Possible UTI???

[Elrohwen]

*sigh* Why are both of my bunnies requiring vet trips lately?

This morning Otto had a huge cecal stuck to his bum (about the size of a walnut). I was able to pull the large part off, but he’s so bad and I’m all alone, so I decided to take him to the vet to clean the rest up before it hardened. He’s been eating hay like a champ (more than ever, actually) and is on his usual diet of 1/4c Oxbow and lettuces. No treats in the past few days. He has left cecals around before, so that in itself doesn’t have me worried, except that this was a large amount that he got all over himself (he’s always stayed clean before).

However, when I went to get him and put him in his carrier, he jumped in one litter box and lifted his tail. A second later he ran over to the other litter box and lifted his tail there. I didn’t see pee in either box. I highly doubt it’s any kind of dominance/charging behavior. It could have to do with the poo smushed on his butt and him trying to get it off.

Or it could be a UTI. Can you guys run the other symptoms by me? I’ve been researching, but am finding far more info about sludge and stones than UTIs.  I have been told that an overproduction of cecals can be a symptom, but I haven’t seen that written anywhere.

I believe he’s only peeing in the litter box. He and Hannah were together all last night and there were some pee spots, but Hannah is well known for peeing outside the box during bonding sessions (I caught her 5+ times in 30min the other day) so I assumed it was her and did catch her a few times. He is eating well and is much more energetic now that the poo is cleaned off of his bum (he was pretty miserable while he was messy).

Just wanted to throw my story out there and make sure I’m considering everything. The vet tech who saw him said he’s fine and to just watch his food and pooping, that the cecals were normal and healthy. I did tell her about the lifted tail and she didn’t seem concerned. I’m watching him for more tail lifting, but haven’t seen it in the last hour and a half that he’s been home.

[Sarita]

If it is a constant tail lifting and straining then it’s highly possible it’s a UTI especially since he had a clump of poop stuck there and while cecal overproduction is not necessarily a sign of UTI – a cleanliness problem in that area could very well cause a UTI.

I don’t think just looking is going to tell you about a UTI either – the vet would have to do a urinalysis to tell for sure. Usually that and the behaviors of straining, spotty peeing outside the box can be indicative of a UTI.

My rabbits who have had UTI’s have always eaten fine. I think it’s more of a discomfort than pain initially – you know that weird sensation where you have to pee or a burning when you urinate. Even rabbits who seem to be eating fine might not be fine.

[Elrohwen]

Thanks Sarita. He’s been napping for a while and no longer sitting in the litter box all the time (I think that was related to being messy) but I’m keeping my eye on him for more straining. I’ll take him in tomorrow if he continues to do it.

I’ll also see if I can catch the out-of-box urinator in action. I know some of them are Hannah, but Otto could be dribbling. He hasn’t intentionally tried to pee outside of the box that I’ve seen.

He was only a mess with cecals for a short time (maybe a few hours) – could that have caused a UTI so quickly? Normally I wouldn’t be so sure, but I “slept” on the couch with them last night and didn’t really sleep much at all. I didn’t notice him acting strange until about 8am when he was sitting in the litter boxes and flicking his feet all over (trying to get the poo off, apparently).

Hopefully we don’t have to go back to the vet!

[Sarita]

I don’t know the answer to how long it would take a dirty butt to cause a UTI. I guess just watch his behaviors – it’s possible it could be marking too since you are going through bonding.

[Elrohwen]

I believe Hannah is marking, which is what I assumed the pee was from. Otto hasn’t marked a thing since we started bonding or had a stray poo out of place, so I doubt it’s him unless it’s a UTI and he can’t control it.

I’m watching him now, but this is all I see

[Sarita]

He’s giving Hannah the bunny butt :~)

[Elrohwen]

Haha. She was there first, and he decided to come up and lay down with his butt in her face. Such a gentleman.

[jerseygirl]

Could it have been Hannah’s poop that he sat in? Is she still on any med from the teeth trim?
Cute pic – I’m going to have to check your bonding thread for the latest!

[Karla]

I just want to add that whenever Jack had problems with his stools, he would do like that as well. Get into the litter box and sort of lift his backend…I think the stuck poop was bothering him and perhaps also making it difficult for him to go to the toilet. Whenever I cleaned him, he was fine.

But yeah, definitely keep an eye open for UTI. Perhaps you can see if you can find some cranberry juice without sugar?

[Elrohwen]

Hey Jers! No, not Hannah’s poop – she’s fine. And she’s done with any teeth complications.

Otto had more poopy butt today But, I was able to suck it up and figure out how to give him a butt bath!! Surprisingly it wasn’t as hard as I thought. He was so bad when I tried to do it without water, but I think having the water and being in the kitchen made him freaked out enough to be still. I couldn’t rest him in the water though or he’d kick like mad, but I was able to dangle him and bring the water up to his butt. I’m glad he’s gotten so much better about being picked up since the bonding sessions – I don’t think I could’ve done this a few weeks ago.

We think we way know what is causing this – Hannah is still on a mix of pellets and gets half Kaytee Timothy Complete and half Oxbow. However, she’s really not pellet motivated, so I think Otto was eating a lot of her portion in addition to his own. I mostly saw him eat from his own bowl yesterday, but today he went straight to hers. He was still eating a lot of hay and veggies, but I think the combo of 1) more pellets than usual and 2) a different brand may have set him off. We had to give her just Oxbow for the first couple days she was here and she did fine (and her old owner said she would switch between timmy pellet brands occasionally and never had a problem), so I think we’ll just finish switching her over and feed them Oxbow and see if he improves.

I haven’t seen anymore of the straining to pee behavior, so my guess is that he did that in an attempt to get the poo off of his bum. Still watching him closely though.

[Sarita]

Well, then what I would do is just eliminate that Kaytee pellet like you said.

[LittlePuffyTail]

{{{Vibes for Otto}}} Hope everything turns out okay.

Sarita- You seem to be an expert in this area so I thought I’d ask you about something related that I’ve been questioning lately. Olivia always has pee spots on her blankies. Never on the floor, just the blankies. Could this be possibly signs of a UTI even though she’s been doing it for quite a long time with no other symptoms? Maybe she’s just marking her blankies?

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