Urinary Problems-

Sorry its a long one!
Ok Im at my wits end with Coco. I really can't figure out what is wrong with him. Coco is a 3(ish) year old french lop cross and has always had a 'skirt' of excess skin which sits around his bottom. He must have lost weight when I cut his pellets as he was having poopy butt probs and now his skirt is even more pronouced with his tail barely visible. Over the last month he has been having problems with being wet around his bum. Its not every day, last week he was dry the whole week and then at the weekend he was wet again and last night he was soaked. I simply don't have the time or energy to wash him, it takes about an 1hr to wash and dry his bum (on going battle with panacur and 9 rabbits takes about an 1hr to 1hr 30 to get it down them all every night) To start with he had a small dogs bed as a litter tray and as it wasn't happeneing every day I thought it was becuase he sat in his litter tray all the time, so gave him another litter tray at the other end of his bed and used his dogs bed as a bed for sleeping in and put some blankets in. Worked well for a little while but Im having to change the blankets every day as he keeps soaking them. Last night I took the dog bed away and just left him with his litter tray and a rug to lie on. This morning he was still wet and there was a massive puddle, he was a bit dryer though. So he isn't dribbling which is what I thought he would be doing if it he was incontinent and it isn't happening every day, so what the hecks going on???? I thought if he had an infection he'd be wet all the time? Or if he was incontinent he'd be dribbling everywhere like Thumper did when he was incontinent??? Could it be his skirt of skin is causing him to wee on himself? Oh god I don't know what to do. I took him to the vet but must admit she is a bit useless on anything other than Harleys snuffles, she didn't want to clip his teeth with him awake, maybe I should take Coco back to see my proper vet. I feel so stressed I don't even know what to blooming well do, someone please help us.
Angela

Oh Angela, poor you. Do you know of any other vets in your area that you could perhaps take Coco too? Are you a member of RWA by any chance? I was just wondering as you could give them a phone and they might be able to recommend a Bunny Savvy vet in your area. I hope things improve soon. xx

Hi Mandy, I didn't explain myself that well, was feeling a little stressed. The last vet I saw wasn't my normal one and kinda proved she knows little about rabbits. I only saw her as my normal vet was off on hols. We have an appointment on Saturday with my proper vet so we will see what hse says as she's pretty clued up on bunnies, thankfully! Thank you for replying though Mandy at least you took the time too!

Got to say thank you all ever so much for your help, next time I won't even bother asking in this useless place!

[quote="Thumps"
Got to say thank you all ever so much for your help, next time I won't even bother asking in this useless place![/quote]

Aaawww, sorry we have not replied to you promptly Angela, but there has been a lot of work for Tams and I behind the scenes today, plus it was my cousins funeral.
I will email you tomorrow when I have a bit more time, but in the meantime, we are thinking of you, and so sorry to hear you are having a difficult time, wish I lived closer and then I would pop around to give you a hug.

I have not forgotten you, and I am sure others will rally around very soon to offer their support too.
Love and best wishes
Adele and all the bunnies
XX

I don't know anything that would help as none of my bunnies have experienced this (one of the few things they haven't had :roll: ) I was hoping Adele [Edit: she has seen it now ] or Jay would see this post as they care for sick bunnies and know loads more than I do about helping them. I figured adding my best wishes would be a wasted post as I couldn't offer advice but I was thinking of your poor bunny and the dicomfort he must be in!

I have heard of incontinence being attributed to a urine infection and a course of Baytril is given but that is hearsay and I didn't want to offer incorrect advice. Also uterine cancer too but as he is not a doe that is not appropriate .

I don't know if you have seen this site before (Tamsin has posted the link a few times): http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html there is quite a bit about bladder stuff and urine scald on there.

Caz

Sorry only just seen this angela
What sort of bedding does he have in his litter tray? just thinking something really absorbant might help so it soaks his wee up straight away so hes not wet
Is he weeing more often than usual?
hope you get him sorted soon it must be difficult for you xxx

Hi

Sorry I haven't experienced this but I would def take him back to see your normal vet! I'm sure that everybody wishes you well, and hopes things soon sort out, I expect that some ppl didn't reply as they had no info to offer as I don't think this happens too often with 'healthy' buns (i.e. there are only a few ppl who take on sick buns like Jay and they would be able to offer more advice than us normal folk!!).

I must say that this forum isn't useless, I know you are upset but we are all busy and have buns to look after! Adele and Tamsin do a brill job, even tho they are run off their feet and v busy!!

Nicola

Hi Angela.. Im afraid i dont really know the answer either .. however just wanted to say Nala has a wet bottom and some days its worse than others... I just give her a quick wipe over every evening with a babywipe and if it is really bad give it a quick dunk. I can see that being a french lop he would be a lot hard to clean than mine tho. Hopefully someone will have some advice for you.

Hiya, its definately a puzzle. There are lots of possibilities so its probably going to be a case of ruling things out and seeing what your left with than being able to say straight away 'thats it'. The first step is probably to test his urine and see if there is anything going on with that e.g. an infection etc.

If cleaning if difficult it might be worth getting his hair shaved, you don't have to go for a buzz cut just abit shorter might help and make it possible to use a wet wipe rather than going for a full bath.

Tam

Sorry guys Im a bit more than frustrated just now and took it out on the forum when I shouldn't have. My comment was in no way aimed at Tamsin or Adele and I know they are both busy with millions of other things to do.
Chris have you trimmed Nala's fur round her bottom, do you think this helps?? Why does Nala get wet?
I have been through this sort of thing with Thumper, knowing what I know now I would say it was definatley E Cuniculi and he ended up incontinent. However I was in 2 minds as to whether clipping his bum fur would help or not. Got to be worth a try I guess, especially if it means I can just wipe him over with a babywipe rather than have to wash him which I am avoiding at the moment. Tonight he will get a nice new hair cut :lol: he won't like it but oh well.
I have left him with some vet bed to lie on, this does make it a little better and his litter tray now has a cover of hay over the shavings, so if he does choose to sit in it all day he shouldn't get any wetter at least. I have used megazorb before but chose to stop using it as Coco seemed quite partial to having a good old nibble on it, I know its supposed to be safe if they do nibble but Coco was hunting out certain tasty bits like how they do with hay and in my opinion eating a little too much for my liking.
As far as I can see his skirt of excess skin really isn't helping and the daft sod is widdling then sitting in it. He has so much excess skin you could make a little Netherland Dwarf out of it and that really is no exaggeration :shock: One thing though his pee is nice and clear, well no calcium sludge at least. He isn't drinking anymore than usual but has always drunk large amounts of water which for his weight probably wouldn't be wrong, a 600ml bottle in just over 24 hours, think thats about right???? Do infections/incontinence cause intermittant wetness?
Caz posts of support are never watsed in my opinion if anything they are just as important to me as those who can help. Thank you for the link as well. In my 'stressedoutness' I forgot to even look at RabRefs.
My guess is the effects of E Cuniculi which they are already being treated for as prevention after confirmation of Sooty showing the kidney lesions. Anyway we now have the vets on Saturday (proper vet) so hopefully we can get somewhere with it.
Sorry again for taking my frustrations out on you guys.
Thank you all for your help.
Angela

Hiya Angela dont worry about anything we understand that you are stressed :wink: ..just to say that if have had a rabbit with a similar problem in the past and we tended to keep all his fur shaved/ trimmed around his bottom , underside and skirt...use a pair of safety scissors and trim away all the wet bits a couple of times a week.
This means that if Coco is incontinent (for whatever reason) the urine can be easily wiped from his skin and not stick to the fur.

We found this to be the best solution to an ongoing problem, and we never bathed the bunny, just used baby wipes, but keeping the fur trimmed to begin with makes a huge difference.
Bunnies drinking and weeing a lot, usually have a bladder infection (which is part of EC), conversely, bunnies can be barely drinking and passing tiny amount of urine and also have a bladder infection.
I wish you good luck at the vets , and hope things improve greatly for Coco and his worried Bunny Mummy very soon.
If you need a chat you know where I am Angela
Love Adele
XXX

Hi Angela

Sorry to hear about this problem with Coco.

Is profleece the same as vet bed :? I'm away to order this and see how good it is for the buns as they have the habit of jumping out the litter trays and marking the carpet with their wet feet :? This profleece seems really thick but I've never had vet bed to compare.

http://www.thedoginn.com/acatalog/profleece.html

Hi Angela

I sent you a pm yesterday with everything I could think of about my experience with urinary problems! I am not sure whether you got it, as it was a while ago, but if you did, I hope it was some help.

Good luck

Poor u and your bun Angela, sounds like a rough ride. This may sound silly but do you think there would be any way of doing surgery to get rid of excess skin? This obv isn't cosmetic reasons but health reasons! Just a suggestion as sounds like it is playing a part in the saga.

Lynn- Profleece is just the same as Vetbed, just as good and just as washable I've got Profleece and Vetbed and I can't really tell much difference!!

Nicola

nicolar said:

Lynn- Profleece is just the same as Vetbed, just as good and just as washable I've got Profleece and Vetbed and I can't really tell much difference!!Nicola

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Thanks Nicola

Bonny has started to drink loads of water and is peeing for England. We have had her urine tested and nothing was found so we are waiting to take her in for a blood test. We have puppy training mats round the room so if she pees it gets absorbed up. She can drink upto 800 ml a day :shock: :shock: :shock:
Hope you find out what is causing coco's problem soon, i can understand the stress and frustration.

MightyMax said:

Hi Angela

I sent you a pm yesterday with everything I could think of about my experience with urinary problems! I am not sure whether you got it, as it was a while ago, but if you did, I hope it was some help.

Good luck

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Sorry I haven't replied yet I will as soon as I can get more than 5 mins :roll: It was very helpful and kind of you.

Nicolar, Thats exactly what I wanted to know, I know there's a thread about skirts somewhere so will go have a look for it. I know surgery would seem a bit excessive to some but honestly he does have a large amount of excess skin all over, around his bum being the worst.

Lynn, I think profleece is supposed to be just as good if not better than vet bed although cheaper I believe, personally have used it though.

Angela

Got to say thank you all ever so much for your help, next time I won't even bother asking in this useless place!

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Not the best way to make friends... :?

I have two bunnies with skirts and neither have a problem with urine... so I am confident that it is not the skirt itself!

I would also look at urinary infection.

Also I wonder what kind of bedding you have, whether it is absorbant enough? I use wood pellets in the litter box that soakes urine up instantly.

Vera

Angela - I guess it is something to discuss with the vet as a last resort once all other options have been tried. It may seem a bit OTT to some, but if you have tried everything and you still have a problem it may be that a bit of surgery is needed to get rid of excess skin!

Thumps said:

Hi Mandy, I didn't explain myself that well, was feeling a little stressed. The last vet I saw wasn't my normal one and kinda proved she knows little about rabbits. I only saw her as my normal vet was off on hols. We have an appointment on Saturday with my proper vet so we will see what hse says as she's pretty clued up on bunnies, thankfully!

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Ahhhhh right, let us know how you get on won't you