Chance is peeing blood

[MyBoyHarper]

I went to tell Chance goodnight and he justhappen to have pee'd outside his litterbox. And his pee is red, sothere's a good bit of blood in it. I'm not panicking... yet, because hewas very well checked at the vet's on Friday. And on Friday he waspooping pure blood, but that was diagnosed and treated.

His bladder was felt on Friday and wasn't swollen. He's an unneuteredmale (if he were a female, I'd be thinking cancers...) so does thissound like a UTI? Is there anything that can be done until Monday? I'llcall the vet first thing Monday morning and he'll probably call in someBaytril for me. Until then, I'm sure it burns. A friend of mine's dadis a exotics veterinarian and he said to give mineral oil.<Shrugs> Anyone heard of this?

 

[TinysMom]

Tiny's had red pee before as have other rabbits - and it isn't always blood (not doubting you here).

We have some great links to articles on urinary problems here:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12052&forum_id=10

Maybe they can help you till you can get to the vet?

Peg

 

[naturestee]

A spot of blood in normal-colored pee,right? Sounds like a UTI to me too, although it could be dueto an injury too. What was the cause of him poopingblood?:shock: I haven't had a chance to read through histhread yet.

I've never heard of mineral oil for urinary problems. I'veonly heard of it being used in place of laxatone for"hairballs." Cranberry juice is good for kidney/bladderproblems. My sister was ordered to drink it daily when shehad chronic kidney infections. See if you can get the 100%juice stuff and mix some in a second water bowl/bottle, or see if he'lltake a fresh or frozen (whole, no sugar etc.) cranberry as atreat. I've also been told dandelion greens are good forurinary problems. Can't hurt.

Have you checked out the Rabbit Health References yet?UrinaryProblems

Dana Krempels recommends the antibiotic chloramphenicol for UTIs, soyou might want to ask about getting that instead of Baytril:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

Edit: Or is his urine just really, really darkorange? If it's uniform in color, it's more likely just frompigments in the food he ate (pellets, veggies, etc.). Bloodin the urine is supposed to look more like clots or spots innormal-colored urine.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

Very informative answer guys, thank you both so much for getting back to me so late.

First off, Angela, the bloody poo was tested for parasites and coccidiaand came back negative. The vet scanned him and found his intestineswere raw and inflammed due to a poor diet (which is also why he wasgrinding his teeth. But that has stopped today). He also had poopy buttwith runny bloody poo. Today, however, his poo looks almost normal withonly a slight tinge of blood here and there.

Now with his urine, it's not clots or spots. The entire puddle is just a watery, dull red. Make sense?

I thought of the cranberry juice, but it's so acidic, I didn't know ifthat would be good for his intestines or not... I know cranberry juicehurts my tummy.

 

[naturestee]

I'd think it's a dietary issue then.It should clear up once he's used to eating decent food. Whatwas he eating before, BTW?

You could give him really diluted cranberry juice, although it'sprobably not necessary. Dandelion greens should still behelpful.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

Angela, I'm on my way into town now and I'lllook for some dandelion greens. Harper needs some anyways, he's gettingcranky cause it's been a few days.

Diet wise, we don't know what he was eating. When he got to the vets,his gums and tongue were pure white and his iron level was so low, itbarely registered the vet said. When he looked, he said he had nosolids in his intestines or his stomach, so it was hard to tell. He didsay that by the condition of his intestines, he was most likely noteating rabbit food for quite some time, but rather something harsh likehamster food, or people food.

We got three rabbits into the rescue the other day and for the last twomonths, they had been eating nothing but king cake!:shock:Was NOT a happy mardi gras for those little buns, forsure.

Vet is closed today, called his emergency line. Waiting to hear back.

 

[Maureen Las]

That poor bunny!!!
I was thinking of why avet would sayuse mineral oil. I use mineral oil instead oflaxatone in combo with Reglan etc for stasis. Mineral oil is alubricant and if you rubbed it on sore hands it might make them lesssore. The exotics vet may (just a guess) have said to give him mineraloil in order to ease the pain ofthe raw intestines ratherthan for a UTI. I wouldn't do this on your own.. if mineraloil is given continuously it will prevent the absorption of vitaminsand minerals from the intestinal wall.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

Angie, I didn't give him any mineral oil. I knewthe vet was a little :crazinesswhen he mentioned the mineraloil for a UTI. He's going back tomy vet in the morninganyways for a few other problems (going to update his blog now). SoI'll talk to the vet in the morning about it.

 

[Maureen Las]

hope he can get through this...must have had a terrible life before you saved him

 

[MyBoyHarper]

Thanks Angie so much, he must've had one veryterrible life. Anger doesn't describe how I feel about whoever ownedhis previously. They should be condemned for the rest of their livesthe way he was living his before we got him.

I let Chance out for his romp in the yard earlier, and he really didn'twant to do much, which is understandable, it was his first time. I'venoticed this evening, and especially tonight, he is growing quitelethargic and not wanting to be touched, or move much. This isn't likehim compared to yesterday or this morning. His belly is soft, so nostasis as of yet. Poop looks good as well. But he's grinding his teethhard and loud. He's going to the vet first thing in the morning whenthey open at 8am. The emergency vets here know nothing about rabbitsand will do more harm than good, I learned that the hard way withHarper.

 

[Maureen Las]

It will probably be awhile before he's healthyagain because its probably been chronic neglect. I hope that the vetcan find out exactly what he needs to stop the bleeding. Poor thing!!!

 

[binkies]

How is he? What did the vet say?

 

[MyBoyHarper]

Chance is doing very badly. Last night, he washuddled in a corner grinding his teeth. He went to the vet first thingthis morning, and they wanted to do a urine test. They kept him allday, but he didn't pee because he had no water, so I brought him home.They gave me a medicine bottle for me to bring Chance and some of hispee back in the morning.

The vet says that he's almost positive it's his kidneys. He saidbecause he's still so anemic, and he's losing blood somewhere. Plushe's in massive pain, but it's not his stomach. He said there's apossibility of kidney stones, but that he really believes he was eitherkicked and has a bruised kidney that is bleeding, or that he's gotkidney damage from something else and may be going into kidney failure.

<Sigh>It's a wait and see, and I hate it. He'sgot some iron supplement tonight so try and make him feel a bit better.Tomorrow he'll have a urine test done, and if that shows nothing, he'llhave xrays and blood work to try and determine exactly what's wrong.

My poor baby...

 

[Maureen Las]

Omg that is terrible...Is he able to eat at all.?

 

[MyBoyHarper]

He's not really eating at all, I'm having to make him eat. He'll be back at the vets first thing in the morning at 8am.

Today I heard two things I didn't want to hear: feeding tube and bloodtransfusion. This was worst case scenario, of course, but still notsomething I want to think about, much less hear from my vet.

 

[mambo101]

Sorry to hear the bad news. He's such an adorable little bunny. I'll say a prayer for the little guy.

 

[Maureen Las]

ray:ray:ray:MBH I feel badbecause Chance is in pain and I also feel bad because you have to dealwith such a sad situation. I hope it improves but if not you dideverything you could do.

 

[Haley]

Poor little guy. Have you been able to get some fluids into him? I would think that would help if it is the kidneys.

Please keep us posted. I'll be praying for the little guy.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

(X-Crossing this in Chance's blog as well...)

Chance went to the vet this morning and the news was a bit better than expected.

He did a urinalysis and half the vile came back with sand!:shock:He said Chance's kidney's are completely swollen withsand, which is why he's been in so much pain. He also said his urine isdiluted because he's drinking more water than he is peeing out, due tohis kidney's being blocked.

He said Chance's protein level was extremely high and that his urinewas very alkaline instead of acidic, and that there was not much acidin his urine to break down the sand. He said the protein is caused bykidney damage and that Chance does have a significant amount of kidneydamage and was on the border of kidney failure had we not gotten him tothe vet in time. He said he also has pin holes in his kidney's and thatthis is causing the high protein levels in his urine.

The good news was, with time and medicine, his kidney's should heal andthat he doesn't believe the damage is irreversable as of yet.. He alsosaid his white blood cell count was good, indiciating little to noinfection. So there's no need for antibiotics.

He's got Chance on a medication for the sand in his urine and to addsome acidity to help break it down. He's also on a liver extract/ironrich supplement to try and get his iron up to help with the anemia.

Chance is due back to the vet on Saturday for a re-check of his urine and to see how everything else is improving.

 

[Haley]

Sand?! How does that happen, by drinking water that has a high concenration of sand in it? wow.

Poor little dear. God bless you for taking care of him.