Urine Scald

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jwark

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My rabbit is sick and can't stand up still. She is getting better but I am finding a major challenge with keeping urine off her skin. It's getting really bad. I give her a bath every day but now her fur is even starting to fall out and I can tell her skin is very irritated. I keep her laying on towels and change them sometimes up to 3 times a day. It really does not look good, her hindsection is completely stained with urine.

I try to put tissue down there to hopefully wick away the urine but it doesn't really work. I use diaper rash lotion and even tried dog diapers but she just wiggles out of them.

Does any one know of any way I can stop her from constantly being soaked her her own urine? I almost feel like shaving off her fur so I can clean it better.
 
I am going to pm Treasured Friend and I am sure that she can help you this
There is a certain type of bedding used for disabled rabbits that wick away moisture and I just cannot remember what it is called. TF has special needs rabbits and has first hand experience .

Hang in there
 
thanks angieluv for the PM alert.

Learn to express your girl's bladder. That will help immensely with keeping her hind fur dry and subdue the urine scald. It's not that difficult once you gain some experience. Do you have a vet or friend who can help you locate her bladder by visual palpation?

I wouldn't recommend shaving every fur strand off. You can clip a bit of the excess fur away which'll make it easier to towel dry her after a butt rinse. Disabled Karla had fur entirely shaved away or her fur all fell out from urine scalding ... and it did grow back ...

Having a fur layer, even minimal, will prevent abscess areas from forming, or making her skin even more sore and red. Uncomfortable.

RO Friends : is it bag balm from KV Vet Supply or some Farm and Fleet stores that will help heal urine scald? I apply (and swear by!) SSD (silva sulfadiazine) cream as soon as urine scald appears. Keep applying to the reddened area for about 5-7 days. Then give it a rest. You'll see hair grow back. But it'll be important to express her bladder to keep the urine from staining and acidic effects. Watch so your girl doesn't want to lick the cream all off. karla would do that. ;-) It'll take a short time, but fur will grow back.

Pet Palace bedding is suggested for softness and moisture wicking. It can be tricky if cecotropes get mushed into the lush material. I don't like the way it launders and dries. Nor was it helpful for Karla's movement and limbs. Each bun case is a bit different.... Worth a try however. I put soft (Laura Ashley brand, found at Kohl's stores) bath rugs underneath Karla. The fibers are thick enough to wick away some of her pee output when I'm gone (not at home). You'll see the rugs in the pics below.
Canon bath rugs sold at KMart might be another option? A soft bath rug with decent fabric blend (and non-skid backing) is better, imo, than towels. Something thicker to absorb pee puddles. Easy to launder. Get a couple on sale ... Look for non-scratchy thickness.

Learning to express her bladder 2 to 3 times a day will bring about improvements if she's less-abled/unable to stand. Bladder expressions will keep urine reservoir from soiling her skin and fur.
Ask for SSD cream from your vet (alternately bag balm though I've got no experience with bag balm. I always use thin layer of SSD when Karla gets urine scald bouts.)

Express her bladder, rinse her butt and legs ... apply the cream ... and tell her she'll be A-OK, ...

Picture links, if these help: http://www.linedgroundsquirrels.com/KarlasPage.html

Graphics are large in this link:
http://www.linedgroundsquirrels.com/DisabledKarlaPhotos_Marie.html

If you need help on sanitary pads to keep her knee joints separated and legs dry if she's got physical limitations like Karla, simply ask.

Karla has bounced back many times from urine scald since 2005. Your girl can too!!

hope this helps,
 
Bag Balm I know is good with sore hocks, but it can be a bit greasy. This is good and bad because the greasiness will keep the skin from getting wet from further water, but it is kinda gross feeling and I wouldn't want her to eat too much--it sounds like you might have to put it on a larger area of her body than I'd feel comfortable allowing her to groom all the Bag Balm off of. It also really smells bad. SSD would be best. If you have tried diaper rash cream, that may be a lot like Bag Balm--was it like an A&D ointment thing?

Palace pet bedding is good, and I have heard of using synthetic fleece, like polarfleece or fake sheepskin as a wicking material as well, again with something absorbent under it.
 
TreasuredFriend wrote:
thanks angieluv for the PM alert.

Learn to express your girl's bladder. That will help immensely with keeping her hind fur dry and subdue the urine scald. It's not that difficult once you gain some experience. Do you have a vet or friend who can help you locate her bladder by visual palpation?

I wouldn't recommend shaving every fur strand off. You can clip a bit of the excess fur away which'll make it easier to towel dry her after a butt rinse. Disabled Karla had fur entirely shaved away or her fur all fell out from urine scalding ... and it did grow back ...

Having a fur layer, even minimal, will prevent abscess areas from forming, or making her skin even more sore and red. Uncomfortable.

RO Friends : is it bag balm from KV Vet Supply or some Farm and Fleet stores that will help heal urine scald? I apply (and swear by!) SSD (silva sulfadiazine) cream as soon as urine scald appears. Keep applying to the reddened area for about 5-7 days. Then give it a rest. You'll see hair grow back. But it'll be important to express her bladder to keep the urine from staining and acidic effects. Watch so your girl doesn't want to lick the cream all off. karla would do that. ;-) It'll take a short time, but fur will grow back.

Pet Palace bedding is suggested for softness and moisture wicking. It can be tricky if cecotropes get mushed into the lush material. I don't like the way it launders and dries. Nor was it helpful for Karla's movement and limbs. Each bun case is a bit different.... Worth a try however. I put soft (Laura Ashley brand, found at Kohl's stores) bath rugs underneath Karla. The fibers are thick enough to wick away some of her pee output when I'm gone (not at home). You'll see the rugs in the pics below.
Canon bath rugs sold at KMart might be another option? A soft bath rug with decent fabric blend (and non-skid backing) is better, imo, than towels. Something thicker to absorb pee puddles. Easy to launder. Get a couple on sale ... Look for non-scratchy thickness.

Learning to express her bladder 2 to 3 times a day will bring about improvements if she's less-abled/unable to stand. Bladder expressions will keep urine reservoir from soiling her skin and fur.
Ask for SSD cream from your vet (alternately bag balm though I've got no experience with bag balm. I always use thin layer of SSD when Karla gets urine scald bouts.)

Express her bladder, rinse her butt and legs ... apply the cream ... and tell her she'll be A-OK, ...

Picture links, if these help: http://www.linedgroundsquirrels.com/KarlasPage.html

Graphics are large in this link:
http://www.linedgroundsquirrels.com/DisabledKarlaPhotos_Marie.html

If you need help on sanitary pads to keep her knee joints separated and legs dry if she's got physical limitations like Karla, simply ask.

Karla has bounced back many times from urine scald since 2005. Your girl can too!!

hope this helps,
Click to expand...
Thank you much TF :)
 
I'll help anytime I can based on experiences with the less-abled girls. PM angieluv, okay?

I updated Karla's page to show the rawness on her knees in Dec-05. jwark, maybe this will assist if you compare Karla's skin with your gal's skin condition? Urine scald can be overcome. Thanks to everyone else who can lend input, like tonyshuman, b/c many of us care for buns who appreciate all we do!

:hearts
 
Thanks, just got back from the vet. I bought some of those dog training pads and he showed me how to express the bladder. He also cut some of the fur down to help. He didn't mention the gel but I'll look into that too.
 
I didn't even realize the vet wrote down desiten already. I'm so overwhelmed, she is going through such a hard time.

1. ear infection
2. probably has ecniculi
3. urine scald
4. Can't stand up barely or walk (probably from above 2)
5. Now they found something that also might be a spinal injury on an xray
6. She has a very large cist on her back now that I have to drain and clean every day
7. has bad gas problems

She definitely sits up more and actually can sort of move around. Also, her head tilt is completely gone. The problem though is her left hind-leg, she just can't seem to get it to do what she wants it to do and it just kind of drags around on the floor when she tries to hop.

Gosh, I just don't know. It seems like one thing starts getting better and she develops another problem. The training pads definitely seem to help. The vet took her off all the meds except pain medicine and panacure. He thinks some of the problems are caused by all the medication she's been taking for a month almost now.
 
That leg problem sounds like a sign of E cuniculi, which can also make the urine different and sometimes cause scald. The cyst I'm not sure draining daily is the best idea, if it is a pus-filled cyst. Rabbit pus is very thick so it does not drain well. For gas, you can give her simethicone. Poor girl.
 
She was already on penicillin and the cyst (or whatever it is) just kept getting worse. It does seem to drain ok, it's not very thick pus, it's more clear so maybe it's not a cyst? Anyway, I think that's probably the least of my worries right now.

This morning was the first time I checked on her and she wasn't soaked in urine! She is finally standing up to pee. Thank god.
 
I don't know what the cyst could be other than an infected wound (called an abscess, would be full of thick pus). Is it healing ok?
 
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That is quite strange. Maybe it's a zit-like thing, or a fatty cyst. I know fatty cysts are often drained with a needle (so the liquid is thin) and can come back. I am not sure what to think about that cyst, as it looks like there's a good deal of dead tissue there (the black tissue), which I would think the vet would want to remove.

Is the cyst located where she was getting injections? A "sterile abscess" can form at the site of injection with pen G injections, and that might lead to a pocket of fluid that's not an infection itself.

I think some antibiotic would be good though, to help heal the cyst. There are a good number of other antibiotic options, like Baytril, zithromax, Convenia, cloramphenicol, and zeniquin.
 
i know u said that things are a little better since ur using the puppy pads :) which is great news... but fake sheepskin is what most people use to keep urine away from their skin...ive talked to alot of people with disabled buns cuz i have a splay leg bun and they all swear by the sheepskin.:)
 
Tonyshuman - Yes, I'm going to talk to the vet about it next time I go there. Thanks for the input. And yes, it is located where I was giving her injections.

Flashgordon - I read about the synthetic wool but I can't really find it for sale anywhere.

Edit - I found it now searching for faux sheepskin instead of synthetic wool, thanks!
 
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