HELP! Swollen genital area

[Charlie'sMommy]

Hi everyone!

So my male Dutch rabbit Charlie who is 5 years old is apparently having some problems down there!
For the past 3 days his poop was a bit watery, not like diarrhea though. He’s eating and peeing fine.
But today when I came to check on him in the morning I picked him up and saw that his penis and anus
area was swollen. And it seemed like he has something called urine scald? Because his pee is all over
his legs and tail, I’m so worried! About an hour ago I came to check on him again and it’s even worse
I caught him constantly licking down there as well which clearly isn’t helping the problem. I think that’s what
is actually causing the swelling, him constantly licking. I’m obvioulsy going to take him to the vet first thing on
Monday but I’m just wondering if there’s anything I can do in the mean time? Any other bunny parents going
through this or have? I’ve tried to look it up online but haven’t found anything really relating to what he has.
But to prevent him from licking anymore (because I can’t keep an eye on him all night) I read how when
rabbits get neutered, instead an e collar you just the bottom and top of a sock and roll it up and put on their
neck, which is what I’ve done. I still catch him licking but definitely not as much, hopefully
this will help a little. He can still eat and drink and all that. Any other suggestions?

Somehow I can’t post pictures there seems to be a problem with the file size. If anyone is interested
in seeing Charlie’s “problem” down there I guess I can email it to you? Or idk????

[images inserted by Admin]

[Roberta]

Please get him to the vet asap. It sounds like myxomitosis. I hope I am wrong.

[Roberta]

Some bunnies do survive given early treatment.

[Azerane]

Do you have a program for editing pictures? Resizing it to 1000 pixels on the long side and saving it again should help remedy the size situation.

The swelling likely is from irritation, but I just want to make sure, do you see any discharge or swelling from the eyes? Do his ears seem swollen or droopy? Have you changed anything in his diet lately? The amounts or types of food he has?

Urine scald can happen for a number of reasons, an infection is one but a vet will be able to help you pinpoint the underlying cause. I’m not sure I can recommend the sock as a control method for licking, but as long as he’s supervised while wearing it, I wouldn’t leave it on him if you plan to go out. There is probably something you could apply to the area to soothe it, but I’m not sure what is appropriate to use. Best wishes for Charlie until you can get him to a vet

[jerseygirl]

Perhaps he has something like a bladder stone lodged in the urethra? But there certainly can be other reasons as already mentioned. Can you get him seen sooner?

You can put some pure cornstarch on the scalded areas and this might help calm down the irritation. There are also soothing creams like nappy rash cream or bag balm.

{{{Charlie!}}}

[Charlie'sMommy]

There is no swelling or discharge from his eyes, his ears are fine and his diet has been the same. Could this be a case of a bad UTI?

I have tried applying a rash cream to help a little

[jerseygirl]

It could be. Or some bladder sludge.

I friend here had her boy get really swollen genitals one time and as we cannot vaccinate against the myxomatosis virus here, we were really concerned. Luckily in his case, it was just some irritation that caused it but the vet put him on antibiotics in case or urinary tract infection.

[LBJ10]

UTIs and bladder sludge can both be irritating to the area in question.

[jerseygirl]

I just remembered that a warm compress can be used for males when they get swelling post-neuter. I wonder if this would give him some relief if applied to the general genital area?
Thoughts anyone? It wouldn’t make it worse, would it?

[Azerane]

I can’t imagine he’s tolerate a cold compress in that area Then again, if it’s swollen from urine scald irritation, a warm compress may only make the irritation worse. It really depends what’s causing it.

[Piperbunny]

Did you ever figure out what this was? My rabbit’s genitalia looks almost identical to the picture you posted. I am very concerned.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Piperbunny on 12/01/2017 9:37 PM

Did you ever figure out what this was? My rabbit’s genitalia looks almost identical to the picture you posted. I am very concerned.

Piperbunny, are you able to begin a new thread for this? Just click on this like if you choose to do so.

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/afv/post/aff/2/Default.aspx

 There can be various reasons why the genitals may become swollen. The most concerning would be if a rabbti contracted myxomatosis. Some bacterial infections can also cause some swelling. Or physical obstruction like bladder stone or bladder sludge/sand causing some irritation. Also, insect bite or if a rabbit is bitten on the genitals by another rabbit. This is a risk when rabbit mount another’s head or get into a fight. 

Are you able to get your rabbit seen by a vet today? 

[Author]

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