Is clear pee always a sign that something is wrong?

[sarahthegemini]

So occasionally one of the rabbits (I suspect Peanut but not 100% sure) pees outside the litter box. It’s no big deal (apart from yesterday when it went on their table but I’ve cleaned it and its fine!) My concern is that sometimes the pee is clear when I soak it up with kitchen roll. I know that can sometimes be indicative of a UTI but as I see no other symptoms and the pee mishaps are not too frequent, I don’t worry too much. But should I be worried? Over the last couple of weeks there’s been about 5 accidents – 2 of which went on their table and stained so those pees must have been coloured (I’ve spilt water on the table before and it dried with no stain), 2 of the pees on the rug looked clear but I soaked up some water with kitchen roll and compared (lol) and it showed that the urine definitely had a tint. One of the pees was totally clear. The clear pee was actually today and once cleaned up, another pee spot magically appeared but that had colouring.

So I’m left wondering if clear pee is always an indicator of something wrong? Neither bun drinks excessively.

[FlemishDad]

It’s not always indicative of something wrong, because there are possible reasons like behavioral (boredom, marking territory) or being warm. Coloration can vary a lot depending on what they eat as well. You could try putting pieces of paper towel in the litter box to get an idea of the color range of your rabbits’ pee and to identify the culprit if you manage to see one pee on a fresh piece of towel.

[Wick & Fable]

Fun fact: Wick’s pee is a fantastic neon orange that terribly stains the carpet. End fun fact.

I also concur that it’s not always an indication of something wrong. I think every rabbit has a different range of colors their pee will go to. I say this because Wick’s pee is orange. It used to always be yellow, but now it’s exclusively orange, citing no changes in diet and such. The neon orange is a new shade that I enjoy but also hate….

I would continue to monitor and see if you find an increase in frequency. Also maybe just take a look at Peanut when peeing to see if there are signs that the pee isn’t coming from a place of comfort, but strain. Is the body prepared to pee (i.e. tail arches and Peanut is in position), or does it seem to just come on unexpectedly?

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.

[sarahthegemini]

Thank you both for your input!

Whenever I see either bun pee in the litter tray it doesnt look like they’re straining or having difficulty. They both lift their tails prior to peeing too.

The paper towel trick is a great idea!

I guess I just worry because I thought clear pee meant that they might be drinking too much or they might be having kidney issues.

[Bam]

It’s probably consistently clear pee that’s a problem, because it would mean the bun’s kidneys are not capable of expelling any surplus calcium at all, and because rabbits, unlike most other mammals, absorb all dietary calcium, there is practically always a certain amount of calcium that the body has no use for, and that has to get out.

[sarahthegemini]

Ah okay, thanks Bam. I’m going to do the paper towel trick when I clean the litter trays tomorrow and I’ll monitor them when they’re peeing and I will report back! Fingers crossed for colourful pee!

[sarahthegemini]

So I’ve used the paper towel trick and have been monitoring – there seems to be mostly yellow pees with a couple of clear. When I’ve seen the pee I’ve been replacing the kitchen roll – can/do clear pees change colour as they oxidize? I’m wondering if the clear ones would change colour if I leave them. I did leave one piece of kitchen roll that had clear pee on it and a while later it was yellow but I wasn’t sure if that’s because somebunny peed on top of the clear pee?

[Bam]

Even pee that looks clear could have a little bit of plant pigments in it, and then the pigments would oxidize into being more visible. When you think about the orange-brown-ish that light yellow pee can get when it dries on a pee pad, seemingly clear pee could probably have enough pigment in it to oxidize into yellow.

[sarahthegemini]

I ended up removing some kitchen roll that had clear pee on it and have left it hanging over a bin to see if it changes colour ? So far, nothing.

Edit: Okay when compared to just plain soaked up water, the pee spots did look slightly more cream coloured. Slightly ?

[sarahthegemini]

I know Buttercup is doing yellow pees as well as clear ones because the first pee she did in the litter tray after I cleaned them and put kitchen roll in was yellow and she sometimes has a bit of yellow staining on her fluffy butt so I’m not concerned. Peanut however I haven’t actually physically seen him do a yellow pee. I’ve seen him do clear ones and there are some yellow ones that I *think* were his but I can’t be 100% certain. There was a pee on the rug this morning that was warm and so very fresh and he was the only one that was up and awake at that time (Buttercup was asleep in the castle) That pee was yellow.

Am I overthinking? Have I swapped poop obsession for pee obsession? ??

[A Happy Herd of Hares]

I’ve never dealt with clear pee that I’ve noticed, or even heard of it! I’m glad this thread is here though so I can know what to do/not to do ?

[FlemishDad]

Pee can get darker as it dries. There were periods where I never saw my rabbit have colored pees but I could still see color in dried accidents. I don’t think further color investigation is needed unless you want to see whether a treatment is helping- you know Peanut has at least some clear pees and Buttercup is probably normal. My rabbit has kidney failure and can still produce yellow pee, so whether Peanut’s pee is always clear or only sometimes is probably not relevant. 

If Peanut doesn’t have any obvious discomfort then a UTI is less likely so the next step IMO would be either a vet visit or a trial of a low calcium diet depending on your inclinations. For that make sure you are using a low calcium pellet (the standard Oxbox adult rabbit pellets are pretty low) and avoid any high or medium calcium veggies. Lettuce (any kind) and cilantro are my mainstays. Parsley, basil, and spinach are things he loves but I can’t give anymore. My rabbit is underweight so he gets bell pepper, carrots, and blueberries too.

In my case I measure volume drunk because it’s more quantifiable and I’ve noticed it takes 1 to 3 weeks for his volume to respond to a diet change. You can’t really measure volume so you would probably want to keep using paper towel pieces although you probably don’t have to do it every day. (But you could do counts if you felt like being scientific!) 

A blood draw at the vet would give a quick and definitive test for kidney failure. It *should* be cheap too, but my vet charges a lot. The only treatment your vet will probably recommend is the above kidney failure diet although I seem to have gotten improvements treating for EC with Pancur.

I’m not saying it *is* kidney failure because some of the other explanations are still very possible, but I do think it’s worth investigating it at this point.

[sarahthegemini]

I have been monitoring and it seems that both buns do both yellow/orange pees as well as clear pees throughout the day. They also do very pale yellow pees which look clear upon first look. I’m not concerned about kidney failure because the clear pee was my only worry but as they’re both doing varied pees, I think it’s all good

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