UTI?

[sarahthegemini]

Hi guys, since Buttercup’s wet butt incident I have been checking both bunny’s bums and undercarriage area for any wetness and so far so good. No more issues since the two I discussed on my previous thread. However I have been more aware of little dribble spots on the floor. I used to think these were from the rabbit’s drinking from their water bowl but I’m so sure now. The other day both rabbit’s were in the litter tray and when I got back from the loo, Peanut had jumped out and there was a small puddle on the floor and a few drips on the edge of the tray. Partner said maybe something startled him mid flow so tried not to worry. Then this morning there was a few larger drips right by the entrance to the litter tray and a poop with a drop of wee on it. I’m almost certain that the dripple spots must belong to Peanut but can’t be 100%. Is this sounding like a UTI? I feel like the issues don’t sound bad individually but together it’s too much to be a coincidence? I think both buns are drinking plenty – possibly more than normal over the last couple of weeks but they have been eating more hay so I attributed it to that. Also, whenever I’ve soaked urine up with kitchen roll, it’s been clear and odourless. I’ve not noticed any change in the amount of wee in the litter trays so I don’t think he is peeing excessively or less frequent and behaviour wise he’s acting normal. It’s tricky because he sometimes pees outside the litter box occasionally anyway so that itself isn’t totally abnormal. I’m mainly worried about the dribble spots but that could have been going on for ages (as I said, I previously assumed it was from them drinking from a bowl and having a wet chin/mouth) and it could be because sometimes they pee in the box and then immediately jump out so maybe there’s dribbles because they’ve not waited for the last bit of pee to drip out lol I dunno. Am I overreacting?

[jerseygirl]

I get the water spots around a lot also. Goose especially seems to take a lot with him after he has a drink.

When you next see clear spots away from the bowl, I’d leave it a few hours to see if it gains colour.

If it gains colour, then it was most likely pee, and a bit of a concern if completely clear when whichever bunny did it.

You might want to swing by the vet (without buns) and see if you can get a couple specimen containers & syringes.

If you do find it is pee, you could go about getting a sample and have that ready for when/if you need take either bun in.

[jerseygirl]

I’m multitasking
I’ll get back to you about trying get a pee sample.

[sarahthegemini]

Thanks Jersey. What would it mean if it starts off clear but gains colour after a few hours?

I’m thinking because the spots are quite little, it would dry quickly and if I tried to soak it up after an hour or so, it wouldn’t work. Although with the big pee puddles that Peanut occasionally does, they’re clear and usually cold by the time I find them so unsure how long it would have been there.

Having dark rugs doesn’t help!

[sarahthegemini]

I’m also thinking about moving the water bowl further away from the trays to see if the spots move too. I suppose if it’s water bowl drips, they would move according to where I put the bowl.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By sarahthegemini on 9/24/2018 7:54 AM

Thanks Jersey. What would it mean if it starts off clear but gains colour after a few hours?

I’m thinking because the spots are quite little, it would dry quickly and if I tried to soak it up after an hour or so, it wouldn’t work. Although with the big pee puddles that Peanut occasionally does, they’re clear and usually cold by the time I find them so unsure how long it would have been there.

Having dark rugs doesn’t help!

Pee normally darkens when it’s exposed to the air for a while. So if it’s pee, it should gain some colour.  If it’s clear right at the time the bun does it, it could be that the bun is drinking tons of water and diluting the pee a lot. Or that there is something going on with the kidneys and they’re not filtering out calcium.  Their pee should not be colourless and should have a bit of opaque look to it normally. The opaque-ness can vary though. I see that from time to time with my guys.

Jersey eventually was producing clear pee and drinking a lot. Im sure she had something going on with her kidneys towards end of her life. She was 6 though.

If you have to get a pee sample at any point, you can use an empty litterbox and line it with cling film or aluminium foil. If you can, put a grate in. Then when they’ve pee’d you can draw it up in a syringe and transfer to a sample jar. You could even grab a brand new, cheapy cat litter box and pop it where normal litter box would be. I know my buns would be curious enough about it to go over and get in and most like pee!

Another trick would be to put one of those disposable paint roller tray inserts inside their normal litterbox. 

[Author]

Messages