for nothing. Also, don't rush her there unless there's something apparent wrong.