Blood in pee / Red pee / bladder sludge?

[Katy90]

Hi all,

Previous member but lost my account details so new account!
I have a 5 year old dwarf lop called Bailey and he’s my absolute world. I have about 16 years of rabbit handling experience but I was hoping someone might have some advice or experience to share on a situation I’m unfamiliar with….

I cleaned Bailey’s cage on Saturday afternoon and noticed no issues, but by the end of the day I noticed he hadn’t eaten his pellets, only some select veg. Sunday morning he still hadn’t touched his pellets but again was eating veg. I also noticed he hadn’t peed very much in his clean bedding. Since he wasn’t acting out of character and was eating veg I left him to it for the night. Monday morning he still hadn’t touched his pellets and I also noticed what I thought could be blood in his urine, or the tiny bit there was anyway. It was a much stronger red than I am used to seeing in a bunny’s pee so I panicked and called the vet. Bailey has been totally fine in himself other than not eating as much as normal (he’s a keen eater), that said I’m not concerned about a gut problem as he had this before and the change was huge. He was like a different rabbit, whereas this time he is eating but just being super picky.
As the pee dried out it turned to a more normal orange red colour that many bunnies can have but went to see vet anyway. They suggested an x-ray but would have cost over £200 which I didn’t feel was necessary, especially since she said there was no sign of any issue. I brought Bailey home with some emaprid and baytril and was told to force feed him to ensure he didn’t go into stasis. So he’s been home for about 13 hours and I’ve force fed every 2 hours including topping up his emaprid, he is eating some veg still off his back and some small amounts of hay (which he is generally not keen on) but he is still not drinking much or weeing much. I can only gather he has either some form of infection or is dehydrated but the force feeding doesn’t seem to be helping that.
He is still Well in himself, acting quite normally but just not peeing or drinking. Does anyone have any advice on what it could be and what I can do? I worry about him so much as he is my baby but I also don’t want to over react when it could be nothing!

[Sirius&Luna]

Is your vet rabbit savvy?

Did they check his teeth? Often when a rabbit stops eating just a select type of food (eg. pellets), it’s because they’re having teeth pain, and softer veggies are more manageable. Since he doesn’t normally eat much hay, it’s quite likely that his back teeth could be overgrown, as consistent hay eating is needed to wear them down.

If he’s dehydrated you could try syringing some water into his mouth. I’m not sure about the pee issues – I guess he could have a bladder infection or something that is causing him pain and making him not want to eat, but it’s strange that it would only effect pellets, not veg.

[Katy90]

Yeah they checked his teeth, he’s had some very minor spurs for a few years and they’ve not grown at all and vet said they aren’t big enough to causes problem. I haven’t seen any more red in his wees but then he’s only weeing a minor amount due to not drinking much.
Tried to syringe some water this morning but he just let it dribble out, he’s very stubborn! It’s just strange because he is otherwise well, hopping about and being a little pest, he doesn’t look in pain or discomfort but clearly something is wrong as he is not drinking and refusing his pellets.

[kurottabun]

Does he still arch his butt? If he’s still doing that but no pee is coming out, then it might be a URI or some sort of blockage because it would mean that he actually wants to pee but just can’t. Coupled with the fact that he had weird coloured pee before that really seems to indicate an issue.

Did you make any changes to his diet recently (new vege etc) that could’ve caused the different coloured pee though?

[Katy90]

Hi, haven’t seen him arching his bum for a wee so was quite surprised when checked last night that there was some good size puddles there. He is still not weeing as much as usual, haven’t seen him drink much and only eating his veg, not pellets. No diet changes no, he’s still well in his own personality so not sure what could be wrong! He’s on baytril and emaprid and I’m force feeding him to make sure he eats, and making it watery to get extra fluid in. Got another vet appointment Friday evening in case he is no better :/

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