Excess Urination

[Bunnylova4eva]

Help, help & help! I don't know how much of this is health, and how much of this is behavioral, but I thought I'd ask. So, a brief bit of history:

Ripley is a nearly 2 year old Holland lop buck. He was an outdoor bunny until late fall/earlier winter since when he's been inside in a big xpen. 5 weeks ago he was neutered, no complecations or anything. Pre-surgical bloodwork was run and they didn't mention seeing anything amiss. Everything went very well, he healed up quickly and I haven't seen anything obviously due to that come about.
But, 2 weeks ago Saturday, I noticed a lack of his pooping, no appetite, and very lethargic. I hurried him to the vet, who prescribed him Metaclopramide-1 mL every 8 hours for 5 days along with a Vitamin B injection and sub-q's. Ripley quickly improved but ever since then, he's been very pu/pd (drinking and peeing alot). I'm wondeirng if it's caused by the medication he was on and has been off of for a week? Also, I don't know if it is due to this or just bahavioral, but he's been having mega pee accidents which he has never ever had. Like at least probably 4 in the last week or so. It just seems so unlike him; any ideas?? Thank you all a bunch!

 

[tonyshuman]

It's possible that he had a UTI that led to pain and him not pooping. Stasis is often a symptom of something else, not a problem in itself. Once you treat the stasis, it's good to figure out why the bunny was so ill to case the stasis in the first place.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

hmmm, that's a thought; I'll ask the vet about that Monday. Are UTI as commen in male buns as females? I guess I had heard someting about it being much more common in the the girls, maybe that's wrong though.

Side note-Ripley just started moulting within a day or two of the stasis so maybe that was due to that? it's all a mystery to me.

 

[JBun]

Another thing that can cause excessive thirst and peeing, is kidney problems. With the increased urination and the peeing accidents, it would be a good idea to talk to your vet and maybe get some tests done.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Yeah, I talked to the vet yesterday and he asked me to bring Ripley to be looked at again. This is Ripley's normal vet; the one who treated him for GI stasis was a new vet in the clinic and was good, but Ripley's normal vet wanted to see him now and check for an underlying issue. Hope we get this figured out tomorrow when we go.

 

[tonyshuman]

In humans UTIs are much more common in females, but I don't think the same thing applies in rabbits. The reason in humans is that the urethra is very short in females and much longer in males, so bacteria can go up it into the bladder more easily. I think the urethral length is similar in male and female rabbits, although it might be a bit longer in males.

I would be asking for a urinalysis and maybe blood work to check kidney values.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

His symptoms perfectly line up with those of diabetes though I know it's pretty rare in buns but anyone know mcuh about it? http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Metabolic_diseases/Diabetes_en.htm

I talked to the vet today and he's going to get back to me tomorrow as to what he recommends. There's been no weight loss which is a good thing but he just keeps having accidents over and over and he's never done that. I'll check with them about a UA (urinalysis) and blood.

 

[tonyshuman]

Diabetes is so rare as to be almost unheard of happening in rabbits, and I don't think it could have developed since his neuter 5 weeks ago. It would have shown on his bloodwork most likely. I wouldn't rule anything out completely, but a UTI would be much more likely.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

That's what I thought, but I was curious. Are these the biggest symptoms of a UTI? It was hard looking for any good links or anything.