I've had a few threads about Hootie's problems, but long story short, important questions bolded for time:
He's devoloping some sludge, I'm assuming from being confined for so long. He normally is very active, free range guy, even after his amputation. We took him off Baytril about a week ago, he was on it for some urine scald, and I feel like maybe he still has an underlying UT issue from being unable to pee correctly for a week or so.
The "true" sludge just started yesterday morning, and has been on and off. In the morning he'll have sludge, in the afternoon it'll be mostly urine with some deposit, and at night it'll be more sludge. He's been having more than normal sandy deposits since his injury, with the nerve damage in his back, he was having trouble expressing his bladder. I'm still helping him express, but he does seem to be able to get some out on his own, although I don't know how comfortable he is doing that on his own, so I'm fine with being able to check him out and feel around 2-3 times a day.
What's the average amount a rabbit drinks? He's usually about 6 pounds, but after his slipped disc and some GI stasis, he was clocking in around 4.5, but he's definitely back up a pound or so this past month. I usually keep a gravity water dish for him since he was free range (which was for a dog, so it was enormous, and I changed it only when it got icky), but since he's confined I have a water dish to save space, that holds about 2 cups of water, and he's drinking pretty much an entire 2 cups in a full 24 hours. I've never thought to watch his water intake until the urinary issues. Is this too much water?
How much are rabbits supposed to drink?
Should I take him back in to have his bladder/kidneys checked out, or should I just keep pushing fluids, since that seems to be the first step in managing sludge? The vet is reluctant to keep in on antibiotics unless we need them since we was on them so recently for his amputation surgery as well.
We're just trying to not transport him unless totally necessary. Our vet is a winding 35 minutes away, and we're certainly not trying to agitate a healing nerve.
- 6-7 year old New Zealand, been with me for at least 5 years, about 5ish pounds
- Lost his hind right leg in February due to a bad break, healed beautifully.
- A month ago he slipped a disc in his back causing partial paralysis in his good back leg and urinary incontinence, leading to urine scald, causing the vet visit that revealed the issue of the slipped disc.
- He's been on gabapentin for about 2.5 weeks now, and is showing amazing improvements as far as mobility in the hind leg and bladder control.
He's devoloping some sludge, I'm assuming from being confined for so long. He normally is very active, free range guy, even after his amputation. We took him off Baytril about a week ago, he was on it for some urine scald, and I feel like maybe he still has an underlying UT issue from being unable to pee correctly for a week or so.
The "true" sludge just started yesterday morning, and has been on and off. In the morning he'll have sludge, in the afternoon it'll be mostly urine with some deposit, and at night it'll be more sludge. He's been having more than normal sandy deposits since his injury, with the nerve damage in his back, he was having trouble expressing his bladder. I'm still helping him express, but he does seem to be able to get some out on his own, although I don't know how comfortable he is doing that on his own, so I'm fine with being able to check him out and feel around 2-3 times a day.
What's the average amount a rabbit drinks? He's usually about 6 pounds, but after his slipped disc and some GI stasis, he was clocking in around 4.5, but he's definitely back up a pound or so this past month. I usually keep a gravity water dish for him since he was free range (which was for a dog, so it was enormous, and I changed it only when it got icky), but since he's confined I have a water dish to save space, that holds about 2 cups of water, and he's drinking pretty much an entire 2 cups in a full 24 hours. I've never thought to watch his water intake until the urinary issues. Is this too much water?
How much are rabbits supposed to drink?
Should I take him back in to have his bladder/kidneys checked out, or should I just keep pushing fluids, since that seems to be the first step in managing sludge? The vet is reluctant to keep in on antibiotics unless we need them since we was on them so recently for his amputation surgery as well.
We're just trying to not transport him unless totally necessary. Our vet is a winding 35 minutes away, and we're certainly not trying to agitate a healing nerve.
