pinupchick
Well-Known Member
Ula (6 yrs dwarf-Dutch mix, healthy weight, generally healthy aside from occasional gas) was eating, urinating and pooping normally today. In the middle of the afternoon she jumped in her cage and started digging. That's fairly normal for her, but in between her bouts of digging she would flop down suddenly with her butt pressed against the side of her cage and seem to strain a bit as though she was trying to defecate or urinate. She would get up quickly, dig, hunch a bit, and then flop down again. This was happening in cycles for about an hour and her heart rate and breathing increased to a worrisome level. I took her to the emergency vet clinic as soon as I could. The vet (bunny savvy) examined her and didn't see anything immediately wrong, but then noticed that one of her scent glands was completely impacted with a dark brown, hard, shiny material about the size of a narrow kidney bean. He spent a few minutes removing it. He said the other scent gland was clean.
Odd.
He also said that she seemed uncomfortable when he palpated her bladder, and was worried it could be a urinary infection. He wanted me to observe her urine at home and follow up with my normal vet. He gave her a shot of metacam and sent me home with a 3-day supply.
I took her home and she immediately pooped in her litter box. She ate the rest of her pellets, ate some hay, drank some water, urinated, and then pooped again. She seems pretty relaxed right now.
Would an impacted scent gland cause her to get so uncomfortable that she freaked out and had strange hunching/straining behavior? Her urine looks normal, so I'm doubting that it's related to her bladder.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Odd.
He also said that she seemed uncomfortable when he palpated her bladder, and was worried it could be a urinary infection. He wanted me to observe her urine at home and follow up with my normal vet. He gave her a shot of metacam and sent me home with a 3-day supply.
I took her home and she immediately pooped in her litter box. She ate the rest of her pellets, ate some hay, drank some water, urinated, and then pooped again. She seems pretty relaxed right now.
Would an impacted scent gland cause her to get so uncomfortable that she freaked out and had strange hunching/straining behavior? Her urine looks normal, so I'm doubting that it's related to her bladder.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
