Rabbit not peeing

Maki_p29 · Sep 5, 2022

Help! My bunny is not peeing. Took her to the ER Vet Saturday afternoon after noticing they were uncomfortable and restless at night. The ER gave fluids and strong pain medicine but my bunny has not urinated yet. Saturday afternoon they were urinating but not as much. Their urethra looked very inflamed before her appointment and still does now. Been giving critical care. Just very concerned because they haven’t gone to pee yet. Still pooping but it’s small and misshapen. Any suggestions? Not sure how much help I will be able to get for her since tomorrow is a holiday and most places will be closed including her usual Vet office.

Rodney's Dad · Sep 5, 2022

Rodney had some bladder sludge some time ago. His blockage cleared, but where he urinated was evident, as there was a big stain in the grass / mud.

Have you considered letting her out and jiggling her bladder gently. I make sure I do this to Rodney on a regular basis now. It’s not happened again.

JBun · Sep 5, 2022

Did they xray and determine there wasn't sediment or stones blocking the urinary tract? Did they put your bun on an anti inflammatory(meloxicam), or on antibiotics?

Maki_p29 · Sep 5, 2022

. I did end up taking her back to the ER vet hospital since they were open on the holiday. They is no blockage but it seems that her urethra is swollen/irritated for some unknown reason at this time. The vet expressed her bladder easily. Will see if I can get to her usual vet tomorrow.

Maki_p29 · Sep 9, 2022

JBun said:
Did they xray and determine there wasn't sediment or stones blocking the urinary tract? Did they put your bun on an anti inflammatory(meloxicam), or on antibiotics?

Want to give a update and inform about the situation. My bunny has had a chronic bladder sludge issue that we have been managing through regular Acupuncture, herbal supplements and medications. She is on the antinflminitory you mentioned. I’ve had to take her back to the ER vet a few times this week. She had her bladder flushed on Tuesday this week. A lot of sludge was removed (hadn’t had to do this in 3 years). She hasn’t been wanting to urinate even with external emptying (the ER vet showed me how to express her bladder which was successful on Monday). Even at the Vet today, they couldn’t get her to go with external emptying so they are currently draining her bladder by catheter. Her kidneys are functioning normally. X-rays showed no stones or blockage. The Vet thinks her bladder may be distended. She is 9 years old. She will be trying a new medicine to see if it can contract her bladder back to normal but if not, there isn’t any other options. I’ve never had this happen in the 21 years I’ve had rabbits as pets. Not sure what else to do. Really hope the new medicine works. She still has a lot of life in her…

JBun · Sep 9, 2022

Best wishes to you and your bun

Hopefully the new medication works. I don't know if at this stage this could be helpful to your rabbit, but the sherwood urinary support tablets seems to have good reviews by other rabbit owners that have buns with bladder issues, though it's not something I tried with mine. But it might be worth a try. And I know with my bladder sludge prone rabbits, I had to limit their dietary calcium, if this isn't something you already have done. I had to limit or eliminate pellets(even low calcium ones), and feed only low calcium veg(along with unlimited low calcium grass hay).