Frequent UTI’s

[Orejona]

Has anyone had experience with frequent UTI’s with their bunny? From Aug of 2017 to Jan of 2019, she has had 4 UTI infections. She is on low calcium diet which is working because each time she has had a urinalysis there are no crystals in her urine. Affer my last trip to vet, my vet said I was doing everything right but this was just the way Zinnia is going to be. The vet clinic I go to is rabbit savvy but several of the vets are not as experienced as the 2 original vets at the clinic. I’m worried that someday soon that antibiotics are not going to work any more and I will be too broke to care for her and my other 2 rabbits. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks for reading my long post.

[jerseygirl]

Hi Orejona
Im sorry she is having ongoing issues. What antibiotic has been helpful to overcome the infections? How long is she typically on it each time?
Have you had any xrays done? This could show if there are any stones or sediment build up at all.

No crystals in her urine sounds unusual to me. Rabbits should pass some sediment. Is her urine any particular colour or colourless?
Is she getting urine on her fur around her genitals at all?
Is she peeing outside of the litterbox more?

Does she seem conscious that she is uriniating or is she just leaving drips around or puddles while napping?

I do recall a member getting on top of chronic urinary infection by stopping the cycle where the rabbit seemed to be re-infecting themselves. While their rabbit was on an oral antibiotic, they also routinely wiped her butt area with pet safe wet wipes that contained an antimicrobial.

 If a rabbit is getting soiled, a sanitary shave around the genitals can help stop the urine collecting in the fur, causing skin irritation and re-infection.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Are they sure it’s a UTI and not EC? It could be that EC is manifesting itself in urinary symptoms. My boy Bombur has EC and it always manifests itself as urinary symptoms, basically mimicking a UTI. The test for EC is expensive, and often unreliable as it can yield a false negative (meaning your bun does have it but unless he’s in the top tier of infection it won’t show up in a test). You could ask to treat with a 28 day course of Panacur to be safe and see if that helps any. But unlike an antibiotic, Panacur takes some time to work so you’re not going to be blown away by immediate improvement, and sometimes it takes back to back courses of the drug.

[Orejona]

Thank you for the responses. She has had x-rays, blood work and a full body cat scan. We thought she might have cancer since her white blood cell count is high but come to find out that is normal for her. She is actually very clean and the only time she urinated outside the litter box is when she has the UTI. I would have to check vet records again to find out if she has only no calcium crystals in her urine. Can’t really say for sure what color her urine is. When she had the infection it looked yellow but it was on a tan colored rug. Except for the last time, she was on multiple drugs for at least 3 weeks. The episode last month she was on drugs for 10 days. Baytril doesn’t seem to work but the trimethsulfa seems to. I do believe it depends on which vet sees her too. The experienced vet will clear her at say 14 days but the younger one will treat her the longest. The young vet did recommend using wipes but I was hoping the diet change and getting more fluids would work since she hates being held. I think I will get a second opinion from another vet clinic and mention EC.

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