Change in litter habbits – UTI?

[Karla]

Yesterday when I came home from work, I noticed there was a big pool of pee on one of the rugs. Then I went into one of the other rooms, and same thing: big pool. Then in the evening we are all hanging out on/under the couch when we notice there is a big pool of pee on the rug.

Today I have been working at home and three times I have had to wipe up pee.

It is strange ’cause they have good litter habits and during periods of not so good litter habits they have never peed or pooped in any other room than the one with their cage, so I figure it must be something else…and then I think UTI, but since I have three bunnies, it is kind of difficult to find out which one it is. So what other things should I pay attention to? (besides paying much more attention so I’d actually catch the one doing it)

No one is drinking more than usual (they are heavy drinkers), the pee is completely clear and hardly smells of pee, no one seems sick…although Molly has been acting strange yesterday. She seemed timid all the time. But this morning she was fine – she managed to do some binkies in my bed, jumping on the furniture in the living room and pushing vases and plants on the floor. So not sure if I can point any fingers at her.

I was thinking perhaps giving them access to cranberry juice which works wonders for humans with UTI, but should it be diluted or can I give them pure cranberry juice? .

[Sarita]

Oh goodness, that can be a problem with a pair or trio unless someone is actually showing some pretty obvious signs.

As for the cranberry juice, you want to dilute it. I never could get any of my rabbits to drink cranberry or apple or any other kind of juices. I hope you have better luck.

Do you notice anyone sitting in their litter box or raising their tale more often? Or getting in and out of their litter box very frequently? Those could be signs as well.

[Karla]

I haven’t noticed any of the signs you mentioned, but that might just be because I haven’t paid properly attention. So raising the tail, you mean I should look for signs of not being able to pee?

I just wonder ’cause I’ve suffered from UTI as well a few years ago, and then I’d pee all the time, but not a lot. And here we talk about big pools. Could that still be UTI?

I’m not feeling well, so I will stay home tomorrow and then I can keep a close eye on them and sit in front of the cage.

[Sarita]

Well, it could be that he/she haven’t been able to get back to their litter box to pee because they haven’t been able to hold it in due to the infection.

I think you want to look for repetition, like constantly in and out of the box like they have the sensation but they cannot go or like you mentioned going more frequently but not alot – raising their tail usually does indicate they are peeing or pooping so obviously if you catch the culprit who is peeing anywhere but the box then you will know.

Have you picked any up to see if they have an urine stains on their body where they shouldn’t? Urine stains and scald are normally an indication of a UTI as well.

[Karla]

I did check them all today…mostly because I wanted to check their anal glands (which are non-existent with Karl and Molly…hmm) and so I was looking for urine stains as well and found nothing. They looked really fine (except Jack who never looks fine underneath).

Jack was up on the couch with me earlier today and did lift his tail, which made me worry so I stopped him and he didn’t try anything again. Might be him then… I’ve just come home from shopping and they are drinking their cranberry juice now.

[Deleted User]

did you recently change their litter set-up?

[Karla]

Yeeees…(https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tab…fault.aspx)

It did cross my mind, but I changed it last Saturday and the peeing outside the bunny room didn’t start until yesterday. But I have to admit, there has been quite a bit of peeing in the bunny room outside the cage since the change. But most likely because they have a favourite pee corner, which the cage used to block off. And when I changed the cage setup, I also moved the cage.

MAYBE: I used to change the litterbox every day, but now that the whole cage is a litterbox I’ve only done it once…maybe one of them isn’t too happy about the litter not being changed so often now  I’ll change it in the morning and see if the peeing still continues.

Well, at least they love the fact that I have them suspected for a UTI ’cause they love the cranberry juice. I haven’t even put water in it.

[Deleted User]

Right. You did change it already.
Well, it is possible that your rabbits reacted slowly to the change by progressively peeing more and more outside their designateed area…. If you can rule out any illness then I would just persistently wait it out until they accept the new set-up. Keep their messes checked by cleaning up quickly with vinegar.
Keep an eye out if they decide on a favorite spot to have “accidents”. You may want to add a small litter box there.

[Sarita]

That’s true – rabbits HATE changes that they did not instigate :~)

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