Keeping a bunny's bum dry

Athinlayeroffur said:

I have an elderly rabbit with bladder sludge. She is also arthritic in her back legs. She's on medication but has regular bouts of cystitis which are treated with Septrim. I wash her every other day (she finds it upsetting) with hibiscrub in water and dry her as much as possible before applying Sudacrem. She gets very distressed by a hairdryer so it's a case of the heating being on to keep her warm as she dries. I have tried antibiotic cream from the vet which was useless without the barrier part which is essential. Oral antibiotics are better. It's proving to be impossible to keep the fur trimmed round her bum and tail as she's either wet with washing or urine. She does get sore though and I just don't know what I can do to control this properly. I feel dreadful as I am failing her. The vet has no suggestions whatsoever. I need to keep her dry, but in the UK we don't seem to have the antibiotic powders, nappies etc that those in the US use. Having said that I can't imagine her in a nappy; she'd get it off somehow and it would impede her arthritic hopping. Has anyone any advice/suggestions please?

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cara said:

I have so much sympathy for you.

My rabbit, Teddy, has bladder sludge and quite possibly EC. We have had one really bad bout of urine scald and it was immensely draining getting on top of it.

Teddy's urine scald was awful due, I think in part, to bladder sludge. The vet expressed his bladder and it was really murky and made a right mess of his fur. We had to take him home and wash him. I don't know if it was a co-incidence with the vet expressing his bladder, but the sludge has, for the moment at least, improved.

One tip I did pick up from the vets was about washing Teddy. I had always used rabbit shampoo and the hairdryer, but the vets simply dipped/splashed his rear end with plain water and then pat dried, rather than use the hairdryer. It worked quite well.

The vet also clipped Teddy. I could not do it, for fear of causing injury.

Just a thought, has she been checked for EC? Excessive urination is a symptom. If not, perhaps it would be worth checking out as panacur could help.

The other thing which worked was Flamazine to heal the urine scald. I think it acts as a barrier as well.

You are not failing her. It is very difficult to manage and you are doing your very best!

I am sure someone else will be along with advice - I know I sought it here and found plenty of support Keep your chin up!

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MightyMax said:

Just to add, Cara has much more advice and expertise than I

If you'd like to see something about about diet, there's a bit here:

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

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/calcium.htm

http://www.rabbit.org/health/urolith.html

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ar...t-for-rabbits-with-urinary-tract-disease/view
(click at the bottom for a PDF form of the article)

Flavouring the water with a bit of apple juice can help with water intake (and therefore less painful sludge)

And lastly - is she on any pain relief for the arthritis and bladder sludge? You mention medication, but not sure what? Metacam or Tramadol are what I used for my elderly lady

Good luck and I hope something there helps you

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