Swollen genitals- bunny. Help!

[Oreo&Nibbles]

Hi everyone

My female bunny’s name is Oreo. She’s about a year old. Lately I saw that her genital area is swollen and red. She seems to be eating normal and running around and playing fine. Yesterday while cleaning her area with salt water, I noticed a yellow-black discharge from her genital area. Any idea as to what it could be and any home remedies I can use?

Thank you

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi

Unfortunately this sounds like something that you need to see a vet for, I don’t think it’s something we can diagnose over the internet. Has she been spayed?

Do you have a good rabbit vet near you?

[Oreo&Nibbles]

No she hasn’t been spayed. I’ll try and find a vet to take her to. Thank you 

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s unlikely since she’s still young, but unspayed female rabbits do have high incidences of uterine cancers which often show up as discharge or bleeding initially. I think that’s unlikely in this case, as it normally happens in older bunnies, but that’s why it’s important to see a vet, although hopefully it will just be something easy to treat!

Bunny vets are normally known as ‘exotic’ vets, as bunnies count as exotic pets, so look for those. If you’re struggling to find a good rabbit vet near you, let us know and hopefully someone can help

Let us know what happens!

[LBJ10]

Unspayed females can also get uterine infections. I agree, it’s best to have a vet take a look.

[Oreo&Nibbles]

Thank you all very much!

[Oreo&Nibbles]

Hi all

Just an update. Turns out both my bunnies had fly strike. We took them to the vet. She removed whatever she could, gave them antibiotic and pain injections. She also told us to soak them in salt water and to apply a germ killing spray which we got from her. Just hoping they get better soon.

[Sirius&Luna]

oh wow. Flystrike can be really serious, so it’s lucky you got them to the vet. Did she remove all the eggs and maggots? I’m not sure about soaking in salt water – just their bums?

Are they outside bunnies? Hopefully we can come up with some ways to prevent it happening again.

You can also get a flystrike preventative spray, that you might want to use in the future, by Beaphar.

[Deleted User]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 2/26/2018 8:03 AM
oh wow. Flystrike can be really serious, so it’s lucky you got them to the vet. Did she remove all the eggs and maggots? I’m not sure about soaking in salt water – just their bums?

I also was curious about this recommendation. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that it’s not advisable for owners to attempt to bathe their bunnies during a case of flystrike. I thought the vet was supposed to make sure they had got all the maggots/eggs of the bunny properly before they were sent away so I really hope the vet did this properly

[Deleted User]

Also flystrike can occur if bunnies have urinary issues, so perhaps this has happened because of the issue with the swollen genitals and the discharge you originally saw the vet about. So if any underlying causes haven’t been addressed flies may continue to be attracted to your bunnies and this could happen again. It may be worth getting some preventative treatment/information from the vet

[LBJ10]

I’m going to assume that the salt water bath is for the open wounds. I would hope it’s just a butt bath. Poor things.

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