Spots of Urine

[OliverBun]

The last few days I’ve been noticing that sometimes when Oliver hops away from a place he’s been sitting, there will be a small amount of urine there. I was researching this a bit and it looks like it could possibly be a UTI? So, for example, he had his head down while I pet him for about 5 minutes yesterday. Then he hopped away to get some hay and there was a small wet spot where he had been. I had been watching him. He didn’t do his “I’m intentionally peeing” stance.

However, his urine looks just fine (it’s always a red to dark red), he’s not straining to urinate and his appetite is fine. So besides this small amount left behind occasionally, nothing else seems weird.

Is this definitely a concern? Is is possible that he’s trying to mark his territory? I’ve just never heard of/seen this before as this is my first and only bun!

Thanks again for all the awesome help I get on here!

[DethronedbyQueenB]

I gotta leave this to those informed on such matters but FWIW, my younger buns leave little spots in places but they are yellow.

I’ve never seen red.

I found this but you sound like you have looked over the net:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=18+1803&aid=2839

[OliverBun]

Yeah he’s had exclusively red urine for about a year and a half now. I’ve talked to his vet about it and they don’t seem concerned at all. They said he’s older and gets lots of dark leafy greens so it’s not surprising that his urine is red.

However, this spotting is new.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Any new behavior is a cause to be concerned in bunnies. Spotting is a sign of a UTI or bladder infection. The only way to diagnose for sure is to have a rabbit savvy vet examine him.

[JackRabbit]

Thought I’d add something possibly related to this . . .

Marlee’s pee is normally a darker orange, and after this was posted, I started seeing a little pee spot when she would hop away after eating her salad. Last Wednesday the spot was a little bigger, and Thursday evening it was a little larger than a quarter. Off to the vet. The vet tried to expel Marlee’s bladder but there wasn’t enough to test. She said she couldn’t feel any stones. I expected just-in-case antibiotics, but she said she’d rather try something else first. I love this vet, but started having doubts. She gave Marlee sub-q fluids and said that sometimes the bladder can get a little calcium “sand” that can cause irritation and that extra fluid can increase peeing to flush it out of the bladder. I was skeptical, but haven’t seen any wet spots since the following day, and Marlee has been in the best mood since then. She’s *playing* with Moshi, binkying more than I’ve ever seen her binky, and seems to feel like a new bunny! She was doing 180’s in the hallway litterbox tonight! Moshi does funny things like that all the time, but Marlee’s never done that! Back to loving my vet!!

[DethronedbyQueenB]

@ JackRabbit… How can I tell the difference between urine spots and just random young bunny pee spots?
In their pen area they have a top layer of carpet to protect my carpet underneath and they do get pee spots all over it, about the size of a quarter or slightly larger but I’ve assumed it was just baby bunny peeing until one of them let go on my bed and that was a mini flood.

[JackRabbit]

Bunnies like to pee on soft things, and baby bunnies that are intact don’t have the best litter habits. It was just a matter of time before your bed got peed on! Only one of my bunnies (Kieko) was ever allowed on any of our beds, and I had no idea just how much pee a bunny could hold until she let go on my son’s bed! Marlee is a year old and litterbox trained so odd pee spots for her is not normal.

[DethronedbyQueenB]

It was a great mattress cover test!

[JackRabbit]

Kieko just got the comforter, but I think she got the WHOLE comforter. That’s how she got one of her nicknames — Peepee bunny.

[OliverBun]

THANK YOU for that information! That helps a lot. I haven’t taken Oliver to the vet yet. If the orange urine is related to an infection, then he’s had it for over a year and a half. Do you think I should keep pressing the vet about it? They’ve told me multiple times that it’s not something to worry about.

I’ve also been watching him very closely and I see a tiny bit of urine left behind maybe once a day (if that…it’s pretty rare that I see it). There’s no other symptoms of a UTI and he’s acting just fine.
The only other thing is last night he had a wet nose for a while (not mucusy, just wet) and then it went away.
He also snores while he sleeps and sometimes will suddenly wake up and squeak very loudly. It almost looks like he couldn’t breath for a second. Then he goes right back to sleep.
I feel like I take Oliver in to the vet about once every three months and the vet always tells me he’s fine. I hate to bring him in again for no reason. Is there anything else I should watch for with him to indicate that there may be a problem?

Also–he’s 9 or 10 now. So he’s an older, wise bun. I also am not sure if this could be age related.

[JackRabbit]

Orange pee is pretty normal particularly when a bunny eats leafy greens — Marlee’s will be orange even from eating red leaf lettuce. I think older bunnies, like older people, often don’t have as perfect bladder control as younger bunnies and people so that’s possible with your bunny. Has your vet ever tried to express your bunny’s bladder?

I seem to have become an every 3 month vet visitor too. Had the lops at the vet last week and Kieko there yesterday (runny/clear goopy eye). If the vet tells me something is normal, I stop worrying, if she says to keep an eye on something then I do just that. Things seem to worsen so fast with bunnies that I prefer to err on the side of caution. I don’t blame you one bit for running to the vet when you have concerns, especially with an older bunny.

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