Urgent!! UTI in rabbit

[sambing22]

Hello, I have a 2.5-year-old female rabbit named Bethany. She was spayed last February. In August, she developed a UTI from a diet high in alfalfa (I did not realize her diet had such a high concentration of alfalfa.) I switched her diet and now feed her Manna-Pro rabbit feed, unlimited fresh timothy hay, and fresh greens daily. Since august, she has been to the vet 6 times for her UTI, given antibiotics twice, and treated for urine scald twice. Her urine scalding is so bad. I have had to bathe her almost every day for two more than. I really don't know how else to get rid of this UTI and her scalding. Please help

 

[JBun]

Has a urinalysis and culture been done on her urine to help identify the issue as well as the possible bacteria involved? Are you sure that the primary issue isn't bladder sludge that the high calcium in the alfalfa was contributing to? If it is bladder sludge, was the bladder flushed and were any xrays taken of the bladder to also check for any kidney stones?

Is your vet a good rabbit vet with lots of experience with rabbits?

 

[DevanyShikiar]

I have a rabbit and He is seven years old and a mini rex. A few weeks ago, he was urinating himself constantly so we took him into the vet in which they diagnosed him with bladder sludge. The vet recommended to give him pain medicine orally along with an IV of .9% sodium chloride. Recently though, his genital area has been red so we took him in again today (December 30). The vet shaved the fur around his lower stomach and said to make sure he excersizes and eats water enriched greens. She also said that if he's not better in 2-3 weeks, he may have to be put down. As I love my rabbit very much and would only like that to be a last resort option, I have confronted you guys in hope that you can recommend something else. Is there anything specifically that I should be doing? What should I replace his Timothy pellets with?

 

[JBun]

I have a rabbit and He is seven years old and a mini rex. A few weeks ago, he was urinating himself constantly so we took him into the vet in which they diagnosed him with bladder sludge. The vet recommended to give him pain medicine orally along with an IV of .9% sodium chloride. Recently though, his genital area has been red so we took him in again today (December 30). The vet shaved the fur around his lower stomach and said to make sure he excersizes and eats water enriched greens. She also said that if he's not better in 2-3 weeks, he may have to be put down. As I love my rabbit very much and would only like that to be a last resort option, I have confronted you guys in hope that you can recommend something else. Is there anything specifically that I should be doing? What should I replace his Timothy pellets with?

Were any tests or xrays done to confirm the sludge diagnosis or rule out other issues like a UTI? Was your rabbit urinating sludgy urine? Did the vet flush your rabbits bladder out, to clear out the sludgy sediment? Did your vet prescribe any medications, like anti inflammatories, antibiotics, or a diuretic?

Timothy pellets are fine. It's actually alfalfa that you want to avoid, as it is high in calcium.

I would suggest taking a look at these articles on bladder sludge.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/HypercalciuriaRabbits.htm
http://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/
http://rabbit.org/lowering-blood-calcium/

The use of liquid magnesium may also be a possibility if none of the more common treatments seem to be working.
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/LiquidMg/Liquid_magnesium.htm