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Urine scald!? I feel so guilty :(

Steph_fuzzy239

Steph_fuzzy239

Warren Scout
Hi everyone I'm almost certain that my rabbit coco has ended up with urine scald around her bum. I got her out of her hutch/run yesterday and was greeted by the smell of wee, I turned her over and was shocked to see matted fur, some fur loss and sore skin. How could this have happened so quickly. She's never been very bouncy bouncy so I'm not sure if she Is now able to lift up her bum to wee very well or is she just doing it then choosing to sit in it? I feel terrible that I haven't noticed it sooner :( could there be any other reason why it may have started happening? My guess is that she is around 8, I rescued her from a school, she was kept quite cramped so I think this has contributed to her being a bit hunched. She's not over weight but has a bit of extra skin (like a skirt) near her bum, again as long as I've had her she's always had it, and i don't think thats helped. She's booked into the vets tonight however I'm just petrified that they will think I've been cruel to her. I barely slept last night just thinking about it. She's a great bun so full of life, eats her hay well, pellets drinks plenty of water. I'm so upset by all this :( what sort of treatments do you think the vet will suggest? Thank you in advance x
 
She could have a wee urine infection. My Inca was prone to then and they caused her urine scald to be pretty bad at times.

Don't worry, you have noticed it now and are getting her seen by the vets :)
 
I have no experience of this so can't advise, but as you're obviously upset I just wanted to say that I'm positive it will be obvious to the vet that you love Coco and you haven't been cruel to her at all.
 
Steph_fuzzy239 said:
Hi everyone I'm almost certain that my rabbit coco has ended up with urine scald around her bum. I got her out of her hutch/run yesterday and was greeted by the smell of wee, I turned her over and was shocked to see matted fur, some fur loss and sore skin. How could this have happened so quickly. She's never been very bouncy bouncy so I'm not sure if she Is now able to lift up her bum to wee very well or is she just doing it then choosing to sit in it? I feel terrible that I haven't noticed it sooner :( could there be any other reason why it may have started happening? My guess is that she is around 8, I rescued her from a school, she was kept quite cramped so I think this has contributed to her being a bit hunched. She's not over weight but has a bit of extra skin (like a skirt) near her bum, again as long as I've had her she's always had it, and i don't think thats helped. She's booked into the vets tonight however I'm just petrified that they will think I've been cruel to her. I barely slept last night just thinking about it. She's a great bun so full of life, eats her hay well, pellets drinks plenty of water. I'm so upset by all this :( what sort of treatments do you think the vet will suggest? Thank you in advance x
Click to expand...

Don't be upset with yourself! I had the same shock with Boris a few weeks back, one day fine, next day urine scald. My vets didn't give me a telling off for his condition.

I would imagine the vets will prescribe Baytril (incase of infection), metacam (for painrelief) and F10 barrier cream (for you to put on the sore areas twice a day as it's antiseptic and provides a barrier against moisture).

The causes could be a range of things, but either an infection or bladder problems being the two most likely. The vets may want to x-ray her to rule out the latter (as sludge/stones show up on the x-ray). Arthritis can be a cause in older rabbits, but again an x-ray would show that up as well.

All this comes from my experience with Boris in December and earlier this month.
 
hi everyone thank you for your responses.

the vet that i saw was lovely and she was one that i had seen previous with my other rabbits and i think could tell that I was concerned for her etc. she examined her and she said that she felt that there was nothing wrong with her movement (spine was ok etc) and feels that its an urine infection. she has given her some pain relief, anti biotic and also anti inflamitory to help calm the skin. she has also advised that i keep her indoors (i had moved her inside anyway) and to bathe her and clip some of the matted fur. the vet also discoverd that she may have mites.... another reason why she may have pulled some fur therefore has given me a treatment for that ass well. she wants me to collect a urine sample to double check the infection and to rule out any other problems. Other then that she is perfectly healthy and happy i would imagine.... infact as im sat here typing she is currently hopping about the kitchen finding random pellets and spring greens that i have scattered and is munching away with out a care in the world.
 
Getting a urine sample from a bunny can be difficult!

Glad that she is getting treatment, she should be feeling fine with all the meds kicking in.

She could have got mites as she was run down from the urine infection.

See, you had nothing to worry about, you clearly are a good mummy noticing that she was ill and getting her to the vets :)
 
i know i did think that as i walked away! im hoping that this evening she accidently does a wee on the kitchen floor that i can syringe :roll: thats my only plan so far! I know thank you i think i worry too much. i'm just gald that i can try and help her as best i can and most certainly before it got worse.
 
can i just ask, did u feel that incas wee smelt differnt when she had a urine infaction. i'm really starting to notice that it smells different to her normal wee now that she is inside!?
 
Glad the vet has given you some medicine for her.

Is she litter trained? If not, it would be a good idea to litter train her. It will help now and will help prevent this in future. It also makes it much easier to clean them out :D She needs to have a dry home to help her heal, so make sure you clean her out every day.

Did the vet bathe her? If not, and you're doing it at home, be careful as rabbits normally don't like it and get very stressed, but it does need to be done to get the wee away from her body. If she then gets wee on her again, you'll have to get it off a minimum of once a day, but you can use a dry-bath method some days. Bathing is very stressful for them and it isn't good for rabbits to get their undercoat wet, so a trick I was told on here is that inbetween baths you can 'dry bathe' them: pat corn flour onto their bums, massage it into the fur if the fur is wet, and once the wee is absorbed you can then brush out the flour. This is much less stressful than bathing with water and they don't cold and wet. When my bun had a problem with incontinence, I would bathe properly every other day and dry bathe twice a day inbetween. When bathing with water, I only did his bum, which was quicker and reduced stress, drying time and the risks of being wet.

It's great that she is indoors, that should help keep her warm and dry. If she has a friend that she lives with, they will have to come inside too, or their bond may break. I hope she feels better soon.
 
I'm glad your rabbits OK and you've got the meds needed. Sounds like you've been given what I was given for Boris.

I can't say I noticed a change in smell when Boris had his issues, but yet again his issue was caused by something else other than an infection. I would hazzard a guess that the wee smelling different is a sign of an infection, but hopefully a more experienced person than I will pop along shortly and confirm. :)

In terms of bathing a rabbit, I find it interesting (in a good way) that your vet suggested this. I recall recently being told on here never to bathe a rabbit, ever. That may be because I used a small animal shampoo, but I disagreed with that view regardless, but declined to express that view to the person involved. Anyhow, that's digressing. :) I bathed Boris twice. I gently dangled his hind legs into a small bowl of warm water (properly supporting his upper half), so that only his feet and bottom got wet. He was as good as gold with this approach, not panicing at all. Rabbits will panic and stress though if you put them in water up to their head and this is dangerous as they can get water in their lungs (so I have read). If you do bathe your rabbit, ensure she is dried off thoroughly afterwards and kept warm. I kept Boris on dry towels, with a hot water bottle buried deep underneath, next to a radiator for hours until he was dry :D . Yet again, I kept him outdoors the whole time, whereas you have brought your rabbit indoors so that may be less of a worry for you. :)
 
nessar said:
Glad the vet has given you some medicine for her.

Is she litter trained? If not, it would be a good idea to litter train her. It will help now and will help prevent this in future. It also makes it much easier to clean them out :D She needs to have a dry home to help her heal, so make sure you clean her out every day.

Did the vet bathe her? If not, and you're doing it at home, be careful as rabbits normally don't like it and get very stressed, but it does need to be done to get the wee away from her body. If she then gets wee on her again, you'll have to get it off a minimum of once a day, but you can use a dry-bath method some days. Bathing is very stressful for them and it isn't good for rabbits to get their undercoat wet, so a trick I was told on here is that inbetween baths you can 'dry bathe' them: pat corn flour onto their bums, massage it into the fur if the fur is wet, and once the wee is absorbed you can then brush out the flour. This is much less stressful than bathing with water and they don't cold and wet. When my bun had a problem with incontinence, I would bathe properly every other day and dry bathe twice a day inbetween. When bathing with water, I only did his bum, which was quicker and reduced stress, drying time and the risks of being wet.

It's great that she is indoors, that should help keep her warm and dry. If she has a friend that she lives with, they will have to come inside too, or their bond may break. I hope she feels better soon.
Click to expand...

Hi nessar

She's not litter trained, i feel that this is the case as she is not spayed. my other 3 rabbits are and they took to the litter tray well. she has one which she wee's in, however she also has the tendancy to wee everywhere else. my plan was to get her spayed at easter, as my partner will have time off to keep an eye her (she is an older ish bunny) then come the summer holidays, bond her with my male rabbit woody. the reason its taken me longer is that i'm saving to get them a shed set up with runaround to a run as woody can't use stairs and neither can coco so it has to be on a lower level in comparison to my bonded pair freddie and rosie who like the stairs and have a hutch run etc.
i bathed her last night and she seemed to re-act ok to it and i made sure she had the time to dry out, i also put down lots of towels which she hopped on and laid on which helped dry her. i like the idea of the cornflour so that is something that i will also consider.
 
Steph_fuzzy239 said:
Hi nessar

She's not litter trained, i feel that this is the case as she is not spayed. my other 3 rabbits are and they took to the litter tray well. she has one which she wee's in, however she also has the tendancy to wee everywhere else. my plan was to get her spayed at easter, as my partner will have time off to keep an eye her (she is an older ish bunny) then come the summer holidays, bond her with my male rabbit woody. the reason its taken me longer is that i'm saving to get them a shed set up with runaround to a run as woody can't use stairs and neither can coco so it has to be on a lower level in comparison to my bonded pair freddie and rosie who like the stairs and have a hutch run etc.
i bathed her last night and she seemed to re-act ok to it and i made sure she had the time to dry out, i also put down lots of towels which she hopped on and laid on which helped dry her. i like the idea of the cornflour so that is something that i will also consider.
Click to expand...

just to point out i only bathed her bum area. my partner held her and i used a soft sponge and luke warm water to rinse her etc.
 
tommo1975 said:
I'm glad your rabbits OK and you've got the meds needed. Sounds like you've been given what I was given for Boris.

I can't say I noticed a change in smell when Boris had his issues, but yet again his issue was caused by something else other than an infection. I would hazzard a guess that the wee smelling different is a sign of an infection, but hopefully a more experienced person than I will pop along shortly and confirm. :)

In terms of bathing a rabbit, I find it interesting (in a good way) that your vet suggested this. I recall recently being told on here never to bathe a rabbit, ever. That may be because I used a small animal shampoo, but I disagreed with that view regardless, but declined to express that view to the person involved. Anyhow, that's digressing. :) I bathed Boris twice. I gently dangled his hind legs into a small bowl of warm water (properly supporting his upper half), so that only his feet and bottom got wet. He was as good as gold with this approach, not panicing at all. Rabbits will panic and stress though if you put them in water up to their head and this is dangerous as they can get water in their lungs (so I have read). If you do bathe your rabbit, ensure she is dried off thoroughly afterwards and kept warm. I kept Boris on dry towels, with a hot water bottle buried deep underneath, next to a radiator for hours until he was dry :D . Yet again, I kept him outdoors the whole time, whereas you have brought your rabbit indoors so that may be less of a worry for you. :)
Click to expand...

It was a theory that i was also willing to challenge for the comfort of my rabbit. i said to my partner that we would give it a go and if we felt that she was distressed in anyway then we wouldn't continue. I told the vet that she had been great and she felt that it needed to be washed away to help eliminate any other kind of infection etc. i only bathed her bum area gently and didn't even dip her in the water, OH just held her and i rinsed it away etc.
 
Steph_fuzzy239 said:
It was a theory that i was also willing to challenge for the comfort of my rabbit. i said to my partner that we would give it a go and if we felt that she was distressed in anyway then we wouldn't continue. I told the vet that she had been great and she felt that it needed to be washed away to help eliminate any other kind of infection etc. i only bathed her bum area gently and didn't even dip her in the water, OH just held her and i rinsed it away etc.
Click to expand...

That's what I had to do with my girl when she had a urine infection and pretty nasty urine scald. You must, must, must make sure she dries out 100%, otherwise it can make things a lot worse. It sounds as though you are doing everything right. :thumb:

If I were you, I would be making her spey the priority over the shed, especially with her being a olderish bunny. Although her incontinence could be many things, uterine cancer is a possibility, so I would see this problem as a sign to get her speyed.
 
Steph_fuzzy239 said:
Hi nessar

She's not litter trained, i feel that this is the case as she is not spayed. my other 3 rabbits are and they took to the litter tray well. she has one which she wee's in, however she also has the tendancy to wee everywhere else. my plan was to get her spayed at easter, as my partner will have time off to keep an eye her (she is an older ish bunny) then come the summer holidays, bond her with my male rabbit woody. the reason its taken me longer is that i'm saving to get them a shed set up with runaround to a run as woody can't use stairs and neither can coco so it has to be on a lower level in comparison to my bonded pair freddie and rosie who like the stairs and have a hutch run etc.
i bathed her last night and she seemed to re-act ok to it and i made sure she had the time to dry out, i also put down lots of towels which she hopped on and laid on which helped dry her. i like the idea of the cornflour so that is something that i will also consider.
Click to expand...

Steph_fuzzy239 said:
just to point out i only bathed her bum area. my partner held her and i used a soft sponge and luke warm water to rinse her etc.
Click to expand...

As she is not litter trained, having absorbant litter or something like vet bed in all areas where she may wee would be a very good idea, as sitting/standing in her wee will just make the urine-scald worse. Bath mats are a good alternative to vet bed if you can't get hold of any yet.

Glad that she seemed okay with the bum bath. You can buy small animal shampoo at pet shops which would be a good idea if the fur is wet with wee.

Also, its been mentioned on the thread that some people may say never to bathe a rabbit - whoever said that originally has taken that knowledge out of context. It is true that you should never have to, and therefore never should, bathe a healthy rabbit. But when a rabbit is ill and gets wee/poo on it, you have to. The urine (and therefore ammonia) staying on the fur and skin is what has caused the urine scald, and so it is important (and the right thing to do) to get that wee off the fur and away from the skin, even if it is stressful for the rabbit. Rabbits with incontinence are also at greater risk of fly-strike, another reason why it is important to get the wee off. So please, don't feel like you are doing anything wrong by bathing her, it isn't pleasant but it has to be done to prevent the ammonia burning her skin. And you always have the option of dry baths if her fur doesn't dry all the way through within a few hours or if you feel she doesn't like the wet baths.

Also, just a heads-up - urine-soaked fur and washed-and-dried fur often tangles and is at risk of matting again, so brushing her daily will help prevent this, particularly around the back legs.
 
Last edited:
Hiya, yip, Inca's wee did smell a bit different when she had her bouts of infection.

How you have bathed your bun is perfect, just with water. As her skin is inflamed with the scald I would not put any shampoos on her. You can even just wet a soft towel and use it to kind of pat / clean her with it. Also if she is wet with urine you can use a dry towel to pat her dry every so often even without cleaning her all the time, it takes the wetness away from her skin. I used to just hold the towel to Inca for a few seconds and it would soak up some of the wetness.
 
nessar said:
As she is not litter trained, having absorbant litter or something like vet bed in all areas where she may wee would be a very good idea, as sitting/standing in her wee will just make the urine-scald worse. Bath mats are a good alternative to vet bed if you can't get hold of any yet.

Glad that she seemed okay with the bum bath. You can buy small animal shampoo at pet shops which would be a good idea if the fur is wet with wee.

Also, its been mentioned on the thread that some people may say never to bathe a rabbit - whoever said that originally has taken that knowledge out of context. It is true that you should never have to, and therefore never should, bathe a healthy rabbit. But when a rabbit is ill and gets wee/poo on it, you have to. The urine (and therefore ammonia) staying on the fur and skin is what has caused the urine scald, and so it is important (and the right thing to do) to get that wee off the fur and away from the skin, even if it is stressful for the rabbit. Rabbits with incontinence are also at greater risk of fly-strike, another reason why it is important to get the wee off. So please, don't feel like you are doing anything wrong by bathing her, it isn't pleasant but it has to be done to prevent the ammonia burning her skin. And you always have the option of dry baths if her fur doesn't dry all the way through within a few hours or if you feel she doesn't like the wet baths.

Also, just a heads-up - urine-soaked fur and washed-and-dried fur often tangles and is at risk of matting again, so brushing her daily will help prevent this, particularly around the back legs.
Click to expand...

I'm glad it's not just me who felt the view on never bathing rabbits was wrong. The person who replied to me was adament bathing was a big no no, never use shampoo, a rabbit would never need bathing even if soaked in pee or covered in poo etc . Your post has settled my mind that I was right in my view at the time.

I can vouch for the hair tangling after being wet to, i had to brush Boris a couple of times a day to keep his fur in order, but i had to be careful as he was sore in or near the areas in question. In the end i trimmed most of the fur away.
 
hi everyone :wave:

coco seems alot better already! last night after being on RU i trimmed alot of the matted fur away and the areas that looked sore before were not as bad as i had once thought..... just bare skin really where she had lost fur. i bathed her in luke warm water with a mild soap given to me by the vet that also contained some anti-bac in it and that seems to have really got rid of the smell and she is a lot cleaner and dryer :) when i got home from work i felt that the house didn't smell either she's just got newspaper and hay in her tray and still got the towels on the floor..... changed twice daily so far and that seems to have helped. she has also started her medication today which she took well. however already she is running away from me :( i'm not going to bathe her tonight as i feel she will be ok today and will check again tomorrow instead and i think she's had enough 'upset' recently anyway.

thanks for everyones suggestions and support.

also I am going to deff get her spayed asap as i think this will help with her litter training :)
 
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