Urine & matting

[delusional]

Recently it appears Ollie has decided he no longer likes his litter box... He's been going all over the floor. Because it's lino it stays there, and now he's getting it all over his back feet and legs, which is causing horrible mats, his fur is all stiff and full of dried pee, and this, of course, means he smells fairly bad as well (though I'm more concerned about the former two things, in terms of his health).

I don't know what has caused him to get like this, or how to fix it now it's happened. I've tried gently washing the urine out using cotton wool, and snipping some of the really big mats, but it never ends!

So.. first I have to try and find out what's caused his recent lack of toilet habits, and then I have to find some way to clean him up... Any thoughts? It's getting really unpleasent both for us and for Ollie.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

Couple of comments for your consideration. Has anything changed in his environment that would cause him to need to mark his territory? Has he been neutered? You mentionsmell which could mean a possible urinary tract infection or possible bladder sludge/stone...or it could be one of the early signs of EC. It might bein Ollie's best interest in having him checked by a vet for a possible infection.

Randy

 

[delusional]

Hi Randy - thanks for replying.

We haven't changed anything recently, and he is neutered and has been for quite a while now.

I was thinking the smell was just the large amount of dried urine in his fur - it's a pee smell, not a weird one. I will be phoning my vets on Monday but I don't know when I'll be able to get an appointment with it being christmas...

 

[naturestee]

Poor Ollie. Definitely have a vet check him out. How old is he? Could it possibly be arthritis? I know that can cause problems with getting into and out of litter boxes and positioning properly when they urinate. This site lists some possible causes of incontinence, although obviously your vet will have to find the proper diagnosis.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

What kind of litter box does he have? Does it have higher sides that he has to jump into, like a high sided cat litter box? If so, try cutting down one side so it is lower. Also, put hay in a hay rack over the litter box, in a way that encourages him to jump in to get to the hay. I do this for all my bunnies, it's the only way I can get one of them into a litter box at all.

For cleaning him, try using normal baby wipes. If he is wet with urine, you can do a dry bath with cornstarch. It'll absorb the urine so it doesn't stay on his skin. This site has instructions:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

For now, see if you can get some Vet Bed, which allows urine to pass through it and stays dry on top. Put newspaper or litter under it to absorb the urine. It should help to keep him more dry. You might be able to find the bedding in a pet shop, especially in dog bed areas. I know it's a fairly popular product for rabbits in the UK.

 

[Pipp]

Check out the Library section here...

Urinary Problems

How is he doing?



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