(RIP) Kate isn't thriving

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Yeah, you can apply stuff to the skin to soothe it. I would give her a litterbox with a grate on top, because she may be used to a wire bottom cage, and that litterbox may be more normal for her to go in, if that makes sense.
 
She isn't going in the litterbox at all. I put all her poos in the box and soak up the pee with a piece of paper towel. She just goes in the floor of the cage and sits in it. Maybe she is just too young to get it yet.
 
Just watch her skin, that it doesn't get sore. I've read other threads about bunnies sitting in their urine and getting sores. Even after being washed. Just giving you a heads up about it. :)
 
I am sure the sitting in pee is just because she's a baby and doesn't know any better yet. Good luck with the vet visit, I hope she's healthy :)
 
I would suggest that, if you are concerned about urine scald as she likes to puddle about in her pee, put down puppy training pads as a floor. They ought to wick away the moisture from her body.

Try doing a layer of puppy pads, with aspen overtop. Then, Yesterday's news/pelletized litter in the litterbox. It is my thought that there often needs to be a textural difference and scent difference to help a young bunny associate pee/poop with litter.
 
My gut feeling is that if your gut feeling is that she is not right, then listen to that because a, those feelings are normally accurate and b, if you don't you will kick yourself if something does happen and you didn't listen to it.

I definitely think you're right to go and get the works done at the vets tomorrow.

My kits were quite well litter trained when they were 3 weeks onwards (infact, much better then than now in most cases!) and that was all on hay, just some hay in litter trays and some hay on the floor.

If nothing shows up then it's going to be a case of experimenting to see what works for her and being very patient and realising this is ot her fault :)

Please let us know how you go tomorrow.
 
Me too, but we still have to trust them. Remember whilst ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power. Hopefully there will be nothing wrong but you're doing the right thing by getting her checked. I often take mine in on 'gut feeling' and I would guess 9 out of 10 times there is something wrong that I could only pick up by knowing bunnies in general and my buns so well.

It seems to be that there IS something 'wrong', but whether its medical or behavioural will become clear in the not too distant, hopefully.
 
Could a puppy pad hurt Kate if she chews on it? I don't know what they're made of but I would be afraid of my guys chewing on it and getting sick. Janet, I really hope little Kate will be okay! Please keep us updated.
 
Thanks so much everyone.

I have got to go wash her again. She is a horrible mess this morning. With the pee and poo mixing while she sits there it becomes horribly disgusting to pick her up. I use a dirty towel to pick her up and a clean one to dry her with and got through this at least 2-3 times a day now. I hope something can be figured out for her sake and mine. Poor lil baby.
 
What happens if you use wire flooring?

Are you planning to get a blood panel done on her?

This reminds of a bunny someone took in on another forum. He was four months old and completely incontinent and was a horrific mess. Thankfully he was taken in by a sanctuary so had excellent care. I'm not saying Kate is like that, just the way you describe her physically, that's all.

This was him. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=150031 He did unfortunately die due to neuter complications, but had a happy few months.
 
OMG His underside pic looks just like Kates! This is what I am afraid of. When I say she sits in it it is almost as if she doesn't realize she has gone. All of my other buns weren't litter trained when gotten but didn't lounge in their waste..
She also drinks alot of water. She is eating good again it seems. She polished off her food this morning. Even with me cleaning her regularly she is stained yellow-from under her chin all the way down her back legs.
 
Maybe its worth joining that forum (it is a UK based forum) and maybe contacting Liz. She recently had another come in who was in a horrific state on his underside and he is amazingly better now. Might be worth finding out what she uses to help it all heal/recover.
 
Poor baby. There was a thread on RO about a lop with the same problem. The lop may have sat intheir pee and poo, can't remember. Thats why I was warning you about the sore bum. I hope she's gonna be ok. You've been thru alot already. :pray:



I'm glad she's going to the vet. Poor baby Bun-bun. :pray:
 
I think I may do that. I sure hope she doesn't have any problems but this is exactly what seems to be going on. If it is then at least I can get answers and be informed, like you said, and go on from there. Thank you so very much Tracy.
 
Yeah, blood work and perhaps a urinalysis should be done. I hope there's nothing wrong, but it doesn't hurt to check. That bunny's bum looks like a bunny I petsat who was too tubby to reach around and clean his own butt. He would get cecals matted around his urogenital/anus area, and poop and pee into that matted area, so that the poo and pee couldn't get away from his bum. It was like a pocket made of cecals with poo and urine inside it. I made a thread previously, but retracted it because I asked the owner to join the forum. They haven't joined yet and it's been several months, so I assume they're not going to. He had a spinal deformity plus a lot of extra weight on him. I don't think he and Kate have the same issues, but that skin is pretty irritated from the urine and feces. I would wash him daily, usually in the morning because that's when he'd have his cecals that he couldn't eat. Then I'd put Udderly Smooth on the area in an attempt to soothe it. I have heard of using baby diaper creme or Preparation H in the same way to soothe the skin, and also baby cornstarch.

For Kate, of course she needs blood work, urinalysis. Does she move well with her back legs? For instance, do you think there might be a hind end paralysis issue? That could contribute to sitting in pee and peeing everywhere. If so, have the vet check her spine for fractures, arthritis, deformity, and also it might be good to check for E cuniculi. That often presents first as a hind end paralysis and urinary incontinence. Puppy pads are good, and Autumn's statement about the litterbox being a different texture etc makes sense. It also might make sense to have her in one of those dreaded wire bottom cages, but with a board to rest on, at least until she can get her litterbox habits together.
 
I wonder about the back end thing. She actually doesn't move like my other buns. I, stupidly, just assumed it is because she is so young. She shuffles when she walks. It is almost waddle-like. She has binkyed a few times but her backend has never come off the ground that I have noticed. Again I attributed it to age. She does move her hind legs but like I said, in a very strange way.
 
Back
Top