Narnia has gotten worse

[Prizm]

Narnia will see a vet in the morning morning, but I was just wondering if anyone has experience with a bunny displaying simillar symptoms. Narnia is an intact female living with a neutered male. The male is healthy. Narnia has been a bit lethargic for a week, and I think she is breathing a bit more rapidly than the male. Sometimes it almost looks like she is panting with her mouth closed. She eats and drinks, but she has been keeping to herself/isn't interacting much with the male. She has been having some urinating outside the box issues for about a week now and was soiling herself too, but since I also have a third rabbit who I was trying to bond into the bunny group, it seemed like the poor potty habits might be a territorial problem. I removed the third rabbit from the scene (it's in a different room now) and today I checked Narnia's butt to see how she was doing down there after noticing another puddle of pee. Her butt was/is saturated with urin and her hocks are so sore, a bit of blood soaked into the towel when I pressed it against a towel. She's missing some hair on her haunches, and her tail seems very limp. Her anatomy is also swollen(I can't tell if it is her vulva or anus though.) I washed her rear with some warm water and patted it dry the best I could. She is still wet, but I was afraid of agitating her skin more with the towel, so I put her in a separate kennel with a bunch of carefresh. She will be seen by a vet, but does this sound like anything familiar to anyone?

 

[Maureen Las]

this bun needs a vet as she most likely has a bladder infection which could be easily treated with antibiotics. Having this kind of infection will indeed affect her behavior and litterbox habits.
You need to take her to a vet...

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat:

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

Prizm wrote:

Narnia will see a vet in the morning morning, but I was just wondering if anyone has experience with a bunny displaying simillar symptoms. Narnia is an intact female living with a neutered male. The male is healthy. Narnia has been a bit lethargic for a week, and I think she is breathing a bit more rapidly than the male. Sometimes it almost looks like she is panting with her mouth closed. She eats and drinks, but she has been keeping to herself/isn't interacting much with the male. She has been having some urinating outside the box issues for about a week now and was soiling herself too, but since I also have a third rabbit who I was trying to bond into the bunny group, it seemed like the poor potty habits might be a territorial problem. I removed the third rabbit from the scene (it's in a different room now) and today I checked Narnia's butt to see how she was doing down there after noticing another puddle of pee. Her butt was/is saturated with urin and her hocks are so sore, a bit of blood soaked into the towel when I pressed it against a towel. She's missing some hair on her haunches, and her tail seems very limp. Her anatomy is also swollen(I can't tell if it is her vulva or anus though.) I washed her rear with some warm water and patted it dry the best I could. She is still wet, but I was afraid of agitating her skin more with the towel, so I put her in a separate kennel with a bunch of carefresh. She will be seen by a vet, but does this sound like anything familiar to anyone?

many issues--sounds like a urinary tract infection,and not enough hay in the diet...i trust the dvm can help..james waller

 

[Prizm]

Thanks a lot. I've been pretty worried, so thanks for easing my mind a bit. She does get plenty of hay, but there are two rabbits in the cage and I haven't noticed how much she actually eats. At least it sounds like her illness is likely treatable. I'll let you know what the vet says Thanks again.

 

[Fancy77]

GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[tonyshuman]

The swelling and loss of fur sound like "urine scald" or "hutch burn." It's when urine gets on the fur and stays there, irritating the skin. Rabbit urine is very basic so it can damage the skin pretty quickly. In the meantime, baby cornstarch, preparation H, or an udder cream (meant for cows, sometimes used by people as hand lotion) can soothe the area. The vet will probably do a urinalysis to determine if it's a bladder infection, as these often lead to incontinence. There are other possibilities as well, but a bladder infection is most likely and easiest to treat. Please let us know what the vet thinks!

 

[Prizm]

I just got home and boy, am I happy to say, I think I've found an excellent vet! She used to raise angora rabbits and she was just wonderful with Narnia and Kundalini. (I brought Kundalini to see if she could determine whether or not she is spayed--She had a tech shave Kundalini's belly so she could search for the scar, which she did not find.) For Narnia, she did prescribe antibiotics in case of a bladder infection. Narnia does have urin scald, and the vet said I should wash the area weekly with a rabbit safe shampoo and to keep her in a cage that can be filled with carefresh to keep dry. She didn't mention any skin ointments, so let me give an extra thank you to Tony'shuman from Narnia Thanks everyone for being so supportive.

 

[tonyshuman]

That's good to hear. Let us know how the antibiotic course goes. We like to hear that the vet takes a urine sample and does a culture and sensitivity test on it to determine which antibiotic to prescribe, but it's possible that your vet just prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic instead of doing this. Good luck!