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Ec and litter trays

C

cara

Alpha Buck
So, my Teddy quite possibly has EC and is being treated for it. His symptoms are excessive and inappropriate peeing. When we rescued him, he was suffering from acute urine scald at the time .. but this is no longer a problem.

I understand EC is transmitted through spores in urine. I have always (25 years, plus) made litter trays up with newspaper and hay .. the idea being that rabbits like to pee, poop and graze at the same time. He has a huge litter tray, changed twice a day.

I am now wondering if this is wise? Am I adding to the problem. A lady on another forum did comment that she would be concerned about her rabbits soiling the hay and eating it.

Teddy does have another source of hay as well. The litter tray works well for both Teddy and me, so don't unnecessarily want to change anything but, I am wondering .....:?:?
 
cara said:
So, my Teddy quite possibly has EC and is being treated for it. His symptoms are excessive and inappropriate peeing. When we rescued him, he was suffering from acute urine scald at the time .. but this is no longer a problem.

I understand EC is transmitted through spores in urine. I have always (25 years, plus) made litter trays up with newspaper and hay .. the idea being that rabbits like to pee, poop and graze at the same time. He has a huge litter tray, changed twice a day.

I am now wondering if this is wise? Am I adding to the problem. A lady on another forum did comment that she would be concerned about her rabbits soiling the hay and eating it.

Teddy does have another source of hay as well. The litter tray works well for both Teddy and me, so don't unnecessarily want to change anything but, I am wondering .....:?:?
Click to expand...

Personally I would rather provide hay in a hay rack (that can be accessed by Bun as he sits in litter tray) and use a wood pellet/paper pellet litter in the litter tray :)
 
I think the spores are in the air, also I have read rabbits won't eat soiled hay. So, it would seem a shame to change to a no-hay litter tray. But, if it seems plausible then maybe you would have to.
 
What I used to do was have a litter, and only put the hay at the front. So the bun would then pretty much always have their rear end on the litter and not on the hay. It wasn't an exact science, and I did change the litter trays frequently, but it seemed to work in the sense of encouraging clean hay to be eaten.
 
SarahP said:
What I used to do was have a litter, and only put the hay at the front. So the bun would then pretty much always have their rear end on the litter and not on the hay. It wasn't an exact science, and I did change the litter trays frequently, but it seemed to work in the sense of encouraging clean hay to be eaten.
Click to expand...

I do this :)

I have a fairly large litter tray, and I put clean - to be eaten- hay at the end that they don't pee. As tonibun says, rabbits won't eat soiled hay anyway.

A hay rack or anything similar won't work for my lot, so it has to be that way, as they love munching whilst in the litter tray :)

Like Teddy, my rabbits also have another source of hay to go to x
 
Thanks for the replies.

I also think the spores (by their very nature of being spores), will float and land everywhere. And unfortunately, Teddy generally pees all over the litter tray rather than in any particular place :)

I may well look for a hayrack that can go over his tray ... that might be a good idea. Anybody recommend a good link to a hay rack for this purpose?

Otherwise, for the moment, Teddy is very much improved. Very dry underneath and 95 percent all pees are in the tray .. thank goodness! I do suspect he is still peeing more than most buns as, although less in the tray - it is not soaked twice a day, I do feel it needs changing twice a day to prevent him having a soaked tray, if that makes sense!

The lump he had, which the vet thought not alarming, is still apparent so I will have to get back to the vets with him. Feeling a little apprehensive, and mean on Teddy as it is not bothering him!
 
cara said:
Thanks for the replies.

I also think the spores (by their very nature of being spores), will float and land everywhere. And unfortunately, Teddy generally pees all over the litter tray rather than in any particular place :)

I may well look for a hayrack that can go over his tray ... that might be a good idea. Anybody recommend a good link to a hay rack for this purpose?

Otherwise, for the moment, Teddy is very much improved. Very dry underneath and 95 percent all pees are in the tray .. thank goodness! I do suspect he is still peeing more than most buns as, although less in the tray - it is not soaked twice a day, I do feel it needs changing twice a day to prevent him having a soaked tray, if that makes sense!

The lump he had, which the vet thought not alarming, is still apparent so I will have to get back to the vets with him. Feeling a little apprehensive, and mean on Teddy as it is not bothering him!
Click to expand...

DaphneandPhoebe has a very good Hay rack. I can't remember where she said she had got it from.
 
I use an old wooden magazine rack for my rabbits' hay and put newspaper, straw and hay into their litter trays. Seems to work well.
 
cara said:
Thanks for the replies.

I also think the spores (by their very nature of being spores), will float and land everywhere. And unfortunately, Teddy generally pees all over the litter tray rather than in any particular place :)

I may well look for a hayrack that can go over his tray ... that might be a good idea. Anybody recommend a good link to a hay rack for this purpose?

Otherwise, for the moment, Teddy is very much improved. Very dry underneath and 95 percent all pees are in the tray .. thank goodness! I do suspect he is still peeing more than most buns as, although less in the tray - it is not soaked twice a day, I do feel it needs changing twice a day to prevent him having a soaked tray, if that makes sense!

The lump he had, which the vet thought not alarming, is still apparent so I will have to get back to the vets with him. Feeling a little apprehensive, and mean on Teddy as it is not bothering him!
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear that Teddy is so much better now - dry underneath - well done Teddy!
 
Manor pet housing do lovely hay rack/ litter trays, bit pricey but lasts a long time and easily cleaned (Personally I think these are lovely but are definitely for people who want their bunny housing looking posh :lol: ). Ikea bag dispensers are cheap and big enough to stuff a lot of hay into? Glad he's doing better! :D
 
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