Weird Urine Color

anp1012 · Feb 11, 2021

Hey guys! My rabbit over the past few days has been peeing a dark orange color. I don’t feed him any vegetables that could affect the color and have been giving him extra water in the hopes he was dehydrated. The color hasn’t changed much so I wanted to get some opinions as to what to do! (I’ve also been trying to watch how he pees but can never catch him)

anp1012 · Feb 11, 2021

anp1012 said:
Hey guys! My rabbit over the past few days has been peeing a dark orange color. I don’t feed him any vegetables that could affect the color and have been giving him extra water in the hopes he was dehydrated. The color hasn’t changed much so I wanted to get some opinions as to what to do! (I’ve also been trying to watch how he pees but can never catch him)

Blue eyes · Feb 12, 2021

Let's see if Jenny (@JBun ) can chime in here. I'm worried about those poos also. They seem very small and misshapen -- not healthy looking.

anp1012 · Feb 12, 2021

His poops usually look like that after he’s had a little bit of diarrhea and tend to go back to normal after a few days but I agree they don’t look right. He has been eating though and I’ve been giving him some oxbow digestive support tablets but considering he is 13, he’s quite stubborn on what he’ll eat.

JBun · Feb 12, 2021

If the pasty whitish/beige spot on the fabric(in the last photo) is from dried calcium in the urine, it looks to me like your rabbit could have bladder sludge. Combined with the multiple (what appear to be) dribbled small spots of beige brownish urine in the other photos, I would suspect your rabbit has a UTI caused by the calcium build up in the bladder(bladder sludge). If this is the case, you'll need to get your bun seen by an experienced rabbit vet right away, to get him on an oral antibiotic like smz/tmp or baytril. Meloxicam(nsaid) would probably be beneficial as well.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bladder_sludge_and_stones
https://rabbit.org/bladder-disease-and-bladder-stones-in-the-rabbit/
https://rabbit.org/bladder-stones-and-bladder-sludge-in-rabbits/
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
You will also likely need to change his diet to a lower calcium one. Even though some resources say a lower calcium diet isn't helpful, that's not what I found for my rabbits with bladder sludge issues. I found a direct correlation of increased dietary calcium causing increased urinary calcium build up excreted in the urine. For my bladder sludge prone buns, they either needed to be on a low calcium pellet in very limited amounts, or a no pellet diet, and only low calcium veggies, along with their free fed low calcium grass hay. You're not eliminating calcium completely, just reducing the amount of dietary calcium so there isn't an excess that will then be excreted in the urine.

https://rabbit.org/lowering-blood-calcium/
Once treated, you may see an improvement in the poop as well. It's possible that bladder pain from sludge/uti could be contributing to the poop issues.

Donna Standar · Feb 12, 2021

anp1012 said:
Hey guys! My rabbit over the past few days has been peeing a dark orange color. I don’t feed him any vegetables that could affect the color and have been giving him extra water in the hopes he was dehydrated. The color hasn’t changed much so I wanted to get some opinions as to what to do! (I’ve also been trying to watch how he pees but can never catch him)

My buns urine gets dark and orange colour when they eat fresh hay from our field during spring to fall, disappear after that, when they get dried hay. Or dandelions

anp1012 · Feb 12, 2021

I’m trying to get him into the vet hopefully tomorrow but does anyone know any ways I can help relieve any possible pain or discomfort? I feel horrible if he’s just sitting in pain.

anp1012 · Feb 17, 2021

Hey guys just wanted to update you that my old man had to be put down on Saturday. Turns out he had a tumor that spread to his liver and kidney so please keep an eye on your buns and give them extra pets for me.