Bloody tinged urine

[katiecrna]

This is what I woke up to. My rabbit is acting normal and I am unaware of any trauma. I read that if it is orange it could be Bc she is not drinking enough water. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Blastoise]

If the red coloration is due to hematuria (the presence of blood in the urine), it is a sign of disease in the urinary tract, such as:

Kidney or bladder infection
Kidney or bladder stones
Kidney or bladder cancer
Bladder polyps


If the discoloration of the urine is due to dietary pigments, no treatment is necessary. If there is an obstruction, the rabbit may need to be sedated or anesthetized while the obstruction is removed. Dehydrated rabbits will need to be given intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SQ) fluids. Depending upon the diagnosis, treatment may include surgery, antibiotics, or other medications.

 

[JBun]

Rabbits can have orangish red urine from plant pigments in certain foods. That's what it looks like to me. Usually if there is bleeding, there will either be spots of blood or the urine will be bright red or pinkish(fresh urine sample).

If you are in doubt, best to have it checked by a rabbit savvy vet.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/generalities/Sludge.htm

 

[Aki]

Yes, it's not necessarily blood. I think every rabbit owner had a 'oh my god, blood!' scare once with their rabbit's urine. What did your rabbit eat in the 24h before urinating? Things like dandelion make the urine really red. Marking urine is also red (my rabbits really like cushions, when they were younger and peed on a cushion, it was always very red like a big "MINE" sign).

 

[katiecrna]

I have a question...the only reason I noticed the red urine was Bc she peed on my white comforter, how am I going to keep an eye on the color if she goes in her litter? This is the first time she has not Peed in her letterbox.

 

[Happi Bun]

I have a question...the only reason I noticed the red urine was Bc she peed on my white comforter, how am I going to keep an eye on the color if she goes in her litter? This is the first time she has not Peed in her letterbox.

You could try using a light colored bedding in the litter box for a while. Like white carefresh bedding. That would make it extremely easy to see the color of the urine. I don't think you need to worry though. That doesn't look like it has blood in it. I've had two rabbits go through bouts of having orange/red colored urine and it looked just like your pictures. It always would clear up since it was just pigmentation.

 

[Aki]

If the urine is really red, you'll see it even in the litter. When I give dandelion to my rabbits, it's blood red and it shows. Also, marking red urine tends to smell bad (like stronger than normal urine). Honestly, on a comforter, I would think she just tried to claim ownership and wouldn't worry too much if she's acting normal and doesn't look like she has trouble peeing (sign of an infection). Blood in urine is pretty rare with rabbits. The main reasons are an infection (would have trouble urinating) and tumors for female rabbits (if your female is not spayed and over 4 years old, it's a possibility - all females should be spayed anyway, considering the risks of keeping them intact, so I hope yours is... if not, you should really think about it).
Anyway urine that contains blood is not uniformly red (contrarily to tinted urine due to the food or marking intents), it's like normal or white urine with red streaks (or a "marbled" effect). If you are really worried, you can add a bit of hydrogen peroxide to your rabbit's urine : if it foams, there is blood.