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RabbitGirl321

RabbitGirl321

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Hello, one of my rabbits (a junior black polish doe) has been having some problems lately... At first I thought she was constipated because she seemed to be pushing real hard like she was trying to poo. I gave her timothy hay and tried a couple things I read online to give constipated rabbits, and cleaned out her tray to make sure she was going potty. Well she's still acting like this, but she is using the bathroom just as much as my other rabbits still. However yesterday when I went out, it seemed like around her privates she was loosing hair, and it about looks like there's dead skin or something around there as well, I'm not really sure exactly how to describe it. Today half the fur on her tail is gone, and most of it around her privates is gone, I searched on the internet for awhile to try and figure out what this was, but I've not been able to find anything. She seems to act fine aside from seeming to be trying to push or something every now and then, she's bright eyed and runs up to the front of the cage when I go out there and everything still. I just don't know what this is or what to do for it. Does anybody have any ideas what this could be? I would take her to a vet, but there doesn't appear to be any vets around us that do rabbits.

Thanks,
RabbitGirl321~

P.S. Also I could try and get a picture, if that would help? May be helpfl to actually see it, since I can't really describe it... lol.
 
The straining sounds like it is a urinary tract problem. Does she have urine soaked fur on her bottom? I would suspect this is the cause of the fur loss, from urine scald. She could have a urinary tract infection, or it could also be due to excess dietary calcium causing cystitis from bladder sludge or possibly bladder stones. If it is a UTI she will need antibiotics to clear it up. Usually baytril or sulfatrim is used. If it is bladder sludge, she may need her bladder flushed and her diet changed to help prevent the buildup. You will also need to protect the bare skin on her bottom with an ointment until the problem is resolved. As long as the skin isn't raw or infected and there aren't open sores, A & D original ointment(the one with NO zinc) would be good for this. If there are open sores, plain Neosporin(no added pain reliever) will work.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

Another possibility is rabbit syphilis, or vent disease. Especially if there are sores or lesions around her genitals. To treat this, your rabbit will need weekly pen g procaine/benzathine injections (NEVER ORALLY).
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Syph_gen.html

You can check these lists to see if you can find a rabbit vet near you.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/finding-vet-13366/
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
 
Hmm, I hadn't even thought of it possibly being an UTI! Looking at it, I bet that could be it... Thank you very much!
 
@JBun: Somehow I missed your reply before! Yes, her fur on her bottom is indeed urine soaked. And thanks for the list and links, I will check those out soon!


I went out and tried to take a picture. It's not the greatest, but hopefully you can tell something from it.

IMG_0721.JPG
 
I think it looks like a UTI and requires a vet trip. It might help to encourage as much water drinking as possible. Poor thing it looks painful.
 
Does it just smell like urine, or does it smell like bad flesh too? It's just that I can't quite work out what exactly I'm looking at, and it seems kinda lumpy.
 
Yeah, it has a bit of a urine smell. I can't figure out what it is, we did go ahead and give her some antibiotics though, I'm hoping that will help.
 
It's leaking urine then. Urine scald is very painful, and as the fur has already been burnt off by the uric acids, continued urination will irritate the skin and lead to inflammation. Please gently rinse and pat dry her bum as often as you can, and try to find a vet that can diagnose and treat the root cause before her skin problems become worse.
 
I can't make that picture out.... What did the vet say? Is she an outside bunny?:group:
 
We haven't taken her to the vet, there is no vet's around us who will look at rabbits. She lives in a wire cage in our garage, I have put up a puppy play pen and let her hop around and eat some grass in that for awhile a couple times. So... I don't know, she's not really like in the house but she's not quite outside either. Lol. Guess it depends how you look at it if she's indoors or outdoors.
 
If it only smells like urine that's not so bad then (still a bad thing to have), I was worried it could be fly strike but it doesn't really look like that.

It does look kinda infected and odd though and I think it really needs a vet visit, even if there's not one close still worth finding one you can get to.
 
Did you google a vet that will look at bunnies? The longer you wait, the worse it may get. Bunny may just need an antibiotic, worth a try..
 
Yes, I did. The closest vet who will look at bunnies was like 2 hours away or so though, at least that I could find. I don't have a driver's license yet, so I can't drive, and mom wouldn't want to drive that far. Especially since it sounds like the vet would just give her antibiotics, which we have here at home. We gave her some yesterday, and I've been putting Neosporin on it as JBun said. I'm just praying that'll work. I guess I'll see if it gets any better over the next couple days, thank you all for your help. I really appreciate it!
 
Hello again everybody! I just wanted to give you guys an update, she HAS gotten better! She's already growing fur back, and is starting to eat more again. Hopefully she'll gain back the weight she lost soon enough. :) Thank you all for your help, I don't know what I'd have done without you guys. xD
 
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