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Coco

Angie B

Wise Old Thumper
After having a decent few months of healthy bunnies, it appears that Coco may have bladder stones :(.

She had blood in her wee in November, but after a course of Baytril and Metacam, it seemed to clear. She was quite sore looking around her genitals but was alright in herself, no excess licking that I could see. Anyway, that all seemed well and the blood seemed to cease. Plus, both girls were quite dirty down there with old poo - I was horrified actually as of course it was an open invitation for fly-strike. But now I check them there quite regularly which of course they're both delighted with :lol:.

Fast-forward several weeks and I started to notice dried blood on the newspaper in a morning when I did the litter trays again. Wasn't much, and wasn't every day.

But then it seemed to increase so back to the vet we went last week. She was rather inflamed again around her genitals (Coco, not the female vet!) so another week's course of Metacam was prescribed. The bloodied wee on the paper faded but was still there so I took her back yesterday.

Long story short - Filip had a good squidge of her tummy/bladder and doesn't seem to think it's cancer although he can't rule it out altogether, which is kind of a relief that he doesn't think it is but of course that's not quite 100% not, but he is more inclined to think it's stones. I've managed to get a urine sample and took that in which was sent off last night, I think they're looking for crystals? But the vet still wants to ultrasound her bladder to make sure, which will mean shaving her belly :(. She'll hate it and thus will need to be slightly sedated "so she feels drunk" I said, and Filip laughed :lol: otherwise she'll go into stasis. Coco detests the vets, even for jabs, or a pedicure she shakes like a leaf so tummy shaved and then a scan, I dread to think how she'd react without sedation, I really do. It'd finish her off!

So that's next week I think, or they may wait until the urine results are in, I'm not sure.

But the point to my essay is, has anyone else's bunnies had bladder stones and if they have, how do they treat them? I'm guessing meds and/or laser perhaps? But the latter again would have to involve sedation.

It wasn't until I had to use these plastic type tiny balls on a sheet of plastic to collect the bloodied wee that I realised how much blood there was in her wee, it was quite upsetting actually :cry:. But on the upside, Coco is actually perfectly fine in herself - you couldn't tell there was anything wrong so at least that's something. She's back on pain relief for the foreseeable - her oojit is very sore looking. I feel so sorry for her, I really do, but hopefully it's nothing major and can be sorted quickly. She/they are 7 in May.
 
After having a decent few months of healthy bunnies, it appears that Coco may have bladder stones :(.

She had blood in her wee in November, but after a course of Baytril and Metacam, it seemed to clear. She was quite sore looking around her genitals but was alright in herself, no excess licking that I could see. Anyway, that all seemed well and the blood seemed to cease. Plus, both girls were quite dirty down there with old poo - I was horrified actually as of course it was an open invitation for fly-strike. But now I check them there quite regularly which of course they're both delighted with :lol:.

Fast-forward several weeks and I started to notice dried blood on the newspaper in a morning when I did the litter trays again. Wasn't much, and wasn't every day.

But then it seemed to increase so back to the vet we went last week. She was rather inflamed again around her genitals (Coco, not the female vet!) so another week's course of Metacam was prescribed. The bloodied wee on the paper faded but was still there so I took her back yesterday.

Long story short - Filip had a good squidge of her tummy/bladder and doesn't seem to think it's cancer although he can't rule it out altogether, which is kind of a relief that he doesn't think it is but of course that's not quite 100% not, but he is more inclined to think it's stones. I've managed to get a urine sample and took that in which was sent off last night, I think they're looking for crystals? But the vet still wants to ultrasound her bladder to make sure, which will mean shaving her belly :(. She'll hate it and thus will need to be slightly sedated "so she feels drunk" I said, and Filip laughed :lol: otherwise she'll go into stasis. Coco detests the vets, even for jabs, or a pedicure she shakes like a leaf so tummy shaved and then a scan, I dread to think how she'd react without sedation, I really do. It'd finish her off!

So that's next week I think, or they may wait until the urine results are in, I'm not sure.

But the point to my essay is, has anyone else's bunnies had bladder stones and if they have, how do they treat them? I'm guessing meds and/or laser perhaps? But the latter again would have to involve sedation.

It wasn't until I had to use these plastic type tiny balls on a sheet of plastic to collect the bloodied wee that I realised how much blood there was in her wee, it was quite upsetting actually :cry:. But on the upside, Coco is actually perfectly fine in herself - you couldn't tell there was anything wrong so at least that's something. She's back on pain relief for the foreseeable - her oojit is very sore looking. I feel so sorry for her, I really do, but hopefully it's nothing major and can be sorted quickly. She/they are 7 in May.

I don’t have any experience of this but want to send vibes and hope it’s nothing serious. I had to laugh along with your sense of humour there :lol:
 
After having a decent few months of healthy bunnies, it appears that Coco may have bladder stones :(.

She had blood in her wee in November, but after a course of Baytril and Metacam, it seemed to clear. She was quite sore looking around her genitals but was alright in herself, no excess licking that I could see. Anyway, that all seemed well and the blood seemed to cease. Plus, both girls were quite dirty down there with old poo - I was horrified actually as of course it was an open invitation for fly-strike. But now I check them there quite regularly which of course they're both delighted with :lol:.

Fast-forward several weeks and I started to notice dried blood on the newspaper in a morning when I did the litter trays again. Wasn't much, and wasn't every day.

But then it seemed to increase so back to the vet we went last week. She was rather inflamed again around her genitals (Coco, not the female vet!) so another week's course of Metacam was prescribed. The bloodied wee on the paper faded but was still there so I took her back yesterday.

Long story short - Filip had a good squidge of her tummy/bladder and doesn't seem to think it's cancer although he can't rule it out altogether, which is kind of a relief that he doesn't think it is but of course that's not quite 100% not, but he is more inclined to think it's stones. I've managed to get a urine sample and took that in which was sent off last night, I think they're looking for crystals? But the vet still wants to ultrasound her bladder to make sure, which will mean shaving her belly :(. She'll hate it and thus will need to be slightly sedated "so she feels drunk" I said, and Filip laughed :lol: otherwise she'll go into stasis. Coco detests the vets, even for jabs, or a pedicure she shakes like a leaf so tummy shaved and then a scan, I dread to think how she'd react without sedation, I really do. It'd finish her off!

So that's next week I think, or they may wait until the urine results are in, I'm not sure.

But the point to my essay is, has anyone else's bunnies had bladder stones and if they have, how do they treat them? I'm guessing meds and/or laser perhaps? But the latter again would have to involve sedation.

It wasn't until I had to use these plastic type tiny balls on a sheet of plastic to collect the bloodied wee that I realised how much blood there was in her wee, it was quite upsetting actually :cry:. But on the upside, Coco is actually perfectly fine in herself - you couldn't tell there was anything wrong so at least that's something. She's back on pain relief for the foreseeable - her oojit is very sore looking. I feel so sorry for her, I really do, but hopefully it's nothing major and can be sorted quickly. She/they are 7 in May.

Poor girlie :cry: If she has bladder stones then they would have to be surgically removed- a Cystotomy. It may be that she 'just' has bladder sludge which can be cleared by either diuresis/manual bladder expression or catheterisation and flushing of the bladder under sedation/GA.

Blood tests are usually recommended to assess kidney function. An abdominal U/S would show not only bladder stones, if there are any, but it would also show if there were any kidney stones too.

More information on these links :

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Differentials/Blood_urine.htm

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

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Mech_diseases/Urolithiasis.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Urolithiasis.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00.../Indiv_TechniquesRabbit/Cystotomy_Rabbits.htm

Sending lots of vibes for Coco xx
 
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After having a decent few months of healthy bunnies, it appears that Coco may have bladder stones :(.

She had blood in her wee in November, but after a course of Baytril and Metacam, it seemed to clear. She was quite sore looking around her genitals but was alright in herself, no excess licking that I could see. Anyway, that all seemed well and the blood seemed to cease. Plus, both girls were quite dirty down there with old poo - I was horrified actually as of course it was an open invitation for fly-strike. But now I check them there quite regularly which of course they're both delighted with :lol:.

Fast-forward several weeks and I started to notice dried blood on the newspaper in a morning when I did the litter trays again. Wasn't much, and wasn't every day.

But then it seemed to increase so back to the vet we went last week. She was rather inflamed again around her genitals (Coco, not the female vet!) so another week's course of Metacam was prescribed. The bloodied wee on the paper faded but was still there so I took her back yesterday.

Long story short - Filip had a good squidge of her tummy/bladder and doesn't seem to think it's cancer although he can't rule it out altogether, which is kind of a relief that he doesn't think it is but of course that's not quite 100% not, but he is more inclined to think it's stones. I've managed to get a urine sample and took that in which was sent off last night, I think they're looking for crystals? But the vet still wants to ultrasound her bladder to make sure, which will mean shaving her belly :(. She'll hate it and thus will need to be slightly sedated "so she feels drunk" I said, and Filip laughed :lol: otherwise she'll go into stasis. Coco detests the vets, even for jabs, or a pedicure she shakes like a leaf so tummy shaved and then a scan, I dread to think how she'd react without sedation, I really do. It'd finish her off!

So that's next week I think, or they may wait until the urine results are in, I'm not sure.

But the point to my essay is, has anyone else's bunnies had bladder stones and if they have, how do they treat them? I'm guessing meds and/or laser perhaps? But the latter again would have to involve sedation.

It wasn't until I had to use these plastic type tiny balls on a sheet of plastic to collect the bloodied wee that I realised how much blood there was in her wee, it was quite upsetting actually :cry:. But on the upside, Coco is actually perfectly fine in herself - you couldn't tell there was anything wrong so at least that's something. She's back on pain relief for the foreseeable - her oojit is very sore looking. I feel so sorry for her, I really do, but hopefully it's nothing major and can be sorted quickly. She/they are 7 in May.


Hi Angie

Really sorry to hear about Coco, what a worry!

I have had rabbits who have had the exploratories for bladder stones and also crystals in the bladder. The vet can take an X-ray or do an ultrasound, whichever they feel will be most useful. Both can cause the symptoms you indicate - crystals/sediment will aggravate the bladder and also make it easier for any infection to return.

I've found the info here very useful:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Mech_diseases/Urolithiasis.htm


I've also found that some rabbits behave, as Coco is, absolutely normally and would wouldn't know anything was going on. Well done you for spotting it.
 
Thank you JJ and MM for your links, they were very interesting :).

One thing I did note was this;

"A rabbit suffering from stones is often in pain. As a result, its appetite is decreased, it is depressed and it may whine when urinating. Often, frequent and long urination is observed, accompanied by urine dribbling. In some cases, the urine is so rich in sediments (calcium carbonate) that the urine takes a paste-like consistency, and stains the perianal region."

But Coco isn't showing pain, she is still eating well - although I have to admit takes her time coming to the food bowl lately, but eats hay like normal - but is definitely not depressed and I've seen her urinate and she hasn't whined (although it says "may" and not "will"). And there's no staining of her nether regions either (but they are inflamed and very sore looking), nor dribbling, and it's thin wee as normal. So that paragraph does not describe her at all, bizarrely. It does seem to fit more with cystitis so I'll ask the vet the next time we speak, unless of course the urine sample proves the crystals from stones are there.

Those photos are horrible and it appears that surgery is the only option to get rid, which is quite a worry but if that's the only way then what must be done will be done, and what will be will be :(.

Poor bunny :(.
 
Thank you JJ and MM for your links, they were very interesting :).

One thing I did note was this;

"A rabbit suffering from stones is often in pain. As a result, its appetite is decreased, it is depressed and it may whine when urinating. Often, frequent and long urination is observed, accompanied by urine dribbling. In some cases, the urine is so rich in sediments (calcium carbonate) that the urine takes a paste-like consistency, and stains the perianal region."

But Coco isn't showing pain, she is still eating well - although I have to admit takes her time coming to the food bowl lately, but eats hay like normal - but is definitely not depressed and I've seen her urinate and she hasn't whined (although it says "may" and not "will"). And there's no staining of her nether regions either (but they are inflamed and very sore looking), nor dribbling, and it's thin wee as normal. So that paragraph does not describe her at all, bizarrely. It does seem to fit more with cystitis so I'll ask the vet the next time we speak, unless of course the urine sample proves the crystals from stones are there.

Those photos are horrible and it appears that surgery is the only option to get rid, which is quite a worry but if that's the only way then what must be done will be done, and what will be will be :(.

Poor bunny :(.


Tricky one Angie, and I hope it isn't stones ..

Looking at this article:

https://wagwalking.com/rabbit/condition/urinary-tract-stones

Rabbits don't often show any signs of discomfort or pain which is why clinical signs at home can go unnoticed. If at any time you notice a change in urination, contact your veterinarian immediately.



.... so would appear there can be discrepancy between rabbits as to how they will behave.

When my rabbit had a urinary tract infection we ruled out sludge/crystals and stones and made sure we were treating only a bacterial infection.

Hope she'll be OK x
 
Sending lots of vibes for Coco. I hope that it's something simple that can be treated easily.
 
Thank you both :). I'll certainly mention UTI as well, MM. I think that's why Filip wants to do an ultrasound as well, to see if he can see stones as the scan should show them up even if they're only small, apparently. I hope it's not stones - my husband doesn't think she'll survive surgery :shock: :cry:.
 
Thank you both :). I'll certainly mention UTI as well, MM. I think that's why Filip wants to do an ultrasound as well, to see if he can see stones as the scan should show them up even if they're only small, apparently. I hope it's not stones - my husband doesn't think she'll survive surgery :shock: :cry:.


I hope it isn't stones.

Is the ultrasound booked?
 
I hope it's not stones - my husband doesn't think she'll survive surgery :shock: :cry:.

Hopefully the U/S wont show any stones. I have had a few Rabbits who have undergone Cystotomies and they all did well. One Bunny was 11 when she had the op' ! So almost 7 is not 'old' as such :)
 
Thank you both :). I'll certainly mention UTI as well, MM. I think that's why Filip wants to do an ultrasound as well, to see if he can see stones as the scan should show them up even if they're only small, apparently. I hope it's not stones - my husband doesn't think she'll survive surgery :shock: :cry:.


When do you get the urine sample results back Angie?
 
I hope it isn't stones.

Is the ultrasound booked?

Hopefully the U/S wont show any stones. I have had a few Rabbits who have undergone Cystotomies and they all did well. One Bunny was 11 when she had the op' ! So almost 7 is not 'old' as such :)

No, the ultrasound's not booked yet but I think it will be this week. She will be lightly sedated for that as she shakes like a leaf for a general check over and/or a pedicure, so she wouldn't cope with being shaved and then an u/s so at least they'll have an idea what her reaction to a light dose would be.

With luck the results from the urine test won't show any crystals so it'll mean it's something more easily treated, but we'll see. I think Adrian's worried because she's, erm, fat and so frightened, but hopefully she'll be okay. But we can't leave her as she is as something is evidently very wrong. We just hope she doesn't need an op.
 
No, the ultrasound's not booked yet but I think it will be this week. She will be lightly sedated for that as she shakes like a leaf for a general check over and/or a pedicure, so she wouldn't cope with being shaved and then an u/s so at least they'll have an idea what her reaction to a light dose would be.

With luck the results from the urine test won't show any crystals so it'll mean it's something more easily treated, but we'll see. I think Adrian's worried because she's, erm, fat and so frightened, but hopefully she'll be okay. But we can't leave her as she is as something is evidently very wrong. We just hope she doesn't need an op.


Oh poor wee darling. I got urine test results back within 2 days after they were sent off to the lab.

Do you use low calcium water?
 
Oh poor wee darling. I got urine test results back within 2 days after they were sent off to the lab.

Do you use low calcium water?

Phoned the vets this morning, the results should be back today and Filip should hopefully ring this afternoon with the results. Depending on what the results are will decide whether or not an ultrasound will be needed.

No, we just use tap water which I believe is soft as we don't have to add salt in our dishwasher - I think if it was hard we would have to. We also get very little scale around bath taps etc which is also an indication of soft water. So I think in that case we don't have much calcium in our cold water.
 
Phoned the vets this morning, the results should be back today and Filip should hopefully ring this afternoon with the results. Depending on what the results are will decide whether or not an ultrasound will be needed.

No, we just use tap water which I believe is soft as we don't have to add salt in our dishwasher - I think if it was hard we would have to. We also get very little scale around bath taps etc which is also an indication of soft water. So I think in that case we don't have much calcium in our cold water.

This should tell you

https://www.nwl.co.uk/_assets/documents/3122_web_pdf_-_water_hardness.pdf
 
When we had our dishwasher we had to phone the water company to see how much salt to add - and they told us none as our water was soft, so I'm going by that. But thank you for that link, Jane.

I've just spoken to the vet. Filip's had partial results back (it was the office manager who rang me, sadly he didn't know what results they were, just had the message from Filip to ring me). Because of the results Filip does want to do an ultrasound on Coco's abdomen so I'm to take her in on Wednesday morning, by 9am, and he'll do it around 11am. She'll be placed on a drip so her bladder is full - she'll be delighted I'm sure. She'll be lightly sedated for both procedures, I will make sure they do it for the shaving otherwise she'll pass out!
 
When we had our dishwasher we had to phone the water company to see how much salt to add - and they told us none as our water was soft, so I'm going by that. But thank you for that link, Jane.

I've just spoken to the vet. Filip's had partial results back (it was the office manager who rang me, sadly he didn't know what results they were, just had the message from Filip to ring me). Because of the results Filip does want to do an ultrasound on Coco's abdomen so I'm to take her in on Wednesday morning, by 9am, and he'll do it around 11am. She'll be placed on a drip so her bladder is full - she'll be delighted I'm sure. She'll be lightly sedated for both procedures, I will make sure they do it for the shaving otherwise she'll pass out!

I hope that all will go well for her on Wednesday xx
 
Phoned the vets this morning, the results should be back today and Filip should hopefully ring this afternoon with the results. Depending on what the results are will decide whether or not an ultrasound will be needed.

No, we just use tap water which I believe is soft as we don't have to add salt in our dishwasher - I think if it was hard we would have to. We also get very little scale around bath taps etc which is also an indication of soft water. So I think in that case we don't have much calcium in our cold water.


It sounds like your tap water is quite OK Angie, and not containing a lot of calcium :)
(for the rabbits, that is!)
 
Ultrasound was done this morning but Coco appears to have sludge in her bladder as well which gave them problems when doing the U/S so they phoned and said they were going to do an xray as well. This proved inconclusive - there is something there but they're not sure what as it didn't show up very well in the xray either. Luckily they didn't need to shave or clip Coco's fur, they simply used masses of the gel instead to wet it. It's non-toxic and they wiped her down after by the look of it, so she'll be able to wash the rest off herself. She stinks though so I'm so glad I took them both in as normal or I fear Thumper would have rejected her the smell is so bad! She's now on a special medication twice a day - I must google it actually/read the leaflet to find out exactly what it's for. Filip said it's an antibiotic but quite a strong one as it has to be diluted when given as it's very alkaline, so I think it's to help break down the crystals which are definitely present. There's NO BLOOD in her urine though, that result was a definite negative so Filip thinks it's the bacteria and sludge and crystals coming out in her wee which is giving the colour, even though it's drying brown, but if the tests say no blood then I can't argue with that - but it is a relief.

Filip is going to talk to a specialist friend of his and also send him all of the results. This may end up with us taking Coco (and Thumper) on a 1.5hr car journey to this chap's clinic where they have special endoscopy equipment for them to give Coco a GA and insert said endoscopy into her genitals so they can get a camera up there into the bladder to have a proper look to see what's in there. We'll know on Friday or the weekend what's happening as he's got to phone him and it's to do with shifts etc. so he reckons it'll be Friday before we hear.

So for now, Coco's on pain relief daily, plus this new stuff twice a day. She's absolutely delighted at being manhandled so much :lol: as I'm sure you can imagine, poor thing! :( But with luck she'll soon be sorted out. She's fine in herself though despite the manhandling (so far anyway!), which is fab :thumb:.
 
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