swollen bottom?

[fredricks owner]

last night i had made a post about some stomach gurgling fredrick was having. when i put him to bed last night i noticed some type of fluid had dried on his bottom. i was worried but figured it was just some pee so i decided to wait until morning. this morning i took a good look at his butt and noticed something down there was pink and swollen. i thought it was his rectum at the time and immediately told my mother. i have school today so i couldn’t stay home to monitor him so my mom promised to call the vet while i’m here. she recently told me that she sent a picture to our vet and he says he thinks it’s a swollen vulva.

also this morning i noticed a really small poo. so i was concerned about stasis occurring because of whatever is going on with him. my mom later said he had a few normal droppings since i left for school about 2 hours ago. he’s been eating and drinking normally but sometimes just sits in a loaf and i’m worried he’s in pain because of his behind. he’s going to see the vet later today around 3 ish.

do any of you know what is happening to my poor fredrick? i’ve been worried all morning and am scared there’s an underlying issue i’ve looked over. any advice helps!!

[Sirius&Luna]

Is he definitely a boy? it can’t be swollen vulva if he’s a boy… Could it be a testicle? They do look pink and strange on bunnies.

It’s great that he’s going to the vet, since it’s hard to know from your description what could be going on.

Don’t worry about stasis if he’s eating, drinking and pooping though.

Please let us know what the vets say, I hope he’s ok!

[Deleted User]

Like S&L said, if it’s a boy, it’s not a swollen vulva. My guess is it’s a testicle. The sudden appearance of testicles can be concerning for new owners because it looks like a tumor or cyst. Your baby boy might be due for some snippage soon

[Deleted User]

I know we all get worked up when it comes to our bunnies, but try to remain calm because he will be seen by a vet so all will be taken care of

If he’s eating/pooping still then I say he’s fine stasis-wise.  But I understand, I have a tendency to start hyper analyzing every little thing about Ophelia if I have a suspicion that something is going on!

[Mikey]

With the messy bottom and starter scalding, he could have a swollen rectum or swollen penis. He really needs to see a rabbit trained professional ASAP. No offense, but if your vet doesnt know a vulva from a penis, or a vulva/penis from a testicle, they are NOT a vet you should bring your rabbit to. If it is swollen genitals or a swollen rectum, he might not be able to pee or poop, which will kill him hes developed a blockage that is not properly cared for.

[Deleted User]

They are going to the vet this afternoon. Regarding the vet, I think that it can be tricky to analyze a photograph, especially on a fuzzy bunny who probably wouldn’t sit still…

[fredricks owner]

he definitely is a male and he’s been fixed. i think its a swollen rectum. also i’ve taken him to the same vet multiple times and he deals with rabbits quite a bit. he’s taken care of fredrick multiple times successfully. i didn’t look at it much because of my limited time so i’m going to trust the vets guess and hopefully when he goes in later everything can be taken care of.

[fredricks owner]

update: my mother just let me knew she took him to his appointment and it turned out it was only a swollen penis. he will be on antibiotics for a 10 days and he should start feeling better in a few days. and he said the dried on substance was from all the licking. i’ll probably give him a small washing down when i get home just to make sure there’s no pee mixed in. and i’m guessing he made a mistake with the vulva/penis just at first glance. i’m just so relieved it wasn’t a problem with his rectum.

i will keep updating on his condition along his recovery.

[Deleted User]

I think it’s tricky to really know what you’re looking at in a picture, especially with how difficult it must have been to get a picture. It probably wasn’t a great quality picture.

Did he offer any suggestions on what might have been the cause? What kind of litter do you use- paper or pellets? Glad it was nothing major! Have you noticed if Frederick has been able to pee on his own? Maybe that’s why he looked hunched this morning- probably hurts! Do keep us updated!

[fredricks owner]

he didn’t mention any causes but i’ve been thinking it’s because of stress. i recently moved the furniture in my room around and it’s been weird for him. also he’s gotten a bad habit of peeing in his cage while i’m at school and him sitting in it could’ve caused it too.

i haven’t noticed any pee yet. i’ve has him in his cage since he came home to help calm him down and currently just have a towel down to try and monitor his droppings and pees instead of his litter box cause it’s a bit more visible. but no pees yet which is concerning but i imagine it does hurt to pee. also he doesnt pee as much as he poops so as long as he pees between now and tomorrow he should be okay.

also a little update it’s just a bacterial infection like we’re guessing is just a uti. and he loves his medicine! i thought i would have to fight him to take it but apparently he loves the taste! i’ll give it to him again tonight and hopefully after a few days of that he’ll be feeling better and the swelling goes down

EDIT: i forgot to mention he also has been having a bad habit of knocking over his water bowl again, while i’m at school so he doesn’t get a lot of drinking water and then makes everything messy. that’s probably the biggest causer. i’m going to have to get him a heavier bowl soon to make sure this doesn’t happen again

[Deleted User]

I suggest also getting a water bottle for the cage as well, if no one is home during the day to refill the water.

Is he always a cage bunny? I’m just trying to get a bit more understanding. What kind of litter do you use ?? Is it like carefresh paper bedding, that stuff gets soppy wet and in my opinion isn’t very hygienic unless changed daily.

Stress could not have been the cause if it’s a bacterial infection. Something about the environment is off. As I said, it could be the bedding you use.

[fredricks owner]

i’m currently using some sort of paper based small animal fluffy type of litter i picked up at walmart for short term use until i can go back and get my other paper based litter at our local pet store. also no he actually used to be free roaming until a bad accident where he got into something so i keep him in a large dog kennel when i’m a way and at night.

i think it was most likely him spilling his water and making a mess out of his cage. from now on i will definitely be more diligent cleaning his sleeping area because i never want this happening again.

also in case you were wondering i’ve had him for almost a year now so i’ve been through almost all of it with him and i’ve researched a lot so i know how to care for him, i think i just slipped up with the cage cleaning and this is my consequence

also good news he did end up peeing. i was out for a while and noticed he peed while i was out getting him more litter so i immediately cleaned his cage and put down a fresh towel he seems to be acting just normal and earlier i checked his bottom and the swelling seems to have gone down

[Deleted User]

Good that he is improving!

Hey, we all make mistakes, especially as first time owners! It’s just important that we learn fro more them and don’t make them again. If there is no one home to watch him and the house is not rabbit proofed, good idea to keep him contained.

Pellet based litter is a lot easier to clean and more hygienic in my opinion. It’s more absorbent than the paper so bunny isn’t sitting in pee after going only a few times. I’d look into some pine pellets or wood stove pellets for litter! Be careful not to use any wood shavings though, as these are processed differently than pellets and so the shavings contain harmful chemicals.

[fredricks owner]

thank you for the suggestion i’ve been looking into wood pellets lately because they are pretty absorbent and once i find a decently nice one for a nice price i’ll probably switch over

for now i’m gonna keep him on soft bedding because i’m worried anything else will irritate his downstairs and it has to hurt i’ll just clean it a lot more often

as for another update: i just saw him binky this morning! i actually haven’t seen him binky in a really long time so i was surprised to see him hopping all around the floor and being crazy. also no signs of stasis,, i was worried yesterday he might’ve shown early signs but for now he’s doing really good

[Deleted User]

Good news! Glad he is recovering

[Author]

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