Are UTI's "contagious" (transmittable)?

[Jenk]

Could a bun with a UTI cause another bun to develop one, if they both share a litter box?



Thank you,

Jenk

 

[tonyshuman]

If it were a particularly nasty bacterium, it could be. It's probably more likely that a stressful situation would impact multiple bunnies living together, and that would cause the UTI to show up in more than one.

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

If it were a particularly nasty bacterium, it could be.

Egads...I ask becauseour one bunwas suspected to have a UTI. Aurinalysis found red blood cells and a blood chem. panelshowed elevated ALT/ALP levels. But our girl wouldn't let the vet get a sterile urine sample for a culture. (She was at the vet's office all day and managed to urinate all the sub-Qs in her system before a sample could be taken. And they checked her bladder every hour!) So she's being treated with a course of Baytril.

It's probably more likely that a stressful situation would impact multiple bunnies living together, and that would cause the UTI to show up in more than one.

I can't speak for our bunnies',but their days are fairly quiet/low-key. I don't think that stress caused our one girl's issues because she's suffered a number of bacterial imbalances (per fecal cultures) in the past. I suppose it's not a far cry for her to develop a UTI now and again.

Both girls are penned separately, but they do share a litter box when out for playtime. Their sharedbox has a grate, but I wonder if one ingests a bit of hay that the other's urinated on could cause a problem.

 

[tonyshuman]

Usually bacteria that cause a UTI come into the bladder through the urethra. Ingesting it would cause a URI, stomach infection, or GI upset, not a UTI. The bacteria are frequently e coli.