Need advice- UTI or partial blockage?!

[Dee]

Hi Everyone,

I’m a wreck- BunBun (my male bunny) stared a weird litterbox behavior last night. He sticks his butt way high in the air and shifts from side to side, and does it several times without peeing much. Today he’s doing the same, and I’m finding little puddles outside the literbox. His wife, Nelli, will get in the box and pee, and BunBun will get next to her and imitate her, trying to pee too, but nothing comes out. He is, however, still going small amounts, but he twists his body like he’s straining. He’s eating fine and very active today, wheras last night he was sitting with his ears back looking a bit ticked off. I’m terrified that it’s a blockage- but hoping it’s just extra poop stuck on his butt from the messy poops he had yesterday (too many treats). I’m waiting for the vet to call back, but so far he hasn’t and my regular vet is off today. And I don’t have a syringe big enough to get a nonsterile urine sample.

What do you guys think? Anyone have this happen before? Thanks.

Dee

 

[Sarita]

It does sound like a possible urinary tract infection. I think your best bet is to have a physical examination – sometimes the vet can get a urine sample as well.

As for a blockage – the vet definitely would have to palpate his stomach to see if this is the case.

[Dee]

Thank you for your quick reply, Sarita. The vet STILL hasn’t called me back, but it’s only been about an hour. I’m gonna bring him to the vet for sure, now it’s just a matter of him calling me back. Now I’m wondering whether to bring him and Nelli to the vet- Nell’s fine, but they’re closely bonded and I don’t wanna stress them both. I think of them apart and feel bad, then I think it may be mean to subject them both to the scary vet trip since only one bun is sick. Ahhh… whatta day. Looks like I’m not going to work. I’d rather get fired than lose my BunBun.

[Sarita]

Most likely the vet may wait to call you back either at the end of the day, between appts. or after surgeries. I think I would go ahead and make an appointment if it were me. You might be able to do a drop off as well – I do those all the time. You could ask them if you can do that. You could bring Bunbun and Nelli together.

[Dee]

Thank again Sarita- I think I will do that. I’d rather take an unneccessary trip to the vet than let this go. My fear is always been a bunny getting really sick in the middle on the night. BunBun is just sitting on his chair right now- he seems fine except for this strange peeing. But I know that rabbits hide illness well so.. I’d rather be safe. I’m gonna call the vet now- I’ll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your advice- it means a lot during a stressful time like this.

[Sarita]

Keep us updated. Vibes to Bunbun.

[Dee]

OK, I’m back from the vet. Always an ordeal, since they have to go together and Nelli cannot be picked up. I’ve devised a plan that works fairly well- herd Nelli into her box where she hides, block off all doorways but one, and place the carrier in front of the only open exit. She usually plunges into the carrier, realising too late that it’s a trap- lol. Then BunBun can be picked up and popped in the carrier with his crazy wife.

So… the vet says she thinks BunBun has a UTI and prescribed Batril, in pill form. I’m not too sure how I’m gonna get BunBun to take this stuff- and the pills smell NASTY, so I doubt he’ll just gobble them down. Perhaps I need to research “giving bunnies pills”. I’d hate to start another post- I’d kinda feel like a pain in the @ss. I’m hoping I can just shove the pill (half a pill actually) into a piece of banana and BunBun will fall for it. Right now he’s so mad he won’t take any food from me. But he’s done his butt-in-the-air peeing struggle twice since we got home, so I think he really needs to start his antibiotics now. With my hamster, I used liquid and squirted it into his mouth. I don’t know if I can just open Bun’s mouth and shove the pill in- I don’t wanna get my finger bitten off. Any ideas would be welcome!

[Karla]

How about grinding the pills? And then mash them together with basil? That’s what we did with the fluent Baytril and Jack loved getting meds.

[Karla]

Oh, and I read today about someone dissolving the pills in water and then using a syringe to soak up the pill liquid and feed it. That might be an idea as well.

[RabbitPam]

I used to use a mortar and pestle to grind a pill into powder form. Then I took an apple slice (banana would be good, too) and cut a little triangle hole out of it. Sprinkled the pill in, closed the hole by putting the piece back on like a fitted hat or cork, and fed it to him, making sure it didn’t spill out. He got it all down. You could make a little banana sandwich, too.

[jerseygirl]

What colour is the pill? I think KatnipCrzy once mentioned the brown ones are liver flavoured, so you’ll need something pretty strong flavoured to mask that taste. I believe there is a purple coloured pill also…(?) You can get it in a clear liquid form and also can get it flavoured though this can be expensive. How long did your vet want him to be on the baytril?
(((Healing vibes))) for BunBun!

[Dee]

Thanks for all of your replies!

Karla and RabbitPam, that’s a good idea to grind the pills up. Both ideas sound very effective- I’ll try them tomorrow! I tried simply hiding them in a raisin, since BunBun LOVES raisins, but he manages to eat almost the whole raisin, then delicately let the pill fall out of his mouth, as if to say,”You can have that part, Mum.” Although each time he does eat a bit of the pill by accident, so after a few raisins, he ingests most of the dose. I called the vet and asked for the liquid form of Baytril, and the girl on the phone claimed they don’t have that. I find that odd since I got the liquid for my hamster in 2009. But I figured maybe the liquid would be pretty tricky as well, so I gave up. I’m worried that all these treats I’m using to get him to take his pills and Critical Care are gonna make him sick. BunBun also hates his Critical Care, which he really needs since him tummy is so easily upset. I tried it with baby food, apple sauce, and banana, and he wouldn’t touch any of it. Finally I made Critical Care Cookies, much to the amusement of my husband and kids, who think I should be put away. I mixed Critical Care with applesauce, ground up a bit of granola which he shouldn’t have but begs for anyway, and a drop of honey. I shaped them into little flat cookies and baked them at 325 for 30 minutes. He will actually nibble at these, although he doesn’t wolf them down the way he I would like him to.

Jerseygirl, wouldn’t ya know it, the pills are brown! They have a really disgusting smell to them- I don’t blame BunBun for not liking them. Liver doesn’t seem like it would be a favorite of bunnies. My vet gave me 7 pills and Bun gets 1/2 tablet, twice a day- so that’s 7 days. I hope he makes it without having major intestinal issues- everything gives BunBun poopy butt. I would love to get a flavored liquid, I’d be willing to blow a whole paycheck on it at this point, but since my vet’s office claimed they don’t even have the regular liquid, there’s no chance of getting it. If I still can’t get the pills into Bun tomorrow, I’m gonna call the vet back and raise some hell. Surely they can get liquid from somewhere- they treat hamsters there, and being a hamster mummy myself, I can hardly picture a hammy swallowing a pill. Or I could ask if they have purple pills, theyprobably have a different flavor.

On the bright side, the healing vibes seem to be working, cuz BunBun is straining and posturing much less in the litter box. He must be feeling better already! Thanks to all of you- I’ll keep ya posted.

[RabbitPam]

I can’t stand when the person who answers the phone gives out misinformation. Don’t blame the vet, just let the vet know after you ask to speak to her directly. She needs to know her receptionist is clueless. Of course it exists, since you’ve used it last year. Duh. Many vets and doctors wonder why their patients disappear – this can be why.

You can also try unsweetened pumpkin, that comes in a can. Again, grind the pill can help disguise it, and mixing it with a strong tasting food can help too. So your fruits, banana, apple, pumpkin (which is good for digestion trouble) can help. Apple sauce is good. Don’t know if it would stay on a sprig of cilantro, but that has such a strong odor that if moistened, then sprinkled, it might work. (I can’t stand it, so I know it’s a strong smell.) You might try a syringe of apple sauce or pumpkin mixed with crushed pill and just shoot it into the side of BunBun’s mouth. It gets the job done.

Your cookies sound wonderful. i think a skeptical family should have a “new” dessert one of these days.

[Dee]

I have an update on BunBun- he’s doing well and peeing normally again. Yesterday morning was a nightmare- I tried everything- and you guys gave great suggestions!- and after an hour of coaxing and preparing treats, I only got about a quarter of a dose into him. He is one sensitive bunny By then I was a half hour late for work and almost in tears (I took the day off on Wednesday for BunBun) and was gonna just force it into his mouth with a syringe, but I didn’t have the heart- he got so scared. I also noticed that he ws started to do some soft poops, so I was scared that he’d get really bad while I was at work. By this time he had just had it, and so had I. Then he hopped to his litterbox and peed like he was just fine. So I left for work- after telling my husband and son to watch him. He’s been fine every since! I’m thinking that maybe he just had an irritation and that made him pee like that…? It’s been since yesterday and I would think the small amount of antibiotic wouldhave worn off by now. So I’m off to work and hoping for the best. My son and hubby are home to keep an eye on BunBun, just on case.

Thank you all so much for all your great suggestions and support. And RabbitPam, you should definitely try the Critical Care Cookies! I think they would be good with pumkin, like you told me about, instead of baby food. Maybe I’ll try that when I get home from work.

[KatnipCrzy]

Yep-  the brown pills are either liver or beef flavored- they are flavored for dogs and cats.  If you have having no luck getting the bunny to take the pill- and I can see why you would- ask to talk to the vet about compounding the Baytril.  Your vet most likely has Baytril injectable- and that can be mixed with flavoring- if your vet does not have it a pharmacy should.  It will take your vet or the pharmacist to figure out the dosing once the flavoring is added- but most the the flavors avail would appeal to bunnies since they are created for kids meds.

The Baytril injectable itself is clear and not tasty I would not think (it can be given orally)- but if it is mixed with flavoring (referred to as compounding a drug)- then bunnies are more apt to like it.

[jerseygirl]

Does anyone know if the flavouring is in the actual coating? I wonder if you can peel this off? From what I’ve seen online, the coating is an enteric coating so not sure if it is important to keep the tablet intact or not. Though, giving it halved negates some of the enteric coatings purpose and since the vet prescribed to give halves, I wonder if the coating is actually for the way the medicine is to be absorbed. Or rather, it’s purely for adding a “palatable” taste and masking the bitterness?

[KatnipCrzy]

I do not think it is a coating- I think it is throughout the pill to make it more palatable to dogs and cats.  One easy way to check is if the pill if brown throughout the flavoring is throughout- as I know the purple pill are only purple on the outside and white on the inside.

Before Baytril ear drops were manufactured we used to have to put a purple pill in a certain bottle of ear cleaner and let it soak and shake the heck out of it to make “purple thunder” a potent ear medication.  But now Bayer makes it in ear medication form.

Baytril rarely causes not wanting to eat in dogs and cats- it is possible but not common like it is in bunnies- so the coating/flavoring is purely for convenience in dosing.  Which is inconvenient if you have a food allergy dog or cat- as they cannot have the brown pills then- and that is mainly what is carried at most vets.

[jess&peter]

How stressful! I’m glad he’s doing better and I will send continued healing vibes.

I had to give Peter pills after his statis episode last month — I ended up having good luck grinding half a pill in a drop or two of water (a tiny amount), sucking it up with a syringe, and dipping the end of the syringe in apple sauce. Peter would go for the syringe for the apple sauce and I would quickly plunge the syringe into his mouth. Liquid definitely ended up on the bunny (he was not happy about that!), but the majority went in him.

I saw above that BunBun wasn’t so into apple sauce, but I’m sure you could try other things like watered down pumpkin puree or fruit juice (100%). I felt better with Peter’s stomach issues staying away from raisins or more than just a tiny amount of high-sugar treats, so this really helped us. All that said, Peter seemed to love the Metacam we were given in liquid form (must have been yummy flavored!), so that may have made things naturally easy.

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