Nail trim for Pip and… stained fur?

[MimzMum]

FINALLY got to trimming Pip’s nails last night. It’s been over a month and they were starting to look like Guiness book record holders.

With the added fun of her blowing her coat, it’s messier business than usual…plus she’s in rare nasty form due to her shed.

I tried to turn her over to check her belly and bum, and got a shock…her fur between her back legs is a little soiled. I did my best to wipe it away to see what might be going on, but by this time she’d already wrestled with me for over an hour because of the nail trim and my OCD butt fur plucking…so she’d already had enough. (She’s also losing her bum fur down to skin…only a few spots, but it’s kind of shocking to see that.) Can’t tell if it’s messy cecal stuff or urine staining her fur, (I’m leaning towards the latter due to the color and smell), but I figure I’ll be giving her a butt bath if she’ll cooperate tonight…even though I have Fiver to put through the nail trim ordeal and a bath lined up for Jenna (dog) also.

Pip’s eating, bathroom and drinking habits all seem normal. In fact, she’s powering through her hay faster than ever. Other than being grumpy about her fur, she’s not showing any other signs of distress. I did notice one day this week, when I had to swap out one of Mimzy’s litterboxes for hers since none of hers were clean, that she’d peed all over her soft bedding instead of using the box. (bunny potty protest, the picky thing) Could she have just laid in that and that’s why she’s got staining on her fur? Or could it be something else?

We’ll get a better look at her tonight. I hope she doesn’t have a UTI or kidney probs or something…other than this staining, she seems totally normal…and opinonated as ever about having her nails done.

Poor thing…I’d hate to have to take her to the vet, she doesn’t do as well in the car as the other two. But I suppose all three could use a check up anyway. Mimzy’s teeth may be bugging him again and Fiver still has trouble with his cecals. *sigh*

[MimzMum]

Okay, I just did a Google search and one of our AllExperts pages came up:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/Urine-stain-fur.htm

Question
Hi, I have a rabbit who is litter-trained however, I think she sits on her urine frequently therefore there are always stains on her hind legs, paws and bun. I could not wash the urine stain off and I heard bunny bath products do not take care of the problem so why bother buying it. What should I do then?

Answer
Hi Anny,

the thing that is more important than looks is whether the urine is causing the skin on her vent area or her back leg/foot (hocks area) to become irritated and sore.

If the skin appears okay, there really is no medical issue but a cosmetic one. The one suggestion I can offer is to clean her litterpan more frequently, getting rid of the wet material at a faster rate so that she has less time to sit on it.

The second thing I would suggest is to take her in to the vet to make sure she’s not having trouble peeing properly, or if she’s having problems urinating (straining, trying to go a long time but only a little coming out). She might have bladder sludge, kidney stones or the way her stream exits that is in a funny angle (sludge/stones are a diet issue – she would be getting to much calcium). If she is overweight often urinating problems can be linked back to this. Also if she ever injured her back or one or both of her back legs, she may not be able to position herself right and she’s accidentally hitting herself.

But normally when you have issues like this, it’s because of one or more things: there’s a weight problem; there’s a bladder problem; there’s a back/rear leg injury; some kind of congenital problem.

I would try to make sure that used wet litter does not stay around as long. I would also take her in to a good rabbit vet and explain what is going on. Take this letter along to your vet and ask about the possibilities. Your vet will probably have others.

Write back anytime. Lee

I boldfaced the section that sounded like Pip’s issue, and I am wondering too if maybe her nails were so uncomfortable to her that she couldn’t sit properly to go potty without wetting herself? She’s always been a little on the heavy side, but seems to maybe have actually lost some weight lately, but I’ve been carrying Jenna around quite a bit this last few weeks and I think that I may have trouble judging Pip’s size compared to her.

I also don’t see Pip spending any more or less time in the litter box than usual, or doing any straining. She may be drinking a bit more water, but it’s getting warm here now and with the shed I figure she probably needs more fluids.

If she does have a UTI or sludge, what would the treatment be?

[RabbitPam]

Hi, MM,

I think if you take first things first, give her a little butt bath and dry her off, (or a corn starch dry bath) then have her litter pan fresh and clean. That way you can judge whether she wets herself, or has any other abnormalities you can spot after a day or two. If she is getting stained, but not straining, then it could be her weight. The nail trim should have helped her get moving more comfortably though. If she really has more staining, I would call the vet and ask if she thinks Pip needs to come in.

UTI and sludge has been addressed in several posts, so you could do a keyword search here to read a few and learn more about it, but that’s a quick conclusion to draw. The weight guess is probably more on target.

[Andi]

From my experiance with urine type straining (bad and not so bad) i have noticed a few things; It’s more common in overweight bunnies, and sometimes is a sign of back/spine issues or arthritis in other bunnies. We have a few at our shelter that are constantly in need of bum baths from problems with urine burns on the genitals, the bad cases are the bigger and older bunnies.
I believe bunnies like to feel clean, so if this is happening it’s not b/c of poor hygene but b/c of a physical on other medical illness.

Follow the helpful tips posted by the others above and I am sure you will figure out whats going on and how to fix it. Good luck

[Author]

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