need help with my formerly well trained Rabbit!

[4loops]

My Rabbit, Swiffer was a perfectly trained rabbit but he came down with a kindney infection. He is about a year and half, is neutered and perfectly trained. I noticed him starting to urinating just a bit, almost anywhere he went, he even started peeing in his cage right beside his box and then lay in it, if I was holding him the moment I set him on the floor he'd pee. I took him to the vet for a checkup, turned out to be an infection so he spent two weeks on medicine to clear it up, but while the urination problem has improved he seems to have forgot about his training, now he just pee's anywhere and I don't think he's sick either. Could it be he's just gotten lazy and can't be bothered?
Any ideas? he only finished his meds 2 days ago too!
Also can anyone tell me what kind of rabbit he is? When people ask what type? I have no idea.

 

[Bunman]

I would ask the vet why he's still peeing. Possibly the infection is not entirely cleared up.

 

[Maureen Las]

I agree with Bunman..it is possible that the infection is not 100% cleared up. I doubt very much that your bunny has control over it.

 

[4loops]

Swiffer update. I did take him to thevet shortly after the first post, the vet found a bladder infection,maybe had bladder stones but would need more tests, we opted to tryantiboitic first -after 2 weeks he seemed almost cured but then slowlyat first returned, then suddenly got worse very quickly(weekend ofcourse) took to vet on monday.
She did x-rays and found a large bladder stone so he had tostay in for surgery. during surgery they removed a bladder stone 1.5inches in diameter...huge! plus hundreds of small stones.While shaving the area they found he had urine scald all over hisbottom from leaking urine...we'd been bathing him often but I guessthat doesn't get it off his skin cause he's so furry.
He's home and doing much better but requires a LOT of post op care mostly from the urine scald/shaving they did.
Swiffer has been banned from ANY form of pellets, treats etcexcept to eat timothy grass or grass mix and romaine lettuce or carrottops.... and he never did like any of those now it's all he canhave....poor rabbit!
On the bright side my TV reception is much improved, my newdish gets much better reception than rabbit ears alone!

 

[naturestee]

Oh my god it's huge!:shock: That poor bunny!

Aren't there any other low-calcium veggies he could eat? Orjust a tablespoon of timothy pellets to get some more vitamins intohim? I'd be concerned about whether he's getting the propernutrients with a diet like that. I'm guessing the vetrecommended it, but it's worrisome.

Here's a list of veggies and their calcium content:
http://www.carrotcafe.com/f/calevel.html

Also, does he drink much water? Try encouraging him to drinkmore. If he has a bottle, give him a water bowl aswell. Many rabbits drink more from bowls than frombottles. Or try flavoring his water with a little vanillaflavoring or a bit of flavored Pedialyte. Increase waterintake can help prevent urinary infections (which can cause bladderstones) and can help prevent calcium crystals/stones from formingbecause it flushes the system more.

Oh and he looks like a fuzzy lop (yes, it's a breed) or a holland lop with the wool gene.

I hope he recovers soon!ray:

 

[naturestee]

Moving this to the Infirmary.

 

[4loops]

The veggie list doesn't show how muchcalcium is in alfalfa hay-I'd like to know just for myself as that washis main source until this happened. I'd pick him fresh alfalfa daily...he loved it but..(plus pellets, some other greens andmixed fruit and nuts as a treat)
I've been adding a bit of fruit juice(all natural) to hiswater on the advice of the vet but the extra water dish and vanillasounds like it's worth a try!
Good point on the vitamins- to myself I think he should havemore variety of stuff to eat...plain hay everyday....that's not veryappealing. I'll bring it up on wed. when I see vet...yourveggie link has other links to diet info that gave me some good ideasto ask about.

thanks,

 

[Bunman]

Variety is good...i also serve Daisy (&myself) filtered water, because the chlorine in tap water may beoff-putting to the delicate lagomorphic smelling apparatus! Filtreredwater is also just generally healthier & toxins make more of animpact in a small body.

 

[naturestee]

Calcium content of selected hays:
http://www.carrotcafe.com/f/caforage.html
The Carrot Cafe has lots of info on rabbit nutrition. Have a look around.

Some more articles on calcium and rabbits:
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#calcium

Bunny 101 Pellet thread:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17
Scroll down to see several examples of nutritional labels from popularrabbit pellets. The timothy pellets- Oxbow Bunny Basics/t(excellant food, this is what I use), American Pet Diner Timmy Rabbit,and Kaytee Timothy Complete all have significantly lower calciumamounts than alfalfa pellets.

And for more info and experiences on treating bladder stones and sludge, check out this thread from Rabbit Health References:
Urinary Problems

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll see what I can digup. Sometimes it's hard to dig through all that informationto find the answer for a specific question.

Edit: one more thing. Dandelion leaves, while a bit high incalcium for a veggie (nothing compared to alfalfa), are attributed withbeing good for urinary problems. If you pick some make sureno pesticides have been sprayed anywhere nearby. I just buymine from the grocery store because all my neighbors spray their lawns.

 

[naturestee]

How's Swiffer doing?

 

[4loops]

I'm Happy to report that Swiffer it doing fine!!
He was in for another checkup yesterday and vet said he'sdoing great and got his head gear off....What a HAPPYRabbit!!!
He's still on a few meds but it's all downhill from here, as long as hesticks to his diet (low calcium) he should be fine....NO more Rabbittreats!
A sign you have a very sick rabbit is.... your vet knowsyour voice on the phone, has your phone number on her speedial, yourvet cleans out her carrot patch so your rabbit gets lots of carrottops, and when vet & staff phones you...just to checkon your rabbit!!


Actually, one vet told me yesterday that she really didn'tthink he'd make it.... he's one tough rabbit! (truth is whenI picked him up I thought he was done for too)

Now...just gotta start re-training him....to use a litterbox!!!:?
(he couldn't have a litter box after surgery in case of infection so ...he's kinda outa practice)

 

[Pipp]

I've had excellent results with diluted carrot juice here. (And I soak the veggies).

Glad he's feeling better.



sas et al

 

[naturestee]

That's great! I'm glad to hear he's doing well. He must be thrilled to be out of that e-collar!

Have you added timothy pellets and/or more different veggies to his diet?

 

[4loops]

yea, lots of changes in his diet!
I did order some timothy based pellets from oxbow but he's not allowed too much, he does like them so that's good!

And one more thing, he's back to a fully normal litterbox trained Rabbit!