Cocoa's Puffs

[Cocoa]

Two year old Holland Lop:. This past week, I've come home to messes several times and I'm not sure if I can help her.

We thought we did a pretty good job of litter training her. But over the past week and a half, she's been peeing wherever. If I put any kind of rug, blanket, towel in her cage, she'll pee on it. If I let her out of the cage, she pees on my carpet, if she doesn't feel like getting in her box, she'll just make a puddle on her cage floor. And if she does pee in her litter box, she just sits in it. Which isn't helping her to not have pee on her bum.

The only thing we could think to do to remove her from her own waste, was to replace the bottom of her cage with wire and replace her little box with one that has a wire base so she can't sit in her waste. At least she's dry. But today I let her out of her cage and within 30 seconds, she'd peed on my carpet. And I found this HUGE pile of cecotropes on the floor of her cage.

She's had somewhat watery cecotropes several times but this was by far the most disturbing pile I've seen.

She eats a HUGE amount of timothy hay. Sometimes I give her 2 or 3 raisins (special treat). Sometimes she gets kale, or broccoli, or a carrot. I also let her have about 1/8cp of pellets per day. OH...she also drinks about 15 oz of water per day. I do not give her vegetables every day because it seems to make her even messier. So it's generally when she's been really good because of grooming or something that she gets them. She weighs 3lb 6oz.

 

[Blue eyes]

I'm sure JBun will hop on here when she sees this.
In the meantime, can you tell us if she is spayed? How long have you had her?

 

[Cocoa]

10/3/2012 is her birth date. She has not been spayed.

 

[CaitlynB]

Hope you get the answers you a looking for, I know it can be scary when a bun doesn't seem to be acting like herself!

 

[missyscove]

How often do you change her litterbox? Do you think she's drinking and peeing more than usual for her? When did she last see a veterinarian? It definitely sounds like she could use a vet visit. In the meantime, I wouldn't give her any veggies or treats and would focus on the hay to see if that helps with decreasing cecotrope production, although the primary issue could be not that she's making too many but that for some reason she's not eating them. At this point I'm concerned she may have a urinary tract infection, bladder sludge, or something else along those lines. Do your best to keep her dry to help prevent urine scald.

 

[Cocoa]

She saw the vet the week of New Years. I change her litter every 24-48 hours. I got her the day after Christmas so I can't comment on if her drinking/urinating habits have increased. We have commented on how much she drinks since we got her.

 

[JBun]

I agree that a visit to the vet is in order. Urine soaked fur and incontinence are likely indications of a health problem. Also 15 oz is quite a lot of water for such a small bun, and could also be a sign of illness. Like mentioned, UTI and bladder sludge are good possibilities, but there are other less common causes as well.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

The messy cecals could be due to cecal dysbiosis, which is where the microflora balance in the cecum is off, causing the messy cecals and them being left uneaten by your rabbit. This can be connected to her other health issues, or it may be a separate issue, possibly tied to her diet. You may need to make some changes to her diet to clear it up. Your vet may also want to do a fecal test to make sure there are no bacteria/parasites causing the issue. In the meantime, I agree that removing treats and veggies may be needed, as it's possible your bun could be sensitive to the excess sugars or one of the veggies. If that doesn't clear it up, then sometimes pellets need to be reduced or removed as well, and a grass hay only diet fed until the cecals return to normal.
http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

Also concerning is the lump that you found, which could potentially be very serious and needs further investigation by your vet. You'll want to have her seen right away.