Frequent Urination

[EmilyL]

 Hey everybody!

My Abby has been litter trained for a couple of years and usually I can wait a while before her litter box needs to be cleaned. Lately, when I clean it, it looks completely filthy within a day or two. So my deduction is that she is urinating more frequently. She may or may not be drinking more… it’s hard to tell because her water bottle leaks occasionally. I’m always worried about her because it was discovered that she had uterine cancer when I had her spayed. She seems to be acting normally, hopping around, acting excited when I get home, and eating normally (if not eating more hay than usual).

Does anybody have any experience with this?

[emkvet]

Well, frequent urination can be an obvious sign of a urinary tract infection (UTI). Although her behavior is normal, she could still have an infection. Is she leaking urine or straining to urinate? Those are also signs of an infection, and UTIs can be a serious problem. I would watch her closely for any urinating behaviors that are indicative for a UTI, as well as make her a veterinary appointment. To monitor water intake you could get a new cheap water bottle and make a mark on it, then fill it to that level. Obviously as she drinks the level will go down and you’ll know if she is drinking more or less water.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I would say time for a vet appointment, any changes that occur like this can be an indication something is medically wrong. Keep us posted!

[EmilyL]

I don’t know if she has any of those other symptoms. How do you tell? She always looks the same to me when she’s in her litterbox. I will make an appointment for her today!

[EmilyL]

 Ok, I just got back from the vet with her and he checked her for diabetes and it came back normal. She doesn’t have any blood in her urine or anything but he still gave her two antibiotics just in case she has an infection. She was given baytril and naxcel. Anybody know why she was given two? I’ve heard of baytril but I’m googling naxcel now…

[Sarita]

Diabetes is very rare in rabbits from what I understand.

I have no idea why he gave 2 but perhaps they work differently – I’m not familiar with naxcel either.

[emkvet]

Baytril (enrofloxacin) is a fluoroquinolone-type antibiotic, while Naxcel is is a ceftiofur-type. They both treat similar types of bacteria, but have different modes of action. Baytril interferes with bacterial DNA metabolism, while Naxcel inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis. You can check them out on the Merck Veterinary Manual website; I found them both at this link: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/servlet/CVMHighLight?file=htm/bc/tphm25.htm&word=urinary,tract,infection

[EmilyL]

Wow, thank emkvet… that’s an awesome answer haha. If any of you guys are wondering, she seems to be in a better mood now than she was after getting all of those needle sticks. I was proud of her… she jumped when they took the blood sample, but she never bit anybody or anything. And when they left the room she literally jumped from the table into my arms… I was like “Awwwww, my poor baby!!” lol

[BinkyBunny]

That’s great info emkvet. I am not familiar with Naxcel either. I wonder why both were given though- just a double whammy of protection? The only reason I ask is because antibiotics can sometimes cause digestive upset in some rabbits and so I wonder why the vet chose to go with two. Just interested.

EmilyL –Have you noticed your bunny drinking more water?

Keep us updated on her progress.

[EmilyL]

It is hard to tell if she is drinking more, because those water bottles she drinks from always leak at least a little bit. I’m pretty sure she’s going through her water faster, but it could also just be my imagination since I’m thinking about it more. He said to wait a week and then see how much she’s urinating and let him know if it improves. It’s so hard to tell with these things because it’s not like her urine is something that’s measurable… I just kind of have to gauge it with how often I’m cleaning her litter box and stuff. She still seems happy and normal though… I hope she’s ok!! The vet said that other than the issue we came into his office with, that she is in excellent physical condition and seems really healthy! That made me happy 🙂

[3 buns mom]

When my bun was going through an episode of snuffles, he got 2 antibiotics. One was daily dose(s) of Baytril and the other was a weekly injection of Penicillin. I have read that it’s not uncommon to give those 2 together. So maybe this is another one of those that work well together because they battle different things.

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