bunny pees on himself!

[Cseldes]

I just recently got a new baby bunny, he is about 9 weeks old now. Every once in a while i notice he is all wet with pee on his rear end and sometimes belly and feet as well. There are even poo pellets stuck on him sometimes. I've only had one bunny before and it was a girl so I don't know if this is normal baby boy bun behavior or if something is wrong! Any ideas?? He seems to be litter box training pretty well, he's been going in the litter box most of the time and only has some accidents when he's out of the cage.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[gmas rabbit]

Is it possible that he is peeing and then laying in it. That would account for it on his belly, feet and legs.

 

[JBun]

You will need to figure out if he is getting the pee on him because he is stepping in it, sitting in it, or if it is dribbling onto his fur. Reason is that urinary problems can cause dribbling urine, and getting wet by stepping in the pee is just normal and not health related. You can figure this out if his litter box is kept clean, and he goes pee in there, and comes out wet, then it may be that he has a UTI. If he is just out on a smooth floor and pees on the floor and then steps in it and is wet, then that wouldn't be health related. But at that young age I wouldn't think it too likely that he has a UTI, but it is possible. You will want to make sure to clean him off with a towel or unscented baby wipes, as best you can. Urine soaked fur can lead to urine scald of the rabbits skin. If he is getting soaked from not stepping in it, but from a UTI, you will need to take him into the vet to have his urine checked, and most likely put him on antibiotics to clear up the UTI. You may want to have an additional litterbox for when he is out of the cage. It might help with the pee accidents.

If he is having a problem with soft poop and having it stick to his fur aroung his butt, then it is most likely diet related. What do you feed him each day(type and amount of pellets, type and amount of hay, any veggies and/or treats)? Unless it is diarrhea, which would be actual watery poop, and not just soft poops, that is a bacteria/parasite problem and needs to be adressed by a vet right away.

 

[Cseldes]

He definitely doesn't have parasites I took him to the vet last week for a check up and the test came back negative. I think it's just the cecal poops getting stuck to him.

From reading other posts I think he might just be laying in his pee but since I haven't seen him do it I can't confirm this. At that point it's just about litter training right?

 

[JBun]

Giving him a few extra litter boxes for now, may help. If he is picking specific areas to pee, then place the litter boxes there.

That's good that it isn't parasites. Well formed cecotropes aren't really going to stick to the fur for the most part. Usually the problem is too many carbs and sugars in the diet, causing a bacterial imbalance in the rabbits digestive system, resulting in mushy poo, that then sticks to their fur. To correct this, if he is getting treats or veggies, he's a little young to be having those yet, so it would be best to stop those to see if the mushy poop clears up. If it does clear up after eliminating these, or you don't feed these to him yet, then the next step is to reduce his pellet amount a little bit, and continue to offer unlimited (preferably)grass hay. If after a couple days he is still having soft poop, then reduce the pellet amount a little bit more. If the kind of pellets you are feeding, happen to be the kind with 'treat' pieces in it, then that can be the reason for the mushy poop because of all the extra carbs. So you would want to transition slowly to a plain alfalfa based pellet. It is pretty important to try and figure this out though, because if the mushy poop continues, the digestive system will get progressively worse, and then you could end up with other health problems like GI stasis and a blockage, which is pretty serious. But it's almost always treats, new veggies, or too many pellets, that causes mushy poop in rabbits