Red Urine or Blood?

Hello! Im new here and really need some advice! This morning I found a huge patch of red urine/blood in my bunnys hutch. She has no visible injurys. Ihave read up on red urine and I still think this could be blood. There is a bit of mucus type stuff in it. She is 5, unnetured, has regular jabs and a good diet. Have booked a vet appointment, but its not for a fair few hours yet! Im really worried. She has had no change of diet except trying new treats Saturday but its now Tuesday. This has never happened before she is lethargic and not moving around as much. When she rarely does she appears uncomfortable and in pain. I currently have her inside with me.

You need to take that rabbit to the vet straight away because I think there might be an infection or something that could kill him/her I'm saying this because It looks really bad I don't know whether he could die so don't think that he will ok xxxx


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Its not in her litter tray and litter tray is normal, not bloody/red urine xx

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Looks like a vet visit is in order.
Bring those samples with you to the clinic, just pop them in the fridge for now. May be helpful for the vet to see.
If it is indeed bloody urine, chances are when theirs pain, a lot of animals will avoid using the litter box completely.

The fact that she is lethargic is worrisome. A vet visit is a good idea. In addition to whatever else is wrong, she will most likely need pain medications and medications to prevent stasis. She may also need sub q fluids.

If she is not eating, you may have to begin syringe feeding her. The vet can give you critical care (or something similar) that you can use to syringe feed. They may give you 35 mm syringes to use to syringe feed, but those can be unwieldy , a curved tip Monoject syringe may be easier to use.

Blood in the urine may be due to a bladder infection or bladder stones. ( both conditions are painful and require vet care) Add some hydrogen peroxide to some of the urine in the cup. If it foams up, then it contains blood.

Even if it looks like there is no blood in the urine, a vet visit is needed to find out the cause of the lethargy. Rabbits that aren't acting/eating normally can develop stasis and go downhill fast.

Thank you very very much for all of your helpful answers! She is off to the vets in just over half an hour! I hope shes okay:'(!
Stay well yourselves and bunnies!
Lots of love Emily and Lottie<3

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You didnt feed her red beets by chance?

That looks frightening - I hope shes ok.

that looks like blood not urine. How you proceed from here is at your discretion.

No we didn't it is frightening! Thanks x

UPDATE: We have just got back from the vets. They gave her some antibiotics and pain killing injections and some medicene we have to administrate orally at home. The vet was very worried because she passed an unusual amount of blood, roughly about 3 table spoons... we have to watch her closely for the next 24 hours and if nothing improves she will be having an ultrasound because it could be a problem with her kidneys or liver. It could also be a tumour but vet couldn't feel anything unusual in her abdomen. Lottie was in a lot of pain when it was being felt though, shes currently nestled down in her hay! Hope shes gonna be okay. Thanks again everyone xoxox
Emily!

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I will pray for Lottie. I hope she is okay and it is nothing serious. This must be so frightening. I would be out of my mind if this happened with Sweetie or Pudden. Is Lottie an only bunny or does she have a male friend who is not neutered? If she has a male friend who is not neutered, she could have been pregnant and miscarried.

Several comments... if you are unsure if blood or urine, save some in a container. Your vet can 1) dip a urine dip stick in it and if it's blood it will yield a positive on the piece of paper (porphyrin dyes do not test + on urine sticks), 2) make a slide of the urine/blood and red blood cells will abound if this is truly blood (none if a dye in the urine); or 3) (and you can try this at home), get a black light and shine it over the urine... from what I understand, porphyrin dye shows up glowing under black lights, while blood does not (I frankly have not tested this last one out myself, sorry). Also, if your rabbit's subsequent urinations look normal again, chances are it was not blood or at least not from the urinary tract. But if it IS blood, the first test I would do on your bunny would be to get an x-ray to make sure she doesn't have a bladder stone... then I would ask you if she's spayed, as true blood in urine is often from the reproductive tract, not the bladder or kidneys, and this could unfortunately indicate a likely tumor in the uterus (a very common finding in any unspayed female over 5 years of age... but sometimes as early as 3 years or less). Get her spayed ASAP if that is the situation.

Thank You very much! she is on the mend today, only passed a little blood and eating again! she did have a male friend who died last year, although he was neutered.. thank you for your prayers

Emily xx

Hi Geoff, yeah I took some samples with me yesterday, she is looking a little better today! thank you for your advice!

Emily