Kidney stones?

[Acacia-Berry]

It seems like I jinxed it because just today I was talking to my bf about Bunny's increased water intake. Before I go any further, let me insist that I know she may need a checkup but please help me out:
Bunny peed on my bed tonight and I found 2 small clumps which look like cat litter. I had just kicked the cat out of the room and Bunny was on the bed, I turned my back and felt it. I think they came out of her but it is very possible it was cat litter.
"Loss of litterbox habits, straining to urinate, hopping in and out of the litter pan, wetness around the genital area or chronic skin irritation in that area from urine scalding, semi-solid (like toothpaste) urine, or blood in the urine."-rabbit.org
Bunny does not strain to pee, her box habits are good, she does not jump in and out frequently, she's completely dry, no skin irritations, no sludge (I dealt with that with my last bunny), and no blood. Bunny is, if anything, better and more social than she used to be. But not in a way I would be concerned about.
The only difference is she drinks more water recently and I think the reason is because I haven't been able to afford veggies for about 2 weeks now.
Bunny's food is Martins Timothy and her hay is Oxbow timothy. She is 6 years old and spayed.


Thanks. (I'll upload the pic tomorrow)

 

[wendymac]

Could it also be because heaters dry the air out so she's drinking more to compensate? I know I drink a lot more in the winter because the outside furnace really dries out the air in the house. And not having the water from the veggies may be a huge part of that, too.

 

[LakeCondo]

I doubt it was kidney stones, as I think they are painful to pass. But some kinds of kidney stones are reduced by adding a little acid to the water, like vinegar or lemon juice.

 

[Acacia-Berry]

Duh, I totally never thought of the dry apartment! I keep the heat on a lot because its a basement apartment and the floor is so cold! I know bunnies would prefer colder moister air to drier warm air. Hm..
Thanks!

I also picked through her litter (newspaper) but there is nothing else. I'm thinking I might have over reacted.

Tonight, I went to check her hayrack and noticed she peed on the floor outside her litterbox. I'm thinking she did this because I gave her a little box stuffed with hay and pellets and the hay got strewn outside her litterbox. So I picked her up to move her to the bedroom so I could clean her condo and I decided to check her nether region just in case (this kidney thing has been on my mind). I think its normal. It's not wet or anything. I felt it and its not swollen but her vagina (I guess that's what its called) is sticking out a little. I don't know if its from me stimulating it though. Has anyone heard of this??

 

[wendymac]

I don't know what kind of heat you use, but we usually stick a baking pan with water on the radiators and that seems to help with the moisture problem. If you don't have radiators, you could probably just stick a pan of water somewhere close. Is she spayed? If not, her vent area may be a bit swollen due to wanting bred.

 

[Acacia-Berry]

Our heaters are electrical . So.... the thin ones that stick off the wall? I honestly don't know where I would put a pan of water since every inch of floor space is taken and we do not have shelves and we have a naughty cat who just dares me to lay a pan of water out so he can knock it down.
Does my fish tank evaporate enough water? I know it loses about an inch or so each week to evap.

Yes she is spayed. I might have been overreacting. I will check her area again today. Thanks

 

[wendymac]

The fish tank might be enough to get some moisture back in the air. I tried having cats in the house, but after chasing them off my tables and counters (where they spent more time than the floor!) I tossed them back outside. I think they like barn living more than house living anyway. LOL

 

[tonyshuman]

I'd recommend a humidifier for your health as well as the bunny's. I bit the bullet and bought the more expensive ultrasonic type made for baby nurseries, and it's so much better. We have baseboard (gas) heaters. It helps with our colds/sinuses and is better for the animals too. The behavior sounds a bit like UTI and the potentially sludgy urine are things to keep an eye on though. A trick for getting veggies is that sometimes you can ask the store manager to give you the veggies they're about to throw away for being unfit for people to buy. You may have to pick out some rotten bits, but free is free. Some people on the forum have a relationship with their store/greengrocer such that they come and pick up the veggies that have gone too far weekly. If they have more than your one bunny can eat, you could also say you'll take the rest to the shelter or something, so that the store can use it as a tax write-off (donation to a non-profit=tax deduction) instead of just throwing them away. In any case I would make sure to keep an eye on it. If she does have sludgy urine it will probably not be in the box.

 

[Acacia-Berry]

Thanks!
There is no sludge in her urine, I checked. I also put her on a strict anti-calcium diet. Normally we eat carrots everyday and my bf likes feeding her a strip of the peel. So I put a stop to that until I see improvement. However, I think I was just being paranoid. There is no sludge in her pee and no stones .. I am really thinking she just peed on cat litter left behind by the cat who, like I said, I had moved off the bed seconds before the accident.
I am still struggling money wise, I don't when my student loan is coming in but it should be here tomorrow. I did sell a university book for a small amount which I bought lettuce with. So, I have been introducing veggies back. I have seen dramatic changes already in her water. The amount she was drinking which worried me must have been from eating only pellets and hay for a few weeks. Because I sprinkled water on her lettuce and now her bowl was left pretty full.
As for asking for leftover veg scraps, I tried that. At the grocery store I worked at last year. They said they couldn't do it because of potential health risks, even though I said it was for animal consumption. I think they were lying, and management sucked really bad there but they would not. It wouldnt hurt to try another grocery store I guess, I go to two different ones pretty regularly. People around here are so stingy on freebies- probably because they think its going to really impoverished starving people and they don't want to help :/ Seriously, the drugstore I used to work for would get credited almost-expired goods and the manager would slice the bags open and dump them so people wouldn't dig the dumpster.

 

[wendymac]

Actually, it isn't a lie. Any store that gives away any food item that should have been thrown away risks the chance of a lawsuit because someone, somewhere, is going to try to eat the stuff. Then they get sick and sue. WalMart tosses everything away, in a locked container that is now being used to make some kind of fuel or something (can't remember now). Any meat that doesn't sell when it's put on markdown goes back into our big freezer...and that is given to the local food banks. It's a shame that people in our own country are so desperate that they have to even think about getting their next meal from a dumpster.

 

[Acacia-Berry]

It's true. Capitalist societies are horrific locales of Rich vs. Poor. I see it everyday and I only live in a small city of about 100k .

On the bright side, regarding Bunny. I got my loan so I have her back on nightly salads and I am pleased to say- crisis averted. Her genitals are not protruding, her water consumption has returned to normal and I'm no longer worried about her having stones. I have her next to me right now and she is being the little bratlet princess I raised her to be. Thanks so much for offering support and suggestions

 

[tonyshuman]

I didn't realize those things but it makes sense. Glad to hear Bunny is doing better.