Bunny UTI and Litter Training

[Daisy Rey]

Hi, 

I’m hoping to get some help – and I know there is a lot of expertise here! 

Some background – we have two Holland Lops (BEW – female and tort – male; both are “fixed”). Recently, a friend of mine had to surrender her 4-year-old female long-haired lop. We took the bunny knowing bonding might be an issue; however, I work/ live in another city during the week, so her time with the other bunnies is limited (and they stay in separate quarters when they are in the same city). 

I found out that her previous bunny parents were not feeding her salad, were feeding her a lot of treats, and were feeding her very low-quality pellets. So, I changed her diet. I slowly introduced salad items, changed her to Oxbow pellets, and cut out the treats. She was producing excessive cecotropes and seemed to be leaking urine. The cecotrope situation improved pretty quickly. However, the urinary symptoms did not…I took her to our bunny vet for a check-up and to rule out a UTI. After two vet visits, an x-ray to rule out sludge, bloodwork, an in-office urine culture and an out-of-office culture – and two antibiotics, she’s still leaking urine. 

It appears she is also not litter-trained. Needless to say, she is sitting in her urine which is irritating her skin, matting her <g class="gr_ gr_33 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="33" data-gr-id="33">hair,</g>&nbsp;and leaves her smelling pretty bad. The vet&nbsp;gave her a "sanitary trim" but, that hasn't helped much.&nbsp;</p>

So, my questions are: Has anyone had any experience with this type of issue and if so, was it resolved – and how? She also smells terrible – I have wiped her with baby wipes, I’ve done warm washcloths to try to clean her up – I’m not sure what else I can do, so I’d love any advice with how to “bathe” her without actually bathing her. She’s very matted, but I can’t really get the mats out without trying to work some of the mess out first. 

I am beginning to wonder if the vet is grasping at straws – I’ve spent around $600 thus far, and while I want to do what’s best for her, I also don’t have the expertise to know if she’s getting the proper treatment. We are going to have her spayed – and the vet said she could look around in there to see if there’s something else going on. I’m at a loss – our other two bunnies have been super low-maintenance with regards to litter training and overall health. 

Thanks in advance for any advice, and I’m sorry for the lengthy post! 

[kurottabun]

Is she showing any other symptoms apart from the urine leak? E.g. weak hind legs, lethargy, drinking excessive amounts of water etc.

We had a member here who had a lop that kept sitting in his urine and dribbled all the time. It was later discovered that the bunny actually had E. Culi, which is very common in bunnies. It’s believed that most rabbits carry the parasite but some of them never show symptoms. Even when they do, the symptoms vary widely and although there are specific tests for it, results aren’t 100% accurate. There are instances where results came back negative but the bunny was given treatment anyway and improved.

Did your vet mention the possibility of EC?

[Sirius&Luna]

I was also going to suggest EC… It’s often worth treating for even without a test.

To help get her clean, you can trim off some of the matts, and give her a butt bath. Fill a washing up bowl with about an inch of warm water, then put her bum in it, supporting her front legs so the rest of her doesn’t get wet. You can then massage the fur with your other hand to help clean her up a bit. Once you’ve got her out, make sure you dry her thoroughly. If her legs are sore, you can put some sudocrem on them You could also ask the vet for a shave next time if it’s not improving at all.

What’s the lining of her hutch like? It’s probably worth using something more absorbant, like puppy pads, to try and cut down on the amount of time she spends sat in pee.

[Daisy Rey]

YES! She drinks a TON of water – which I mentioned to the vet. I don’t know if she’s lethargic because she’s been like this since we adopted her. She is an unbelievable love – she’s totally bonded with me (which I love so much)! 

I will call the vet and ask about EC – I had no idea about that, so thank you! 

[Daisy Rey]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 6/28/2018 6:14 AM

I was also going to suggest EC… It’s often worth treating for even without a test.

To help get her clean, you can trim off some of the matts, and give her a butt bath. Fill a washing up bowl with about an inch of warm water, then put her bum in it, supporting her front legs so the rest of her doesn’t get wet. You can then massage the fur with your other hand to help clean her up a bit. Once you’ve got her out, make sure you dry her thoroughly. If her legs are sore, you can put some sudocrem on them You could also ask the vet for a shave next time if it’s not improving at all.

What’s the lining of her hutch like? It’s probably worth using something more absorbant, like puppy pads, to try and cut down on the amount of time she spends sat in pee.

Thank you – I have been working on trimming the matts – I gave her a butt bath the other day…I feel like she needs to soak! She had a “sanitary trim” at the vet’s last visit. 

Her hutch isn’t really a hutch – she has a “house” which has a metallic floor – her water bottles are in there along with a hay feeder. That opens to a pen which is about 8′ x 8′ (roughly) which has a waterproof tablecloth under a blanket. Her litter box is there because she was peeing there the most (so I put it where she was going). But, I think she thinks the whole thing is a litterbox so she goes pretty much everywhere . I will try the 1″ of water…I tried using a very soft cloth with a water/ Aveeno (just a tiny bit of Aveeno) to wash her up…But, she needs to sit – that should help. 

I will definitely call the vet about EC.

Thanks so much! 

[kurottabun]

My bun went through a bout of excessive water drinking (about 500ml in two days, and he was only a wee <1kg Netherland Dwarf), which caused him to also pee a lot to the extent that his pee became clear in colour. I realised that his rear/tail area was always getting wet as well. Coupled with a few other things like hind leg weakness (he had trouble getting into his cage via the ramp), slightly irregular poop size and excessive eating, we took him to the vet and they put him on Fenbendazole (the usual medication used to treat EC). Symptoms improved within a week.

Hope you get to find out what’s going on and do keep us updated!

[Daisy Rey]

Posted By kurottabun on 6/28/2018 7:56 PM

My bun went through a bout of excessive water drinking (about 500ml in two days, and he was only a wee <1kg Netherland Dwarf), which caused him to also pee a lot to the extent that his pee became clear in colour. I realised that his rear/tail area was always getting wet as well. Coupled with a few other things like hind leg weakness (he had trouble getting into his cage via the ramp), slightly irregular poop size and excessive eating, we took him to the vet and they put him on Fenbendazole (the usual medication used to treat EC). Symptoms improved within a week.

Hope you get to find out what’s going on and do keep us updated!

Thanks so much! I am going to call the vet tomorrow to update her. I will definitely mention the EC…especially since, after two+ weeks on the new antibiotic, I don’t see any improvement. 

Thanks again, hopefully, we’ll get some answers for my sweet girl! 

[Daisy Rey]

UPDATE:

I spoke with the vet today – fortunately, Violet seems to have turned a corner. She’s not leaking urine anymore! So, we’ll finish out her medication and then she’ll get spayed! 

Thanks for your advice and support – I appreciate having a group of people who are as passionate about their bunnies as I am about mine! 

[Wick & Fable]

Great news! And oh my goodness that face.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Sofia]

Awh that’s so great that everything worked out , and she is just gorgeous in that picture, so cute

[Daisy Rey]

Posted By Wick on 7/03/2018 12:55 PM

Great news! And oh my goodness that face.

Thank you! She is quite the love (very different from our other two lops)! 

[Daisy Rey]

Posted By I’m with Boo on 7/03/2018 5:30 PM

Awh that’s so great that everything worked out , and she is just gorgeous in that picture, so cute

Thank you! Next up, she’s getting spayed – which should help with the litter training! 

[Author]

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