Bladder Control

[Beckers]

I was wondering if anyone had an ideas of whatmight be wrong with Floppy today. He's not peeing in hislitterbox at all--he was fine yesterday. He's eating,pooping, and otherwise acting normal. He was a littlesluggish this morning, but when I came home early from work,I let him up and he was exploring around the apartment like normal.

He sits in one place for awhile and when he gets up, there's a wetspot. I've already cleaned up 4 or 5 messes. Hehasn't made a mess like this since before he was fixed, last November.

I know this can be a sign of a bladder or urine problem, but he seemsso normal and not in pain. Has this happened to anyone elsesbun and do you know the reason for it? Would he be showingsigns of pain if he has a bladder problem?

If anyone has an ideas, I would very much appreciate them.
Thanks
Rebecca

 

[Lissa]

First of all, how old is your bunny?Are there any other animals in the house? It could be aterritorial thing.

 

[Beckers]

We found him as a stray last year. Atthat time, our vet estimated he was probably about a yearold. That would make him around 2, but I know its difficultto determine age just by looking.

We don't have any other pets, so I'm not thinking a territoryissue. We did have a raccoon break into our screened porchlast night, but that was outside and Floppy lives inside. Itmust have been very noisy for him while the raccoon was tearing theporch up though--his cage is near the window that looks onto theporch. Would a noisy outside animal prompt a territory issue?

 

[Lissa]

If he started doing this after the raccoonbreak-in, that could be a factor. However, if he isn'tneutered, that too could be an even biggerfactor.

 

[naturestee]

It could be the raccoon, but I know that rabbitstry to hide their pain. I would have it checked out, because he couldhave something like a urinary tract infection or bladder stones.

 

[zoecat6]

I am having the same problem with my flemishgiant Ben who wentfrom being totally litter trained to peeingeverywhere but the litter pan.The vet told me that heprobably has crystals in his urine, which is causing pain uponurination. She told me that this is a very common problemwith rabbits and that he needs to be switched totimothybasedpellets, instead of alfalfa basesdpellets, with unlimited timothy hay, and a couple of cups of vegtablesa day. She said usually by changing their diet that you willsee a difference within a week or two. I am already seeing animprovement since I took him to the vet.

 

[Beckers]

He seems fine today--no more messes.I'm not sure what to think. He's already fairly low calcium(timothy based pellets and hay). Maybe he did pass something,or he might have been remarking his area. I'm going to keepwatching him and call the vet later this week (provided we don't have ahurricane sitting on top of us). Thanks for your helpeveryone